Karel Sedlacek became the first Czech player to win a PDC ranking title courtesy of a historic 8-7 victory over Scott Williams in Wednesday\u2019s Players Championship 30 showpiece in Den Bosch.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Sedlacek defied nine maximums from a resurgent Williams to triumph in a breathless decider, squandering seven match darts before regaining his poise to celebrate a famous win.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The 47-year-old was impregnable in the early stages of Wednesday\u2019s event, conceding just two legs in emphatic victories over Tavis Dudeney, Daniel Klose and Damon Heta.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Sedlacek averaged almost 106 in his demolition of Australia\u2019s number one, and he continued his charge with a 6-3 success against former World Matchplay champion Nathan Aspinall.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Czech trailblazer then fought back from 3-0 and 4-1 down to stun Chris Dobey in the last eight, before dispatching Niels Zonneveld 7-2 in advancing to his maiden PDC ranking final.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Williams\u2019 relentless scoring power saw him establish a 4-2 lead in their winner-takes-all clash, but successive 123, 80 and 164 finishes from Sedlacek saw him regain control of the contest at 5-4.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The pendulum shifted once more when Sedlacek missed five darts to complete an 8-5 win, although he held his nerve in an incredible finale, after a wayward dart from Williams denied him the chance to convert a match-winning 112 checkout.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cFor me it\u2019s a really special time,\u201d reflected a visibly emotional Sedlacek.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI have been waiting for this for more than ten years and now it\u2019s a reality. It\u2019s crazy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI missed five match darts and thought what could I do more. I went step-by-step and I said \u2018you can do it!\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIt still sounds like a dream. I\u2019m really happy, but I said last Saturday when I lost against Gian [van Veen], I played really well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIt means everything. I have played more than 30 years, and now I\u2019ve done it. I don\u2019t know what to say. For me, I think that\u2019s the top [moment] of my career.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cDarts is growing in Czech Republic day by day. There are more and more players and good players. I think this is one of the best points of my career.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Despite missing out a second PDC ranking title, Williams performed magnificently at Maassport Den Bosch, averaging 99.36 across seven matches to boost his World Championship qualification hopes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The 36-year-old \u2013 who was \u00a36,000 adrift of the provisional cut-off prior to Wednesday\u2019s play \u2013 crashed in an astonishing 33 180s throughout the day in claiming the \u00a310,000 runner-up prize.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The former World Championship semi-finalist claimed the scalps of Mensur Suljovic and Danny Noppert to kick off proceedings, which he backed up with a monstrous 110.41 average against Richard Veenstra.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Williams then averaged 103 in sweeping aside Tommy Lishman, before dumping out Dutch duo Michael van Gerwen and Jermaine Wattimena in reaching his first ProTour final since last June.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Wattimena\u2019s run to the semi-finals saw him follow up averages of 103 and 101 with deciding-leg victories against Martin Schindler and Steve Lennon, only to fall short in his pursuit of success on home soil.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Zonneveld was similarly impressive, opening his campaign with a 106.47 average, before recording wins over Sebastian Bialecki, Luke Woodhouse and Raymond van Barneveld to reach his first Players Championship semi-final of 2026.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Dutch legends Van Barneveld and Van Gerwen headlined the quarter-final line-up, as the pair produced some vintage performances in Den Bosch.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Van Barneveld registered a quartet of 6-2 victories to reach his first ranking quarter-final of the season, which also moves him into the provisional World Championship qualification places.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Van Gerwen, meanwhile, avenged Tuesday\u2019s defeat against Benjamin Pratnemer with victory over the Slovenian in round one, before averaging 107.47 to triumph in a pulsating all-Dutch affair against Jimmy van Schie.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Lennon – competing in his first PDC ranking quarter-final since February 2024 – completed the last eight line-up alongside Dobey, also a quarter-finalist in Tuesday\u2019s Players Championship 29.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Tuesday\u2019s champion Cameron Menzies saw his bid for back-to-back titles curtailed by Callan Rydz in their opening round clash, as Rydz recovered from 5-1 down to complete a remarkable fightback.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Elsewhere, Josh Rock suffered a chastening 6-1 defeat to Mario Vandenbogaerde at the same stage, leaving his hopes of qualifying for November\u2019s Players Championship Finals in serious jeopardy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The year\u2019s penultimate Players Championship double-header will take place on October 28-29 in Den Bosch, as the sport\u2019s leading stars return to the Netherlands for Players Championships 31-32 next month. Quarter-Finals<\/strong> Semi-Finals<\/strong> Final<\/strong> Karel Sedlacek became the first Czech player to win a PDC ranking title courtesy of a historic 8-7<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":15978,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[59],"class_list":["post-15977","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-newsbeat","tag-darts"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t
RESULTS
Last 16
<\/strong>Michael van Gerwen 6-1 Brendan Dolan
Scott Williams 6-3 Tommy Lishman
Steve Lennon 6-4 Kevin Doets
Jermaine Wattimena 6-5 Martin Schindler
Niels Zonneveld 6-4 Luke Woodhouse
Raymond van Barneveld 6-2 Jeffrey de Zwaan
Chris Dobey 6-3 Dirk van Duijvenbode
Karel Sedlacek 6-3 Nathan Aspinall<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Scott Williams 6-2 Michael van Gerwen
Jermaine Wattimena 6-5 Steve Lennon
Niels Zonneveld 6-4 Raymond van Barneveld
Karel Sedlacek 6-5 Chris Dobey<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Scott Williams 7-4 Jermaine Wattimena
Karel Sedlacek 7-2 Niels Zonneveld<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Karel Sedlacek 8-7 Scott Williams<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"