WONDERFUL Williams wins maiden ranking title at PC17:

Scott Williams was victorious on Wednesday in winning his first PDC ranking title, with an 8-5 victory over Nathan Aspinall in the final of Players Championship 17, as the midweek Pro Tour double header concluded at the H+ Hotel, Niedernhausen.

Williams, who’s been a regular fixture on the Pro Tour in 2022 due to his success on the Challenge Tour in winning 3 events and topping the Order of Merit currently, reached the final by recording victories over Gary Blades, Danny Baggish, Jonny Clayton, John Henderson, Rob Cross and Chris Dobey, to set up a clash with Aspinall.

The final began with Williams racing into a 2-0 lead, with winning legs coming in 16 and 17 darts, before Aspinall won three on the spin to move ahead for the first time. The tie then saw back-to-back 15 darters from the pair, before Williams rattled off four on the spin, which saw him move within one of victory, leaving Aspinall needing to win five straight legs to keep his title hopes alive.

‘The Asp’ did pull one leg back, before Williams sealed the victory in leg 13 with a 14 darter to become the first man, since Krzysztof Ratajski in 2018, to win a ranking title without holding a PDC Tour Card.

Aspinall’s run to the final saw him produce a number of ton-plus average performances, with victories over Darius Labanauskas, Maik Kuivenhoven, Rowby-John Rodriguez, Jim Williams, Mike De Decker and Kim Huybrechts, before being denied by Williams.

Elsewhere, there were Quarter Final runs for Peter Wright and Dirk Van Duijvenbode, with the likes of Dimitri Van den Bergh, Dave Chisnall and Krzysztof Ratajski all suffering early exits, as Michael Smith’s 23 game unbeaten run on the Pro Tour came to an end in Round three with a defeat against Simon Whitlock.

The PDC Pro Tour returns on 8-11th July in Barnsley with Players Championship Eighteen to Twenty-Two taking place, with the 128 players competing for £100,000 in prize money each day, with play beginning at 12:00 BST. Play will be broadcasted across two streaming boards on PDC.TV and various bookmaker websites worldwide, with all live scores and results on tv.dartconnect.com.

Players Championship 17
Last 16
Mike De Decker 6-4 Steve Beaton
Nathan Aspinall 6-5 Jim Williams
Peter Wright 6-3 Ross Smith
Kim Huybrechts 6-4 Damon Heta
Chris Dobey 6-5 Simon Whitlock
Dirk Van Duijvenbode 6-3 Martin Lukeman
Rob Cross 6-3 Daryl Gurney
Scott Williams 6-3 John Henderson

Quarter Finals
Nathan Aspinall 6-2 Mike De Decker
Kim Huybrechts 6-0 Peter Wright
Chris Dobey 6-2 Dirk Van Duijvenbode
Scott Williams 6-4 Rob Cross

Semi Finals
Nathan Aspinall 7-4 Kim Huybrechts
Scott Williams 7-4 Chris Dobey

Final
Scott Williams 8-5 Nathan Aspinall

—-ENDS—–

Images: Target Darts