Players Championship Finals

Players Championship Finals
Butlin's Minehead, the venue for the tournament
Tournament information
VenueButlins Resort
LocationMinehead
CountryEngland
Established2009
Organisation(s)PDC
FormatLegs
Prize fund£600,000
Month(s) PlayedNovember
Current champion(s)
 Luke Humphries

The Players Championship Finals is a darts tournament organised by the Professional Darts Corporation. The tournament originally featured the top 32 players from the Players Championship Order of Merit, a separate ranking system that only takes into account the non-televised Players Championship events on the PDC Pro Tour. In 2016, the field increased to 64 players.[1]

The tournament was first announced at the PDC Awards Dinner in January 2008 by PDC chairman Barry Hearn.[2] It was initially held from late January to February,[3] and originally took place at the Circus Tavern in Purfleet, the venue for the first 14 PDC World Championships.[4] For the third edition, the event moved to the Doncaster Dome.[5] The 2012 edition took place in December at Butlins Minehead and has remained at that venue for all subsequent tournaments,[6] with the exception of the 2020 tournament, which was moved to Coventry, due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Finals

Year Champion (average in final) Score Runner-up (average in final) Prize money Sponsor Venue
Total Champion Runner-up
2009 Phil Taylor (98.04) 16–9 Robert Thornton (88.52) £200,000 £50,000 £25,000 Coral.co.uk Circus Tavern, Purfleet
2010 Paul Nicholson (92.75) 13–11 Mervyn King (89.74) £250,000 £60,000 £24,000 totesport.com
2011 (Feb) Phil Taylor (97.01) 13–12 Gary Anderson (96.31) Perform Doncaster Dome, Doncaster
2011 (Dec) Kevin Painter (96.28) 13–9 Mark Webster (93.31) Cash Converters
2012 Phil Taylor (103.57) 13–6 Kim Huybrechts (91.70) Butlins Resort, Minehead
2013 Michael van Gerwen (102.45) 11–7 Phil Taylor (102.64)
2014 Gary Anderson (101.01) 11–6 Adrian Lewis (95.37) £300,000 £65,000 £35,000
2015 Michael van Gerwen (100.32) 11–6 Adrian Lewis (89.17)
2016 Michael van Gerwen (108.34) 11–3 Dave Chisnall (99.24) £400,000 £75,000
2017 Michael van Gerwen (105.50) 11–2 Jonny Clayton (94.64) £460,000 £100,000 £40,000 Mr Green Sport
2018 Daryl Gurney (95.61) 11–9 Michael van Gerwen (100.20) Ladbrokes
2019 Michael van Gerwen (97.92) 11–9 Gerwyn Price (96.48) £500,000 £50,000
2020 Michael van Gerwen (104.98) 11–10 Mervyn King (99.78) Ricoh Arena, Coventry
2021 Peter Wright (95.49) 11–10 Ryan Searle (92.10) Butlins Resort, Minehead
2022 Michael van Gerwen (99.92) 11–6 Rob Cross (100.33) Cazoo
2023 Luke Humphries (100.75) 11–9 Michael van Gerwen (103.19) £600,000 £120,000 £60,000
2024 Luke Humphries (103.69) 11–7 Luke Littler (100.08) Ladbrokes

Records and statistics

As of 24 November 2024

Total finalist appearances

Rank Player Nationality Won Runner-up Finals Appearances
1 Michael van Gerwen Netherlands 7 2 9 16
2 Phil Taylor England 3 1 4 9
3 Luke Humphries England 2 0 2 6
4 Gary Anderson Scotland 1 1 2 15
5 Daryl Gurney Northern Ireland 1 0 1 10
Paul Nicholson Australia 1 0 1 5
Kevin Painter England 1 0 1 9
Peter Wright Scotland 1 0 1 13
9 Mervyn King England 0 2 2 16
Adrian Lewis England 0 2 2 14
11 Dave Chisnall England 0 1 1 14
Jonny Clayton Wales 0 1 1 9
Rob Cross England 0 1 1 8
Kim Huybrechts Belgium 0 1 1 13
Luke Littler England 0 1 1 1
Gerwyn Price Wales 0 1 1 10
Ryan Searle England 0 1 1 8
Robert Thornton Scotland 0 1 1 9
Mark Webster Wales 0 1 1 7
  • Active players are shown in bold
  • Only players who reached the final are included
  • In the event of identical records, players are sorted in alphabetical order by family name

Champions by country

Country Players Total First title Last title
Netherlands 1 7 2013 2022
England 3 6 2009 2024
Scotland 2 2 2014 2021
Australia 1 1 2010 2010
Northern Ireland 1 1 2018 2018

Nine-dart finishes

Four nine-darters have been thrown at the Players Championship Finals. The first one was in 2016, which is the only one of the four that wasn't done on the Main Stage.

