Chris Dobey delivered a darting masterclass to capture his third ranking title of the season with victory at Players Darts Championship 32 on Thursday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The former Masters champion defeated surprise package Tommy Morris 8-4 to secure the \u00a315,000 top prize, on a day which also featured a hat-trick of nine-dart finishes in Den Bosch.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
However, Dobey stole the headlines with a series of impregnable displays on Dutch soil, registering the three highest averages of the afternoon en route to glory.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The 36-year-old boasted a tournament average of 103.15 across his seven matches, with the only blemish coming in a scrappy opening round tie against Marvin Kraft.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Dobey followed this up with a 108.65 average in a six-leg drubbing of Owen Bates, before recording successive 6-2 wins against Mickey Mansell and Bradley Brooks to race into the quarter-finals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Bedlington star then averaged 111.12 in a 6-1 demolition of Krzysztof Ratajski, before averaging 109.68 to progress through a captivating semi-final showdown against William O\u2019Connor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Dobey\u2019s performance in Thursday\u2019s showpiece wasn\u2019t quite as spectacular, although he inflicted the damage in the early exchanges, reeling off three straight legs in just 41 darts to establish a 3-0 cushion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Morris soon settled and reduced the deficit to 5-3, but Dobey regained control with back-to-back 14-darters to lead 7-3, before firing in a brilliant 12-darter in leg 12 to prevail with a 103 average.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI was saying yesterday that I just need a bit of consistency back,\u201d admitted Dobey, who joins Wessel Nijman and Luke Humphries in claiming a trio of Players Championship titles this year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI\u2019ve changed darts. I\u2019ve gone to a brand new barrel this week.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI took them out of the wrapper at home the day before I travelled, and I\u2019ve felt great and produced some good stuff.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI\u2019m just delighted to get another win after my recent performances on TV.\u00a0I\u2019ve had a few struggles, but my doubles were brilliant today and you can tell I\u2019ve been working at home.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“I\u2019m knuckling down and I\u2019ll be working hard for the back end of the year. I know what I\u2019ve got to defend at the World Championship, so I\u2019m looking to dig deep and hopefully get up those rankings again.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Despite Dobey\u2019s heroics, Challenge Tour star Morris refused to be overshadowed in Den Bosch, claiming a host of major scalps to secure a spot in his maiden PDC ranking final.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The 34-year-old was aiming to become only the sixth player without a Tour Card to win a ProTour crown, following in the footsteps of Joe Murnan, Ratajski, Scott Williams, Wesley Plaisier and Henry Coates.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Morris dumped out Dutch icon Michael van Gerwen and Wednesday\u2019s champion Charlie Manby on his way to the quarter-finals, where he later swept aside Michael Smith.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The quick-fire Englishman then averaged almost 107 to win through a high-quality semi-final clash against Williams, which all but confirms his qualification for next month\u2019s Players Championship Finals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Williams \u2013 a runner-up at Players Championship 30 last month \u2013 maintained his impressive revival on Dutch soil, registering three whitewash wins and defeating Wednesday\u2019s finalist Maik Kuivenhoven during his run to the last four.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Irish star O\u2019Connor completed the semi-final line-up, posting ton-plus averages to sink Martin Schindler and Niels Zonneveld, while converting a sublime 148 finish to edge past Karel Sedlacek in the last eight.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Sedlacek saw off Dutch duo Raymond van Barneveld and Kevin Doets in reaching the quarter-finals, where he was joined by a resurgent Ricardo Pietreczko.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
2022\/23 World Champion Smith also succumbed at the same stage, with Ratajski landing a brace of ton-topping averages prior to his defeat against an irrepressible Dobey.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Elsewhere, Cor Dekker was on the receiving end of a nine-darter for the second straight day, as Tom Sykes achieved perfection during their opening round encounter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Brooks also nailed the nine in his round one victory against Adam Gawlas, while Plaisier produced a perfect leg en route to a 6-4 success against Damon Heta in round two, which could prove invaluable in his hopes of World Championship qualification.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Plaisier enjoyed a timely run to the last 16 on home soil to move into the provisional qualification places, with five-time World Champion Van Barneveld currently occupying the final spot.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The year\u2019s final Players Championship double-header will take place in Leicester next week, as the race for World Darts Championship and Players Championship Finals qualification reaches its climax at the Mattioli Arena. Semi-Finals<\/strong> Final<\/strong> Nine-Darters! Chris Dobey delivered a darting masterclass to capture his third ranking title of the season with victory at<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":17213,"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":[44],"tags":[523],"class_list":["post-17212","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-international","tag-sarts"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\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\n\t\t
RESULTS
Last 16
<\/strong>Ricardo Pietreczko 6-5 Wessel Nijman
Scott Williams 6-2 Darius Labanauskas
Tommy Morris 6-2 Charlie Manby
Michael Smith 6-3 Stephen Burton
Karel Sedlacek 6-3 Kevin Doets
William O’Connor 6-5 Niels Zonneveld
Chris Dobey 6-2 Bradley Brooks
Krzysztof Ratajski 6-1 Wesley Plaisier
Quarter-Finals
<\/strong>Scott Williams 6-0 Ricardo Pietreczko
Tommy Morris 6-2 Michael Smith
William O’Connor 6-5 Karel Sedlacek
Chris Dobey 6-1 Krzysztof Ratajski<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Tommy Morris 7-3 Scott Williams
Chris Dobey 7-4 William O’Connor<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Chris Dobey 8-4 Tommy Morris<\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/strong>Tom Sykes hit a nine-darter during his round one tie against Cor Dekker.Bradley Brooks hit a nine-darter during his round one tie against Adam Gawlas.Wesley Plaisier hit a nine-darter during his round two tie against Damon Heta.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"