PC 21 and 22 review: The Eagle lands in Hildesheim and Deutsche Delight for Dolan

Last weekend saw many darts stars traveling down to Germany for the Players Championship double-header in Hildesheim.

These remarkable Players Championship events are reviewed by Paul Woodage.

PLAYERS CHAMPIONSHIP 21
Saturday 3rd August 2019
Hildesheim, Germany

Krzysztof Ratajski claimed his fifth PDC title on day one of the Players Championship double header in Hildesheim. Only Michael Smith, Ian White and Mensur Suljovic from the worlds top ten made the trip to Germay but such is the depth of the talent in the PDC it was still a high quality field.

There were disappointing first round exits for six former Lakeside World Champions in Durrant, van Barneveld, Bunting, Beaton, Klaasen and Mark Webster as they all failed to take advantage of the depleted field. Ian White dusted off the disappointment of his first round exit at the World Matchplay by bouncing back impressively to reach the semi final where he was defeated in a last leg decider against Dimitri van der Bergh. Ratajski thundered his way through to the final in much more emphatic style by trouncing Dutchman Danny Noppert 7-1 to set up a Poland v Belgium showdown.

However, it was The Polish Eagle prevailed and doubled his tally of titles for the year by defeating Van den Bergh in a fiercely contested final. Ratajski was trailing 6-4 but three legs on the bounce put him just one away from victory. The young Belgian stopped the mini rot by holding throw and took it to decider but the man from Warsaw served out to win a nail biting final 8-7.

PLAYERS CHAMPIONSHIP 22
Sunday 4th August 2019
Hildesheim, Germany

Brendan Dolan returned to the winners circle for the first time in five years as he claimed the title on the final day in Hildesheim. The History Maker had turned 46 a few days earlier and gave himself the perfect birthday present by defeating Jermaine Wattimena 8-5 in the final.

New Zealander Cody Harris reached his first ever Players Championship semi final but his run ended when he came up against Dolan. The Fermanagh man recorded his third ton plus average of the day as he dispatched of the plucky Kiwi 7-3. In the other final four match, Wattimena edged through in a last leg decider against Mensur Suljovic to reach his first final since February.

The finale was finely poised at 3-3 before Dolan grabbed it by the scruff of the neck and reeled off four successive legs to go within one of victory. Despite the Dutchman reducing the deficit to 7-5, Dolan held his nerve and took out 108 to claim his first PDC title since 2014.

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