Simon Whitlock beats Chris Dobey to win Players Championship 19
Saturday 22 October 2016 15:48, UK
Simon Whitlock celebrated a nine-darter and a second successive Players Championship title in Barnsley on Friday night.
Whitlock had his second perfect leg in a matter of weeks in his opening round win over Finland's Par Riihonen and went on to win the £10,000 first prize with a 6-4 win over Chris Dobey.
The Australian white-washed Riihonen but had a number of tougher games on his way to the final, with the toughest test coming in the quarter-finals when he beat Jamie Lewis in a deciding leg.
Dobey reached a ranking final for the first time with a number of massive scalps on his way to the last-four, including wins over Dave Chisnall and Stephen Bunting.
The biggest of his victories would come in the last four when former world champion Adrian Lewis was his opponent.
Lewis proved to be his own worst enemy when he missed multiple match-winning darts, and Dobey swooped in for a 120 clearance to reach the final.
But the 26-year-old could not quite match a resurgent Whitlock in the final and had to settle for the runners-up cheque.
The Players Championship season concludes on Saturday with the 20th qualifying event, with the top 64 reaching the Cash Converters Players Championship Finals in Minehead from November 25-27.
