Jeffrey De Graaf picked up his maiden PDC ranking title on Monday, after defeating Stephen Bunting 8-7 in the final of Players Championship 24, as the PDC Pro Tour double-header commenced at the Marshall Arena, Milton Keynes.
De Graaf, who regained his PDC Tour Card at EU Qualifying School back in January 2024, reached the final firstly by recording six victories against Adam Paxton, Ryan Searle, Jose De Sousa, Michael Smith, Alan Soutar and Scott Williams, to set up a clash with Bunting.
The final began with Bunting pinning back-to-back 14 darters, before there were back-to-back holds of throw between the pair ending with ‘The Bullet’ breaking De Graaf’s throw in Leg Five to go 4-1 ahead and halfway to victory. The Dutch-born Swede then fort back by rattling off four successive legs in 15,14,14 and 13 darts respectively to take the lead for the first time at 5-4, before Bunting levelled up the tie at 5apiece in Leg 10 with a 15 dart hold of throw.
The tie then saw five straight holds of throw and the advantage of winning the bull prior to the match commencing proved to be vital as De Graaf sealed the victory in the 15th and deciding leg with a 14 darter to pick up a maiden PDC title as well as the £15,000 top prize.
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Bunting’s run to a second consecutive Players Championship final having reached the decider in PC20 back in early July saw the Former Lakeside Champion record victories on the day against Adam Hunt, Cam Crabtree, Sebastian Bialecki, Brett Claydon, Rob Cross and Ross Smith, before being denied by De Graaf.
Elsewhere, there were Quarter Final runs for Dutchman Dirk Van Duijvenbode and Czech’s Karel Sedlacek, whilst the likes of Gian Van Veen, Danny Noppert and Joe Cullen were amongst the high profile first round casualties.
The PDC Pro Tour double-header concludes on Tuesday with Players Championship 25 taking place in Milton Keynes, with the 128 players returning to compete for a further £125,000 in prize money, with play beginning at 13:00 BST. Click here for match stats through DartConnect.
The 2025 PDC ProTour season will resume in Hildesheim next month, as Players Championships 26-27 take place at Halle 39 in Hildesheim on September 9-10.
This will be preceded by successive European Tour events, as the Flanders Darts Trophy (ET10) and the Czech Darts Open (ET11) are held in Antwerp and Prague respectively over the next fortnight.
The event draw and results are listed in the Match Centre.
Players Championship 24
Quarter Finals
Scott Williams 6-4 Dirk Van Duijvenbode
Jeffrey De Graaf 6-2 Alan Soutar
Stephen Bunting 6-1 Rob Cross
Ross Smith 6-1 Karel Sedlacek
Semi Finals
Jeffrey De Graaf 7-1 Scott Williams
Stephen Bunting 7-2 Ross Smith
Final
Jeffrey De Graaf 8-7 Stephen Bunting
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