The Dutch performed excellently at the 28th Players Championship tournament of the season in Wigan. No fewer than three Dutchmen made it to the last four of this event.
Dirk van Duijvenbode advanced to the semifinals by beating Ryan Joyce 6-2. With a 15-darter and a 12-darter, 'Aubergenius' quickly took a break lead, before Joyce came back to 2-2. Van Duijvenbode then broke him again, before he did not surrender another leg. In the last four Van Duijvenbode will face Josh Rock, who was too strong for Jonny Clayton, 6-4.
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On the other side of the bracket, we get a Dutch semifinal between Wesley Plaisier and Danny Noppert. Plaisier showed resilience after falling behind 3-5 against Jose de Sousa. With two 15-darters, Plaisier came back to 5-5 before the Dutchman decided the match with a 13-darter.
Noppert was responsible for eliminating former world champion Michael Smith. After an early 2-0 deficit, Noppert was ahead 5-3, but Smith came back to 5-5 with a 12-darter and a 14-darter. The leg-decider was then joy for 'The Freeze'.
A total of 125,000 pounds in prize money is distributed at each Players Championship tournament. The winner of the event will receive a check for 15,000 pounds.
Semi-final
Josh Rock - | - Dirk van Duijvenbode
Wesley Plaisier - | - Danny Noppert
Quarterfinals
Josh Rock (90.15) 6 | 4 (97.18) Jonny Clayton
Dirk van Duijvenbode (97.97) 6 | 2 (90.03) Ryan Joyce
Wesley Plaisier (94.10) 6 | 5 (93.69) Jose De Sousa
Danny Noppert (96.92) 6 | 5 (96.23) Michael Smith
Last 16
Jonny Clayton (95.87) 6 | 5 (93.53) Dave Chisnall
Josh Rock (110.89) 6 | 2 (91.91) George Killington
Dirk van Duijvenbode (99.06) 6 | 1 (99.55) Wessel Nijman
Ryan Joyce (95.41) 6 | 4 (89.73) Mervyn King
Wesley Plaisier (100.00) 6 | 5 (96.90) Krzysztof Ratajski
Jose De Sousa (108.47) 6 | 1 (86.79) Mensur Suljovic
Michael Smith (97.22) 6 | 4 (89.04) Ryan Searle
Danny Noppert (97.91) 6 | 5 (99.91) Mickey Mansell
Last 32
Dave Chisnall (91.68) 6 | 5 (85.81) Danny Lauby
Jonny Clayton (95.86) 6 | 4 (92.74) Stephen Burton
George Killington (86.68) 6 | 1 (82.03) Karel Sedlacek
Josh Rock (90.91) 6 | 3 (86.38) Andrew Gilding
Dirk van Duijvenbode (100.81) 6 | 3 (96.05) William O'Connor
Wessel Nijman (97.53) 6 | 2 (88.63) Matthew Dennant
Mervyn King (86.71) 6 | 0 (79.36) Jelle Klaasen
Ryan Joyce (90.84) 6 | 3 (87.43) Richard Veenstra
Krzysztof Ratajski (105.88) 6 | 2 (89.95) Boris Krcmar
Wesley Plaisier (91.24) 6 | 1 (84.64) Florian Hempel
Mensur Suljovic (88.19) 6 | 5 (93.41) Jimmy van Schie
