Players Championship Finals

Players Championship Finals
Players Championship Finals
Tournament information
Venue	Butlins Resort
Location	Minehead
Country	England
Established	2009
Organisation(s)	PDC
Format	Legs
Prize fund	£600,000
Month(s) Played	November
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
Year	Champion (average in final)	Score	Runner-up (average in final)	Total	Champion	Runner-up	Sponsor	Venue
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	Circus Tavern, Purfleet
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	Doncaster Dome, Doncaster
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)	£300,000	£65,000
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)	£460,000		£40,000	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	Cazoo

Records and statistics

As of 26 November 2023

Total finalist appearances

Rank	Player	Nationality	Won	Runner-up	Finals	Appearances
1	Michael van Gerwen	Netherlands	7	2	9	15
2	Phil Taylor	England	3	1	4	9
3	Gary Anderson	Scotland	1	1	2	14
4	Kevin Painter	England	1	0	1	9
	Paul Nicholson	Australia	1	0	1	5
	Daryl Gurney	Northern Ireland	1	0	1	9
	Peter Wright	Scotland	1	0	1	12
	Luke Humphries	England	1	0	1	5
9	Adrian Lewis	England	0	2	2	14
9	Mervyn King	England	0	2	2	15
11	Robert Thornton	Scotland	0	1	1	9
	Mark Webster	Wales	0	1	1	7
	Kim Huybrechts	Belgium	0	1	1	12
	Dave Chisnall	England	0	1	1	13
	Jonny Clayton	Wales	0	1	1	8
	Gerwyn Price	Wales	0	1	1	9
	Ryan Searle	England	0	1	1	7
	Rob Cross	England	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	5	2009	2023
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
112.27	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
109.54	Simon Whitlock	2012, Last 16	Ronnie Baxter	10–1

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 26/11/23
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	15	110.62	2014, Last 32
Luke Humphries	8	107.60	2020, Last 32
Peter Wright	8	104.83	2020, Last 64
Stephen Bunting	7	107.03	2019, Last 16
Daryl Gurney	7	105.85	2016, Last 32
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
James Wade	6	102.95	2014, Last 32
Dirk van Duijvenbode	5	112.05	2022, Last 16
Ian White	5	111.12	2018, Last 64
Dave Chisnall	5	109.88	2023, Last 32
Kim Huybrechts	5	108.10	2016, Last 32
Ryan Searle	5	106.62	2023, Last 32
Rob Cross	5	104.17	2022, Quarter-Final
Michael Smith	5	103.04	2020, Last 32
Jermaine Wattimena	3	107.12	2020, Last 32
Danny Noppert	3	106.59	2022, Last 64
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
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
Ross Smith	1	104.54	2023, Last 32
Robert Thornton	1	104.21	2013, Last 32
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
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
Andrew Gilding	1	100.91	2022, Last 64
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
104.72	Gary Anderson	2014	Final (Won)
104.37	Phil Taylor	2013	Final (Lost)
104.23	Michael van Gerwen	2017	Final (Won)

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

^ 2008 Order of Merit explanation Archived 2008-12-19 at the Wayback Machine from the Professional Darts Corporation, retrieved 19-11-2008
^ PDC website report – PDC To Introduce New Events from the Professional Darts Corporation, retrieved 19-11-2008
^ PDC website report – 2009 PDC Calendar from the Professional Darts Corporation, retrieved 19-11-2008
^ 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
^ "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.
^ "Butlins Minehead To Host Cash Converters Players Championship". Planet Darts. 30 March 2012.
^ pdc.tv Archived September 24, 2011, at the Wayback Machine

External links

[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] .tv Archived September 24, 2011, at the Wayback Machine

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