Wikipedia

Players Championship Finals

The Players Championship Finals is a darts tournament organised by the Professional Darts Corporation. The tournament originally featured the top 32 players from the Players Championship Order of Merit, a separate ranking system that only takes into account the non-televised Players Championship events on the PDC Pro Tour. In 2016, the field increased to 64 players.[1]

Players Championship Finals
Tournament information
VenueButlins Resort
LocationMinehead
CountryEngland
Established2009
Organisation(s)PDC
FormatLegs
Prize fund£600,000
Month(s) PlayedNovember
Current champion(s)
 Luke Humphries

The tournament was first announced at the PDC Awards Dinner in January 2008 by PDC chairman Barry Hearn.[2] It was initially held from late January to February,[3] and originally took place at the Circus Tavern in Purfleet, the venue for the first 14 PDC World Championships.[4] For the third edition, the event moved to the Doncaster Dome.[5] The 2012 edition took place in December at Butlins Minehead and has remained at that venue for all subsequent tournaments,[6] with the exception of the 2020 tournament, which was moved to Coventry, due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Finals

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Year Champion (average in final) Score Runner-up (average in final) Prize money Sponsor Venue
Total Champion Runner-up
2009   Phil Taylor (98.04) 16–9   Robert Thornton (88.52) £200,000 £50,000 £25,000 Coral.co.uk Circus Tavern, Purfleet
2010   Paul Nicholson (92.75) 13–11   Mervyn King (89.74) £250,000 £60,000 £24,000 totesport.com
2011 (Feb)   Phil Taylor (97.01) 13–12   Gary Anderson (96.31) Perform Doncaster Dome, Doncaster
2011 (Dec)   Kevin Painter (96.28) 13–9   Mark Webster (93.31) Cash Converters
2012   Phil Taylor (103.57) 13–6   Kim Huybrechts (91.70) Butlins Resort, Minehead
2013   Michael van Gerwen (102.45) 11–7   Phil Taylor (102.64)
2014   Gary Anderson (101.01) 11–6   Adrian Lewis (95.37) £300,000 £65,000 £35,000
2015   Michael van Gerwen (100.32) 11–6   Adrian Lewis (89.17)
2016   Michael van Gerwen (108.34) 11–3   Dave Chisnall (99.24) £400,000 £75,000
2017   Michael van Gerwen (105.50) 11–2   Jonny Clayton (94.64) £460,000 £100,000 £40,000 Mr Green Sport
2018   Daryl Gurney (95.61) 11–9   Michael van Gerwen (100.20) Ladbrokes
2019   Michael van Gerwen (97.92) 11–9   Gerwyn Price (96.48) £500,000 £50,000
2020   Michael van Gerwen (104.98) 11–10   Mervyn King (99.78) Ricoh Arena, Coventry
2021   Peter Wright (95.49) 11–10   Ryan Searle (92.10) Butlins Resort, Minehead
2022   Michael van Gerwen (99.92) 11–6   Rob Cross (100.33) Cazoo
2023   Luke Humphries (100.75) 11–9   Michael van Gerwen (103.19) £600,000 £120,000 £60,000

Records and statistics

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As of 26 November 2023

Total finalist appearances

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Rank Player Nationality Won Runner-up Finals Appearances
1 Michael van Gerwen   Netherlands 7 2 9 15
2 Phil Taylor   England 3 1 4 9
3 Gary Anderson   Scotland 1 1 2 14
4 Kevin Painter   England 1 0 1 9
Paul Nicholson   Australia 1 0 1 5
Daryl Gurney   Northern Ireland 1 0 1 9
Peter Wright   Scotland 1 0 1 12
Luke Humphries   England 1 0 1 5
9 Adrian Lewis   England 0 2 2 14
Mervyn King   England 0 2 2 15
11 Robert Thornton   Scotland 0 1 1 9
Mark Webster   Wales 0 1 1 7
Kim Huybrechts   Belgium 0 1 1 12
Dave Chisnall   England 0 1 1 13
Jonny Clayton   Wales 0 1 1 8
Gerwyn Price   Wales 0 1 1 9
Ryan Searle   England 0 1 1 7
Rob Cross   England 0 1 1 7
  • Active players are shown in bold
  • Only players who reached the final are included
  • In the event of identical records, players are sorted in alphabetical order by family name

Champions by country

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Country Players Total First title Last title
  Netherlands 1 7 2013 2022
  England 3 5 2009 2023
  Scotland 2 2 2014 2021
  Australia 1 1 2010 2010
  Northern Ireland 1 1 2018 2018

Nine-dart finishes

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Four nine-darters have been thrown at the Players Championship Finals. The first one was in 2016, which is the only one of the four that wasn't done on the Main Stage.