Jose De Sousa (99.89) 6 | 1 (83.16) Benjamin Reus
Ryan Searle (95.35) 6 | 5 (96.07) Gabriel Clemens
Michael Smith (91.44) 6 | 3 (84.08) Martin Lukeman
Mickey Mansell (101.62) 6 | 5 (101.82) Jermaine Wattimena
Danny Noppert (99.09) 6 | 3 (90.23) Radek Szaganski
Last 64
Danny Lauby (93.80) 6 | 2 (91.38) Christian Kist
Dave Chisnall (97.45) 6 | 2 (87.82) Paul Krohne
Stephen Burton (86.76) 6 | 4 (96.60) Raymond van Barneveld
Jonny Clayton (87.77) 6 | 5 (93.02) Keane Barry
Karel Sedlacek (89.50) 6 | 3 (86.48) Steve Beaton
George Killington (90.09) 6 | 5 (95.04) Jeffrey De Graaf
Andrew Gilding (90.97) 6 | 2 (82.81) Jeffrey Sparidaans
Josh Rock (90.99) 6 | 3 (87.42) Josh Payne
Dirk van Duijvenbode (99.46) 6 | 2 (93.51) Ryan Meikle
William O'Connor (92.93) 6 | 5 (92.31) Stephen Bunting
Wessel Nijman (103.42) 6 | 3 (96.40) Jim Williams
Matthew Dennant (95.01) 6 | 5 (97.86) Rob Cross
Jelle Klaasen (84.10) 6 | 3 (90.33) Robert Grundy
Mervyn King (93.89) 6 | 4 (87.40) Berry van Peer
Ryan Joyce (97.30) 6 | 3 (89.22) Darryl Pilgrim
Richard Veenstra (99.04) 6 | 5 (96.06) Ted Evetts
Krzysztof Ratajski (97.88) 6 | 1 (88.89) Lukas Wenig
Boris Krcmar (87.76) 6 | 4 (87.99) Luke Littler
Wesley Plaisier (100.71) 6 | 2 (99.09) Ritchie Edhouse
Florian Hempel (90.56) 6 | 1 (84.14) Gerwyn Price
Jimmy van Schie (105.24) 6 | 3 (95.95) Brendan Dolan
Mensur Suljovic (91.97) 6 | 3 (92.06) Dom Taylor
Benjamin Reus (97.13) 6 | 3 (93.05) Adam Hunt
Jose De Sousa (100.79) 6 | 5 (94.56) Luke Humphries
Gabriel Clemens (94.78) 6 | 4 (87.61) Kim Huybrechts
Ryan Searle (104.00) 6 | 2 (93.41) Steve Lennon
Michael Smith (99.91) 6 | 3 (103.25) Robert Owen
Martin Lukeman (96.09) 6 | 3 (91.64) Daryl Gurney
Jermaine Wattimena (99.41) 6 | 2 (84.31) Niels Zonneveld
Mickey Mansell (100.10) 6 | 3 (90.79) Simon Whitlock
Radek Szaganski (97.94) 6 | 4 (96.80) James Wade
Danny Noppert (107.04) 6 | 2 (93.53) Dylan Slevin
Last 128
Danny Lauby (86.21) 6 | 5 (84.80) Alan Soutar
Christian Kist (84.31) 6 | 4 (85.81) Danny van Trijp
Dave Chisnall (85.30) 6 | 3 (80.82) Graham Usher
Paul Krohne (88.99) 6 | 2 (89.16) Jitse Van der Wal
Raymond van Barneveld (95.84) 6 | 3 (89.91) Jules van Dongen
Stephen Burton (94.37) 6 | 3 (85.96) Arron Monk
Jonny Clayton (96.47) 6 | 3 (89.13) Ricky Evans
Keane Barry (96.18) 6 | 2 (89.97) Lee Cocks
Karel Sedlacek (82.75) 6 | 4 (84.82) Luke Woodhouse
Steve Beaton (85.05) 6 | 5 (91.13) Cam Crabtree
Jeffrey De Graaf (87.40) 6 | 5 (91.55) Damon Heta
George Killington (94.98) 6 | 3 (92.28) Brett Claydon
Andrew Gilding (93.10) 6 | 4 (90.04) Richie Burnett
