Max Hopp (Picture: PDC)
Max Hopp (Picture: PDC)

Max Hopp wins Players Championship 19 as two-nine darters are hit


Max Hopp picked up his second PDC ranking title with a 6-3 win over Madars Razma in the final of Players Championship 19, on a day which saw two nine-dart finishes hit in Dublin.

The German youngster backed up his German Darts Open victory with an assured display in the final at the Citywest Hotel, while Michael van Gerwen and George Killington landed perfect legs earlier in the day.

Hopp produced a series of strong performances, defeating Alan Norris, Davy van Baelen, Darren Webster, Jamie Hughes, Jermaine Wattimena and James Wilson to reach his first ProTour final.

"I'm amazed, this morning I never would've imagined winning this title," admitted Hopp, who will make his World Grand Prix debut against Dave Chisnall on Sunday evening.

"Maybe the experience of winning the European Tour title earlier in the year was the difference in the final.

"Everyone was worried that I could be a one-hit wonder and I would never win another title, which is hard to handle but I proved today it was not a one-off.

"I'm still very young and I'm not consistent but it's a great feeling to come out on top of 128 great players."

A tight start to the final saw Hopp miss a number of opportunities to break throw as Razma, who sensationally knocked out world number one Van Gerwen earlier in the day, kept himself in the contest at 3-4 down.

The crucial break eventually came for Hopp in leg eight, pinning double four with his last dart in hand to go within a leg of victory.

That proved to be the key moment of the match as the German number one tidied up 68 to wrap up a 6-3 win and clinch the £10,000 top prize.

Despite defeat in the final, it was a day to remember for Razma who became the first Latvian player to make the final of a PDC ranking event.

Almost a year to the day since making the semi-finals of last year's Players Championship 20 in Dublin, Razma replicated that form at the Citywest with wins over Peter Hudson, Danny Noppert, Gerwyn Price, Ronny Huybrechts, Van Gerwen and Andrew Gilding.

Two-time World Champion Van Gerwen landed a nine-dart leg in his 6-2 third round triumph over Kyle Anderson, in a game which saw the Dutchman average 109.5.

The nine-dart feat was also achieved earlier in the day by youngster Killington, who continued to impress having won a PDC Unicorn Development Tour title last weekend and qualified for his first European Tour event on Thursday night.

Wilson continued his impressive form in the second-half of 2018, dumping out two-time World Champion Adrian Lewis en route to the semi-finals, while Gilding won through to his first ProTour semi-final in over two years.

Elsewhere, Champions League of Darts champion Gary Anderson went down to Van Gerwen at the last 16 stage, world number two Peter Wright was defeated by Hughes in round three and World Champion Rob Cross was a victim of Wilson in the last 16.

The Players Championship weekend continues on Saturday (September 29) in Dublin and will be streamed live on PDCTV-HD across both days.

Players Championship 19 results

Last 128

  • Michael van Gerwen 6-3 Ryan Searle
  • Brendan Dolan 6-2 Gary Eastwood
  • Kyle Anderson 6-0 Jim Brown
  • Cristo Reyes 6-2 Chris Dobey
  • Gary Anderson 6-5 Wayne Jones
  • Peter Jacques 6-5 Martin Schindler
  • Michael Barnard 6-3 Stephen Bunting
  • Adam Hunt 6-5 Terry Jenkins
  • Gerwyn Price 6-2 Mick McGowan
  • Tytus Kanik 6-3 Robert Owen
  • Danny Noppert 6-4 Gabriel Clemens
  • Madars Razma 6-2 Peter Hudson
  • Jonny Clayton 6-5 Luke Humphries
  • Ronny Huybrechts 6-3 Devon Petersen
  • Steve Beaton 6-5 Mark Wilson
  • Mark Webster 6-5 Robert Thornton
  • Benito van de Pas 6-2 Michael Smith
  • Ross Smith 6-3 Krzysztof Ratajski
  • Jeffrey de Zwaan 6-2 Ritchie Edhouse
  • Ron Meulenkamp 6-3 Stephen Burton
  • Jeffrey de Graaf 6-5 Daryl Gurney
  • Aden Kirk 6-4 John Part
  • Steve West 6-3 Robert Marijanovic
  • George Killington 6-5 Jelle Klaasen
  • Ian White 6-0 Vincent van der Voort
  • Simon Stevenson 6-1 Alan Tabern
  • Cameron Menzies 6-2 Kim Huybrechts
  • Jamie Bain 6-2 Dimitri Van den Bergh
  • Joe Cullen 6-2 Vincent Kamphuis
  • Nathan Aspinall 6-4 Steve Hine
  • Andrew Gilding 6-2 Mervyn King
  • Paul Nicholson 6-3 Richie Burnett
  • Rob Cross 6-2 Kevin Painter
  • Adam Huckvale 6-5 Jason Cullen
  • Jimmy Hendriks 6-4 Keegan Brown
  • Raymond van Barneveld 6-5 Prakash Jiwa
  • James Wilson 6-0 Ross Twell
  • Maik Langendorf 6-1 Tony Newell
  • Dave Chisnall 6-3 Ryan Joyce
  • Mickey Mansell 6-3 Luke Woodhouse
  • Adrian Lewis 6-2 Ryan Meikle
  • Ted Evetts 6-0 Eddie Dootson
  • Ricky Evans 6-3 Justin Pipe
  • Matthew Edgar 6-5 Dirk van Duijvenbode
  • Dawson Murschell 6-3 James Wade
  • Ryan Harrington 6-3 Zoran Lerchbacher
  • John Henderson 6-5 Rowby-John Rodriguez
  • James Richardson 6-4 Kirk Shepherd
  • Mensur Suljovic 6-3 John Norman Jnr
  • Jan Dekker 6-5 William O'Connor
  • Steve Lennon 6-3 Lee Bryant
  • Arron Monk 6-2 Mark Dudbridge
  • Simon Whitlock 6-4 Christian Kist
  • Joe Murnan 6-3 Toni Alcinas
  • Jermaine Wattimena 6-1 Jamie Caven
  • Chris Quantock 6-2 Jarred Cole
  • Peter Wright 6-3 Terry Temple
  • Scott Taylor 6-0 Bradley Brooks
  • Darren Johnson 6-2 Josh Payne
  • Jamie Hughes 6-5 Jamie Lewis
  • Darren Webster 6-3 Paul Rowley
  • Mario Robbe 6-1 Richard North
  • Max Hopp 6-2 Alan Norris
  • Davy Van Baelen 6-2 Kevin Burness

