Daryl Gurney (Picture: Lawrence Lustig/PDC)

Darts results: Daryl Gurney wins first floor event of 2019 at Players Championship 25

By Sporting Life

20:50 · SUN September 22, 2019

Daryl Gurney claimed his first floor title of the year at Players Championship 25 in Barnsley on Saturday.

Gurney defeated Nathan Aspinall 8-5 in the final to end his wait for a Players Championship event win stretching back to April 2017.

Current holder of the Players Championship Finals title, the world number three produced a string of dominant displays throughout the day, winning all seven games by at least three legs.

"It feels too long [since last winning a Players Championship event], I often struggle and don't bring my A-game," said Gurney, who won his first European Tour title in March.

"This week everything went great for me and I found something extra. I kicked in well with plenty of 180s to give myself opportunities which I took.

"These events are harder to win than TV tournaments; you can play an unbelievable game and then you're straight back into your next game just a few minutes later."

A keenly contested final began with eight consecutive holds of throw, including a 155 checkout from UK Open champion Aspinall, who was competing in his third ProTour final of the year.

Gurney, a runner-up at Players Championship Seven in March, cleaned up 45 to land the first break of the match in leg ten to go 6-4 in front.

The Northern Irishman then fired in his fifth and sixth 180s of the contest as he kept Aspinall at bay, before taking out 44 to seal the £10,000 top prize.

Gurney's day began with victories over Darren Webster, Steve Lennon and Mervyn King before seeing off Jelle Klaasen to reach the quarter-finals.

There, he defeated Peter Wright 6-2 before overcoming Ian White 7-4 to reach the final.

Elsewhere, Justin Pipe continued his resurgence with a fifth ProTour quarter-final of 2019, while Max Hopp made his third last eight appearance on the ProTour.

Following Players Championship 25, only Dimitri Van den Bergh and Mervyn King are at risk of losing their provisional places in October's BoyleSports World Grand Prix.

The next eight players below them on the ProTour Order of Merit can force their way into the field with a run at Sunday's Players Championship 26.

The field for the BoyleSports World Grand Prix will be confirmed at the conclusion of Sunday's event.