Heavy Metal rules supreme in Leicester: Ryan Searle clinches Players Championship 28 in a tense final against Mario Vandenbogaerde
PDC
Ryan Searle came out victorious in Leicester to
win Players Championship 28 after defeating shock finalist Mario Vandenbogaerde 8-6 in a closely
fought battle. A whole host of top players travelled to compete in the event with the race to Minehead closing in, but many of them failed to take advantage.
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En route to the final, Searle dumped out Ritchie Edhouse
(6-4), Jamai van der Herik (6-2), Nathan Aspinall (6-5), Karel Sedlacek (6-5),
Darren Beveridge (6-4), and Kevin Doets (7-4) to reach his second final of the
year, and 18th PC final.
Super Mario took down a high calibre list of players to make
his first ever PDC final. To get to the final stages, he defeated Michael Smith (6-3), Daryl Gurney
(6-4), Nick Kenny (6-4), Ross Smith (6-4), Jermaine Wattimena (6-5), and
Brendan Dolan (7-3). These results also saw him jump up into 41st in
the race to Minehead, after lingering just below the top 64 before a dart was
thrown.
Vandenbogaerde went the scenic route on 32, ending up on
double nine to clinch an important hold after Searle missed on the outer ring
to break. He soon tied the score, pinning double 10 after the Belgian missed at
tops. This did not last long however, after Vandenbogaerde finds double 16 to
level.
Super Mario comes close to taking a 4-2 lead but misses the
bull by a small margin. Searle makes no mistake on double 10, before taking out
84 in three to place himself halfway from a maiden PDC title. The Englishman
takes out 110 on double 18, before clinically taking out 92 in two, moving him
5-4 ahead and more importantly a break ahead of his opponent, whose scoring
power was faltering slightly.
Double 10 would cause both players a lot of frustration in
the 10th leg, with the pair missing numerous darts at the target. It
would be Vandenbogaerde who cleans up first, moving up the board to double five
to break back. A 16-dart hold of throw edged him ahead once more, but a much
improved 12-darter from Searle kept him in it.
At 6-6, Vandenbogaerde missed two darts to go a leg away,
with Searle nicking the advantage after brilliantly cleaning up 71 on double 10,
and pins tops to take the title. Frustratingly for Super Mario, he had just hit
a maximum to leave tops, but he never had a chance to go for it. Surprisingly, this is Seaele's first time winning multiple titles in a single year, breaking new ground as he looks ahead to the majors at the end of the year.
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| Mario Vandenbogaerde | VS | Ryan Searle |
|---|---|---|
| 89.38 | Average (3 Darts) | 95.43 |
| 18 | 100+ Thrown | 24 |
| 9 | 140+ Thrown | 7 |
| 3 | 180 Thrown | 3 |
| 84 | Highest Checkout | 110 |
| 0 | Checkout 100+ | 1 |
| 31.6 | Checkout percentage | 44.4 |
| 6 / 19 | Checkout | 8 / 18 |
SEARLE WINS PC28! 🏆
— PDC Darts (@OfficialPDC) September 30, 2025
Ryan Searle is victorious in Leicester!
Heavy Metal wins the first of three Players Championship events this week, as he beats Mario Vandenbogaerde 8-6 to claim his second title of the year!
📺 https://t.co/YyBPPwoMK8#PC28 pic.twitter.com/qWh69TXG7X
Lucas MichaelDarts Journalist
Lucas Michael is a darts journalist and reporter based in Cambridge, UK, and has been part of the DartsNews team since 2025. He covers professional darts through reports, analysis, round-ups, and live coverage, with a focus on clear context and accurate reporting across the PDC calendar.
A key part of his work is liveblogging major tournaments throughout the year, providing real-time updates, match coverage, and contextual reporting across the professional circuit. He also reports regularly from events on site and has covered the PDC World Darts Championship from the venue, delivering first-hand insight throughout the tournament.
Within the newsroom, Lucas works closely with the editorial team and supports coverage alongside Chief Content Officer Samuel Gill and reporter Kieran Wood.
Lucas holds a BA (Hons) in Sports Journalism. In his work, he places strong emphasis on careful sourcing, editorial accuracy, and updating content promptly when new, verified information becomes available.
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