Player Year (+ Round) Method Opponent Result
Alan Norris 2016, Last 64 3 x T20; 3 x T20; T20, T19, D12 Michael Smith Won
Michael van Gerwen 2019, Last 32 3 x T20; 2 x T20, T19; 2 x T20, D12 Adrian Lewis Won
Michael van Gerwen 2022, Final 2 x T20, T19; 3 x T20; 2 x T20, D12 Rob Cross Won
Michael van Gerwen 2023, Final 3 x T20; 3 x T20; T20, T19, D12 Luke Humphries Lost

High averages

Players Championship Finals ten highest one-match averages
Average Player Year (+ Round) Opponent Result
118.52 Michael van Gerwen 2023, Last 32 Ross Smith 6–1
112.73 Luke Littler 2024, Last 64 Rob Cross 6–0
112.27 Josh Rock 2023, Last 32 Gabriel Clemens 3–6
112.05 Dirk van Duijvenbode 2022, Last 16 Ryan Searle 10–9
111.58 Phil Taylor 2013, Quarter-Final Raymond van Barneveld 9–2
111.12 Ian White 2018, Last 64 Scott Taylor 6–2
110.62 Gary Anderson 2014, Last 32 Christian Kist 6–5
110.02 Gary Anderson 2018, Quarter-Final Jonny Clayton 10–4
110.01 Michael van Gerwen 2020, Quarter-Final Dirk van Duijvenbode 10–5
109.88 Dave Chisnall 2023, Last 32 Chris Dobey 6–4
Five highest losing averages
Average Player Year (+ Round) Opponent Result
112.27 Josh Rock 2023, Last 32 Gabriel Clemens 3–6
107.79 Boris Krčmar 2020, Last 64 Michael Smith 5–6
107.12 Jermaine Wattimena 2020, Last 32 Luke Humphries 4–6
105.85 Daryl Gurney 2016, Last 32 Kim Huybrechts 1–6
105.79 Gerwyn Price 2018, Last 64 Krzysztof Ratajski 5–6
Different players with a 100+ match average – updated 24/11/24
Player Total Highest Av. Year (+ Round)
Michael van Gerwen 40 118.52 2023, Last 32
Phil Taylor 18 111.58 2013, Quarter-Final
Gary Anderson 16 110.62 2014, Last 32
Luke Humphries 10 107.60 2020, Last 32
Daryl Gurney 8 108.81 2024, Last 64
Peter Wright 8 104.83 2020, Last 64
Stephen Bunting 7 107.03 2019, Last 16
Luke Littler 6 112.73 2024, Last 64
Ian White 6 111.12 2018, Last 64
Gerwyn Price 6 108.75 2019, Quarter-Final
Raymond van Barneveld 6 107.40 2016, Last 64
Mervyn King 6 105.12 2020, Last 64
Adrian Lewis 6 105.03 2014, Last 32
Rob Cross 6 104.17 2022, Quarter-Final
James Wade 6 102.95 2014, Last 32
Dirk van Duijvenbode 5 112.05 2022, Last 16
Dave Chisnall 5 109.88 2023, Last 32
Kim Huybrechts 5 108.10 2016, Last 32
Ryan Searle 5 106.62 2023, Last 32
Michael Smith 5 103.04 2020, Last 32
Jermaine Wattimena 4 107.12 2020, Last 32
Danny Noppert 3 106.59 2022, Last 64
Ross Smith 3 105.26 2024, Quarter-Final
Colin Lloyd 3 102.36 2010, Last 16
Simon Whitlock 2 109.54 2012, Last 16
Ryan Meikle 2 108.76 2021, Last 64
Jelle Klaasen 2 108.74 2014, Last 32
Alan Norris 2 106.24 2016, Last 64
Vincent van der Voort 2 104.86 2014, Last 32
Chris Dobey 2 103.50 2021, Last 64
Wes Newton 2 103.14 2011(Feb), Last 32
José de Sousa 2 102.96 2020, Last 16
Gabriel Clemens 2 102.20 2019, Last 16
Nathan Aspinall 2 101.66 2020, Last 32
Andrew Gilding 2 100.91 2022, Last 64
Terry Jenkins 2 100.89 2014, Last 32
Andy Smith 2 100.36 2011(Feb), Quarter-Final
Jeffrey de Zwaan 2 100.32 2020, Last 64
Josh Rock 1 112.27 2023, Last 32
Boris Krčmar 1 107.79 2020, Last 64
Robbie Green 1 105.79 2016, Last 32
Benito van de Pas 1 105.39 2015, Last 16
Krzysztof Ratajski 1 105.38 2018, Last 64
Ritchie Edhouse 1 105.35 2024, Last 32
Robert Thornton 1 104.21 2013, Last 32
Gian van Veen 1 104.21 2024, Last 64
Dean Winstanley 1 103.94 2014, Last 32
Ricardo Pietreczko 1 103.36 2023, Last 32
Darren Webster 1 103.32 2017, Last 32
William O'Connor 1 102.85 2020, Last 64
Mensur Suljović 1 102.79 2016, Last 64
Martin Schindler 1 102.17 2022, Last 64
Steve Lennon 1 102.16 2020, Last 64
Andy Hamilton 1 102.16 2012, Quarter-Final
Devon Petersen 1 101.46 2020, Last 64
Mike De Decker 1 101.33 2024, Last 32
Joe Cullen 1 101.33 2016, Last 32
Jonny Clayton 1 101.28 2020, Last 64
Jeffrey de Graaf 1 101.22 2016, Last 32
Scott Williams 1 101.08 2024, Last 16
Andy Boulton 1 100.86 2021, Last 64
Niels Zonneveld 1 100.85 2023, Last 64
Keane Barry 1 100.70 2022, Last 32
Christian Kist 1 100.40 2014, Last 32
Wayne Jones 1 100.13 2020, Last 64
Callan Rydz 1 100.10 2021, Last 32
Mark Webster 1 100.02 2011(Feb), Last 32
Five highest tournament averages (min 3 matches)
Average Player Year Round (+result
105.42 Gary Anderson 2018 Semi-Final
105.20 Phil Taylor 2014 Quarter-Final
105.16 Luke Littler 2024 Final (Lost)
104.72 Gary Anderson 2014 Final (Won)
104.37 Phil Taylor 2013 Final (Lost)