Jeffrey Sparidaans (96.02) 6 | 5 (95.21) Daniel Klose
Josh Rock (94.13) 6 | 5 (89.72) Scott Williams
Josh Payne (93.14) 6 | 4 (91.34) David Evans
Dirk van Duijvenbode (98.27) 6 | 3 (93.24) Andy Baetens
Ryan Meikle (100.59) 6 | 2 (92.15) Patrick Geeraets
Stephen Bunting (98.02) 6 | 0 (84.28) Danny Jansen
William O'Connor (100.63) 6 | 3 (90.66) Adam Gawlas
Wessel Nijman (105.69) 6 | 4 (89.34) Darren Beveridge
Jim Williams (99.09) 6 | 5 (94.71) Justin Hood
Rob Cross (94.02) 6 | 5 (87.37) Nathan Rafferty
Matthew Dennant (98.39) 6 | 3 (86.19) Maik Kuivenhoven
Robert Grundy (95.10) 6 | 5 (86.96) Joe Cullen
Jelle Klaasen (82.21) 6 | 4 (86.52) Callum Goffin
Mervyn King (90.37) 6 | 5 (94.17) Chris Dobey
Berry van Peer (78.68) 6 | 2 (70.63) Michele Turetta
Ryan Joyce (104.85) 6 | 1 (87.43) Martijn Dragt
Darryl Pilgrim (87.90) 6 | 3 (88.39) Tim Wolters
Richard Veenstra (95.15) 6 | 5 (96.16) Gian van Veen
Ted Evetts (89.38) 6 | 4 (90.33) Nick Kenny
Krzysztof Ratajski (99.32) 6 | 3 (90.34) Callan Rydz
Lukas Wenig (90.45) 6 | 5 (87.09) Kevin Doets
Luke Littler (95.98) 6 | 3 (87.88) Owen Bates
Boris Krcmar (95.56) 6 | 4 (91.65) Jacques Labre
Ritchie Edhouse (90.10) 6 | 3 (86.35) Thibault Tricole
Wesley Plaisier (102.80) 6 | 2 (95.12) Matt Campbell
Gerwyn Price (97.58) 6 | 3 (94.88) Jurjen van der Velde
Florian Hempel (102.57) 6 | 4 (101.73) James Hurrell
Brendan Dolan (82.79) 6 | 4 (93.81) Adam Warner
Jimmy van Schie (86.41) 6 | 5 (85.22) Vincent van der Voort
Dom Taylor (93.20) 6 | 5 (91.81) Martin Schindler
Benjamin Reus (88.35) 6 | 5 (93.34) Ricardo Pietreczko
Adam Hunt (94.24) 6 | 1 (83.51) Jeffrey De Zwaan
Luke Humphries (90.33) 6 | 3 (90.61) Jamie Atkins
Jose De Sousa (88.15) 6 | 5 (80.84) Owen Roelofs
Gabriel Clemens (92.06) 6 | 4 (84.44) Robbie Knops
Kim Huybrechts (85.89) 6 | 3 (86.65) Dimitri Van den Bergh
Ryan Searle (94.96) 6 | 3 (82.83) Rowby-John Rodriguez
Steve Lennon (93.80) 6 | 4 (88.98) William Borland
Michael Smith (96.73) 6 | 5 (92.77) Andy Boulton
Robert Owen (93.02) 6 | 5 (86.09) Chris Landman
Daryl Gurney (92.17) 6 | 4 (83.41) Lee Evans
Martin Lukeman (98.85) 6 | 5 (93.76) Ian White
Jermaine Wattimena (91.78) 6 | 5 (92.69) Graham Hall
Niels Zonneveld (90.13) 6 | 3 (92.36) Jamie Hughes
Mickey Mansell (96.48) 6 | 2 (86.75) Michael van Gerwen
Simon Whitlock (87.38) 6 | 2 (79.19) Joshua Richardson
James Wade (95.05) 6 | 2 (91.04) Rhys Griffin
Radek Szaganski (90.32) 6 | 3 (93.00) Madars Razma
Danny Noppert (97.08) 6 | 2 (84.02) Connor Scutt
Dylan Slevin (94.25) 6 | 1 (83.04) Mario Vandenbogaerde