Chris Dobey became just the third player this year to win multiple Pro Tour titles, after he won a thrilling afternoon of action at Players Championship 19 in Milton Keynes.
Both the PC18 Champion and Runner Up, Damon Heta and Ryan Searle, were knocked out early on Thursday afternoon, and with the likes of Luke Littler and Gary Anderson absent, many believed we were going to see yet another first time champion on the Pro Tour in 2024.
Dobey, similar to Heta on Wednesday, had to battle past Niels Zonneveld and Rowby-John Rodriguez in his opening two games, before a solid 6-3 win over Luke Woodhouse put Dobey into the last 16 once again.
A quality affair with James Wade, where the Machine actually outscored 'Hollywood' in terms of 180s, went the distance with Dobey scraping through 6-5.
But this was followed by two strong performances against Mensur Suljovic and Daryl Gurney, swept aside 6-1 and 7-3 respectively, put Dobey on the cusp of another Pro Tour title.
Read More: Damon Heta Wins Players Championship 18 In Milton Keynes
In the final awaited Cameron Menzies, currently enjoying a rich vein of form and still hungry for that first Pro Tour title.
And it looked like the title would be going to the Scotsman, as an early break from Menzies put him slightly in front, before some missed doubles allowed Dobey to claw back from 4-2 down to 4-4.
But it was from there that Dobey failed to relinquish the lead, moving 7-5 ahead thanks to a monstrous 146 in leg 12 to move within one of the title, and two potentials hold of throw to secure it.
Though Menzies did break back in leg 13, with Dobey missing multiple match darts for the title, one attempt at D20 was all Dobey needed to secure his second Players Championship title of 2024, joining Damon Heta and Luke Littler as the only players to have multiple wins on the Pro Tour this year.
By Jaspar Shepherdson
(@jasparshepmedia on X/Twitter and Instagram)
Add comment
Comments