Television coverage

In the UK and Ireland, the first two tournaments were broadcast on ITV4 with the third edition being screened by PDC TV. The fourth edition returned to ITV4 where it has stayed ever since and ITV4 signed a long-term deal to cover the European Championships, Players Championships, UK Open and new tournament the Masters from 2014 to 2016.[7]

TV broadcasters

  • 2009–2010: ITV4
  • February 2011: PDC TV
  • December 2011–present: ITV4

References

  1. ^ 2008 Order of Merit explanation Archived 2008-12-19 at the Wayback Machine from the Professional Darts Corporation, retrieved 19-11-2008
  2. ^ PDC website report – PDC To Introduce New Events from the Professional Darts Corporation, retrieved 19-11-2008
  3. ^ PDC website report – 2009 PDC Calendar from the Professional Darts Corporation, retrieved 19-11-2008
  4. ^ PDC website report – PDC Return To Circus Tavern Archived 2008-11-04 at the Wayback Machine from the Professional Darts Corporation, retrieved 19-11-2008
  5. ^ "2011 Players Championship Finals Tickets". Professional Darts Corporation. PDC & Perform Ltd. 2 December 2010. Archived from the original on 4 December 2010. Retrieved 3 December 2010.
  6. ^ "Butlins Minehead To Host Cash Converters Players Championship". Planet Darts. 30 March 2012.
  7. ^ pdc.tv Archived September 24, 2011, at the Wayback Machine
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