Player Year (+ Round) Method Opponent Result
  Alan Norris 2016, Last 64 3 x T20; 3 x T20; T20, T19, D12   Michael Smith Won
  Michael van Gerwen 2019, Last 32 3 x T20; 2 x T20, T19; 2 x T20, D12   Adrian Lewis Won
  Michael van Gerwen 2022, Final 2 x T20, T19; 3 x T20; 2 x T20, D12   Rob Cross Won
  Michael van Gerwen 2023, Final 3 x T20; 3 x T20; T20, T19, D12   Luke Humphries Lost

High averages

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Players Championship Finals ten highest one-match averages
Average Player Year (+ Round) Opponent Result
118.52   Michael van Gerwen 2023, Last 32   Ross Smith 6–1
112.27   Josh Rock 2023, Last 32   Gabriel Clemens 3–6
112.05   Dirk van Duijvenbode 2022, Last 16   Ryan Searle 10–9
111.58   Phil Taylor 2013, Quarter-Final   Raymond van Barneveld 9–2
111.12   Ian White 2018, Last 64   Scott Taylor 6–2
110.62   Gary Anderson 2014, Last 32   Christian Kist 6–5
110.02   Gary Anderson 2018, Quarter-Final   Jonny Clayton 10–4
110.01   Michael van Gerwen 2020, Quarter-Final   Dirk van Duijvenbode 10–5
109.88   Dave Chisnall 2023, Last 32   Chris Dobey 6–4
109.54   Simon Whitlock 2012, Last 16   Ronnie Baxter 10–1
Five highest losing averages
Average Player Year (+ Round) Opponent Result
112.27   Josh Rock 2023, Last 32   Gabriel Clemens 3–6
107.79   Boris Krčmar 2020, Last 64   Michael Smith 5–6
107.12   Jermaine Wattimena 2020, Last 32   Luke Humphries 4–6
105.85   Daryl Gurney 2016, Last 32   Kim Huybrechts 1–6
105.79   Gerwyn Price 2018, Last 64   Krzysztof Ratajski 5–6
Different players with a 100+ match average – updated 26/11/23
Player Total Highest Av. Year (+ Round)
  Michael van Gerwen 40 118.52 2023, Last 32
  Phil Taylor 18 111.58 2013, Quarter-Final
  Gary Anderson 15 110.62 2014, Last 32
  Luke Humphries 8 107.60 2020, Last 32
  Peter Wright 8 104.83 2020, Last 64
  Stephen Bunting 7 107.03 2019, Last 16
  Daryl Gurney 7 105.85 2016, Last 32
  Gerwyn Price 6 108.75 2019, Quarter-Final
  Raymond van Barneveld 6 107.40 2016, Last 64
  Mervyn King 6 105.12 2020, Last 64
  Adrian Lewis 6 105.03 2014, Last 32
  James Wade 6 102.95 2014, Last 32
  Dirk van Duijvenbode 5 112.05 2022, Last 16
  Ian White 5 111.12 2018, Last 64
  Dave Chisnall 5 109.88 2023, Last 32
  Kim Huybrechts 5 108.10 2016, Last 32
  Ryan Searle 5 106.62 2023, Last 32
  Rob Cross 5 104.17 2022, Quarter-Final
  Michael Smith 5 103.04 2020, Last 32
  Jermaine Wattimena 3 107.12 2020, Last 32
  Danny Noppert 3 106.59 2022, Last 64
  Colin Lloyd 3 102.36 2010, Last 16
  Simon Whitlock 2 109.54 2012, Last 16
  Ryan Meikle 2 108.76 2021, Last 64
  Jelle Klaasen 2 108.74 2014, Last 32
  Alan Norris 2 106.24 2016, Last 64
  Vincent van der Voort 2 104.86 2014, Last 32
  Chris Dobey 2 103.50 2021, Last 64
  Wes Newton 2 103.14 2011(Feb), Last 32
  José de Sousa 2 102.96 2020, Last 16
  Gabriel Clemens 2 102.20 2019, Last 16
  Nathan Aspinall 2 101.66 2020, Last 32
  Terry Jenkins 2 100.89 2014, Last 32
  Andy Smith 2 100.36 2011(Feb), Quarter-Final
  Jeffrey de Zwaan 2 100.32 2020, Last 64
  Josh Rock 1 112.27 2023, Last 32
  Boris Krčmar 1 107.79 2020, Last 64
  Robbie Green 1 105.79 2016, Last 32
  Benito van de Pas 1 105.39 2015, Last 16
  Krzysztof Ratajski 1 105.38 2018, Last 64
  Ross Smith 1 104.54 2023, Last 32
  Robert Thornton 1 104.21 2013, Last 32
  Dean Winstanley 1 103.94 2014, Last 32
  Ricardo Pietreczko 1 103.36 2023, Last 32
  Darren Webster 1 103.32 2017, Last 32
  William O'Connor 1 102.85 2020, Last 64
  Mensur Suljović 1 102.79 2016, Last 64
  Martin Schindler 1 102.17 2022, Last 64
  Steve Lennon 1 102.16 2020, Last 64
  Andy Hamilton 1 102.16 2012, Quarter-Final
  Devon Petersen 1 101.46 2020, Last 64
  Joe Cullen 1 101.33 2016, Last 32
  Jonny Clayton 1 101.28 2020, Last 64
  Jeffrey de Graaf 1 101.22 2016, Last 32
  Andrew Gilding 1 100.91 2022, Last 64
  Andy Boulton 1 100.86 2021, Last 64
  Niels Zonneveld 1 100.85 2023, Last 64
  Keane Barry 1 100.70 2022, Last 32
  Christian Kist 1 100.40 2014, Last 32
  Wayne Jones 1 100.13 2020, Last 64
  Callan Rydz 1 100.10 2021, Last 32
  Mark Webster 1 100.02 2011(Feb), Last 32
Five highest tournament averages (min 3 matches)
Average Player Year Round (+result)
105.42   Gary Anderson 2018 Semi-Final
105.20   Phil Taylor 2014 Quarter-Final
104.72   Gary Anderson 2014 Final (Won)
104.37   Phil Taylor 2013 Final (Lost)
104.23   Michael van Gerwen 2017 Final (Won)

