"I'm still shaking, this is massive": Emotional Jeffrey de Graaf elated with maiden ProTour triumph

Jeffrey de Graaf captured his first PDC title Monday in Milton Keynes by defeating Stephen Bunting 8-7 in a blood-curdling final at Players Championship 24.

The Swede, born in the Netherlands, made history by becoming the first Swede to win a PDC ranking tournament. Earlier this year De Graaf already reached the final of Players Championship 8, but then he went down 8-1 against German Martin Schindler. This time, however, he managed to finish the job.

Bunting shot out of the starting blocks in the final, quickly leading 4-1. However, De Graaf showed resilience and took four legs in a row to take over the lead. In the end, a deciding leg had to decide the winner, in which De Graaf kept his cool and took the title.

“It means a lot—it’s my first title in the PDC, so it’s fantastic,” said De Graaf emotionally. “In the beginning I missed a few doubles, but I managed to get it over the line. I’m still shaking!

“I’m proud to be the first Swedish player to win one of these titles, but I hope I won’t be the last. For me, this is massive. It also takes some pressure off, which is great.”

The road to the title was not easy, however. In the opening round, De Graaf narrowly escaped with 6-5 against Adam Paxton. This was followed by a 6-4 win over Ryan Searle and another deciding leg against José de Sousa. In the last 16 he impressed with a 6-2 victory over former world champion Michael Smith. He then steamrolled over Alan Soutar 6-1 and overcame Scott Williams 7-2 to reach his second Players Championship final.

The final itself was of a very high level: Bunting threw an average of 106.31, but De Graaf stayed cool and finished with an average of 102.10. In the decisive last leg he crowned himself winner of Players Championship 24 with a great 91 finish.