Our Blog

Simon Whitlock and Michael van Gerwen each won a Players Championship in Crawley, while Arron Monk sealed a sensational Youth Tour double at the K2 Centre.

Whitlock defeated Dennis Priestley in Saturday’s final to claim his fourth PDC title in less than two months.

“It feels fantastic,” said the reigning European Champion.

“I’m looking forward to every single time I play at the moment. I love winning and I’ve got to keep trying to win more and more.”

‘The Wizard’, who was also runner-up in Championship League Darts on Thursday, went on to reach the semi-finals of Sunday’s event, which was won by van Gerwen.

The Dutch ace, who had reached the last four on Saturday, came back from 4-0 down to defeat Ian White 6-5 in the final, clinching his sixth Pro Tour success of 2012.

“It’s amazing for me and it’s probably the most difficult Pro Tour event I’ve won,” said van Gerwen, who recently won his first PDC major at the World Grand Prix.

“This will give me even more confidence for the Grand Slam of Darts next week and I’m looking forward to Wolverhampton. I’m playing very well and I want to continue this.”

Monk finished top of the PDC Unicorn Youth Tour Order of Merit by winning the final two events of the year.

Saturday’s final victory against Chris Aubrey saw the 22-year-old star seal his place at next week’s Grand Slam of Darts, as his lead at the top of the rankings became unassailable.

The former Under-21 World Champion went on to take his sixth Youth Tour title of 2012, defeating Matthew Dennant 4-0 in Sunday’s final, in a tournament which saw him whitewash three more opponents, including Michael Smith, who finished second to Monk in the Order of Merit.

“It feels amazing,” said Monk.

“Thanks to the PDC Unicorn Youth Tour, I’ve now qualified for the Grand Slam of Darts and made sure of my World Championship place, so I’ve got a good couple of months ahead of me.”

Whitlock, van Gerwen and Monk will all compete in the Grand Slam of Darts which kicks off next weekend in Wolverhampton.

By Chris Murphy

Book tickets to see some of the world’s top darts players in action at The Carlsberg Masters, Birmingham on Friday December 7.

Images courtesy of Lawrence Lustig/PDC