Organised by the Professional Darts Corporation
Darts tournament
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 .
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
Records and statistics [ edit ] As of 26 November 2023 Total finalist appearances [ edit ] 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 [ edit ] Nine-dart finishes [ edit ] 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 [ edit ] 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
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
Television coverage [ edit ] 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 [ edit ] External links [ edit ]