Darts results: Jose De Sousa wins Players Championship 28 title in Dublin
Jose De Sousa claimed a second PDC title inside a month at Players Championship 28 in Dublin on Saturday, beating Glen Durrant 8-6 in the final.
De Sousa produced a string of impressive displays to reach his third ProTour final of the year and claim the £10,000 top prize.
The final was a close encounter but a crucial break of throw in the penultimate leg gave the Portuguese the chance to throw for the match, one he took to down his English opponent.
"This final was a moment of magic for me, a great moment," said a delighted De Sousa.
"If I play my best game I can beat almost anyone. I practice so hard, every day and I want to make a big future for myself.
"I didn’t think this was possible, I could not imagine this."
The 45-year-old, who earned a PDC Tour Card for the first time in January, showed his class and his mettle on a big day for Portuguese darts.
"This is my first year in the PDC, all I wanted was experience but this has been amazing," he added.
"I will continue my work and in the future we will see what happens."
A 98 average in a 6-2 win against Mark Dudbridge opened the day for De Sousa, before a remarkable 6-1 success, with an average of almost 108, saw the winner of Player Championship 23 move safely in to the last 32.
A hard fought 6-4 victory against Mark Webster and then a 6-2 win over Spaniard Jesus Noguera saw De Sousa move in to the quarter-finals where another 100-plus average followed, this time in a 6-3 win over a resurgent Kim Huybrechts.
De Sousa then faced Mensur Suljovic, who earlier in the day had produced the perfect nine-dart leg in his victory over Adam Hunt.
Suljovic could not compete with his opponent in the semi-finals though as De Sousa powered through to the final, where he was embroiled in a real scrap with Durrant.
The pair traded breaks of throw in the middle of the match before Durrant eventually levelled at 6-6.
With the game looking set to go all the way to a deciding leg, De Sousa produced the all important break of throw to move within a leg of the title, before eventually pinning double ten to complete a dream day.
Durrant, who was playing in his fourth PDC final since his move over from the BDO, had another successful day with notable wins against Ian White and a semi-final victory against Friday’s champion Gerwyn Price.
The final two Players Championship events of 2019 will take place on October 14-15 where the field for the Players Championship finals will be confirmed.
Players Championship 28 results (Last 16 onwards)
Last 16
- Jermaine Wattimena 6-1 Gabriel Clemens
- Mensur Suljovic 6-2 Peter Wright
- Kim Huybrechts 6-5 Christian Bunse
- Jose De Sousa 6-2 Jesus Noguera
- Gerwyn Price 6-5 Jonny Clayton
- James Wade 6-5 Jose Justicia
- Glen Durrant 6-4 Ritchie Edhouse
- Ian White 6-4 Conan Whitehead
Quarter-finals - Mensur Suljovic 6-2 Jermaine Wattimena
- Jose De Sousa 6-3 Kim Huybrechts
- Gerwyn Price 6-2James Wade
- Glen Durrant 6-5 Ian White
Semi-finals
- Jose De Sousa 7-3 Mensur Suljovic
- Glen Durrant 7-6 Gerwyn Price
Final
- Jose De Sousa 8-6 Glen Durrant
For all the results head to Dart Connect.