Television coverage

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In the UK and Ireland, the first two tournaments were broadcast on ITV4 with the third edition being screened by PDC TV. The fourth edition returned to ITV4 where it has stayed ever since and ITV4 signed a long-term deal to cover the European Championships, Players Championships, UK Open and new tournament the Masters from 2014 to 2016.[7]

TV broadcasters

  • 2009–2010: ITV4
  • February 2011: PDC TV
  • December 2011–present: ITV4

References

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  1. ^ 2008 Order of Merit explanation Archived 2008-12-19 at the Wayback Machine from the Professional Darts Corporation, retrieved 19-11-2008
  2. ^ PDC website report – PDC To Introduce New Events from the Professional Darts Corporation, retrieved 19-11-2008
  3. ^ PDC website report – 2009 PDC Calendar from the Professional Darts Corporation, retrieved 19-11-2008
  4. ^ PDC website report – PDC Return To Circus Tavern Archived 2008-11-04 at the Wayback Machine from the Professional Darts Corporation, retrieved 19-11-2008
  5. ^ "2011 Players Championship Finals Tickets". Professional Darts Corporation. PDC & Perform Ltd. 2 December 2010. Archived from the original on 4 December 2010. Retrieved 3 December 2010.
  6. ^ "Butlins Minehead To Host Cash Converters Players Championship". Planet Darts. 30 March 2012.
  7. ^ pdc.tv Archived September 24, 2011, at the Wayback Machine
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