Last 64

  • Michael van Gerwen 6-3 Brendan Dolan
  • Kyle Anderson 6-5 Cristo Reyes
  • Gary Anderson 6-4 Peter Jacques
  • Michael Barnard 6-4 Adam Hunt
  • Gerwyn Price 6-1 Tytus Kanik
  • Madars Razma 6-4 Danny Noppert
  • Ronny Huybrechts 6-1 Jonny Clayton
  • Steve Beaton 6-5 Mark Webster
  • Ross Smith 6-4 Benito van de Pas
  • Ron Meulenkamp 6-5 Jeffrey de Zwaan
  • Jeffrey de Graaf 6-2 Aden Kirk
  • Steve West 6-3 George Killington
  • Simon Stevenson 6-2 Ian White
  • Cameron Menzies 6-4 Jamie Bain
  • Nathan Aspinall 6-3 Joe Cullen
  • Andrew Gilding 6-2 Paul Nicholson
  • Rob Cross 6-1 Adam Huckvale
  • Jimmy Hendriks 6-5 Raymond van Barneveld
  • James Wilson 6-5 Maik Langendorf
  • Mickey Mansell 6-3 Dave Chisnall
  • Adrian Lewis 6-3 Ted Evetts
  • Ricky Evans 6-2 Matthew Edgar
  • Ryan Harrington 6-1 Dawson Murschell
  • John Henderson 6-5 James Richardson
  • Jan Dekker 6-0 Mensur Suljovic
  • Steve Lennon 6-5 Arron Monk
  • Simon Whitlock 6-3 Joe Murnan
  • Jermaine Wattimena 6-1 Chris Quantock
  • Peter Wright 6-0 Scott Taylor
  • Jamie Hughes 6-2 Darren Johnson
  • Darren Webster 6-2 Mario Robbe
  • Max Hopp 6-4 Davy Van Baelen

Last 32

  • Michael van Gerwen 6-2 Kyle Anderson
  • Gary Anderson 6-5 Michael Barnard
  • Madars Razma 6-3 Gerwyn Price
  • Ronny Huybrechts 6-4 Steve Beaton
  • Ross Smith 6-5 Ron Meulenkamp
  • Steve West 6-2 Jeffrey de Graaf
  • Simon Stevenson 6-4 Cameron Menzies
  • Andrew Gilding 6-5 Nathan Aspinall
  • Rob Cross 6-3 Jimmy Hendriks
  • James Wilson 6-4 Mickey Mansell
  • Adrian Lewis 6-2 Ricky Evans
  • John Henderson 6-4 Ryan Harrington
  • Steve Lennon 6-5 Jan Dekker
  • Jermaine Wattimena 6-4 Simon Whitlock
  • Jamie Hughes 6-4 Peter Wright
  • Max Hopp 6-2 Darren Webster

Last 16

  • Michael van Gerwen 6-5 Gary Anderson
  • Madars Razma 6-5 Ronny Huybrechts
  • Steve West 6-0 Ross Smith
  • Andrew Gilding 6-4 Simon Stevenson
  • James Wilson 6-4 Rob Cross
  • Adrian Lewis 6-4 John Henderson
  • Jermaine Wattimena 6-4 Steve Lennon
  • Max Hopp 6-1 Jamie Hughes

Last Eight

  • Madars Razma 6-5 Michael van Gerwen
  • Andrew Gilding 6-4 Steve West
  • James Wilson 6-2 Adrian Lewis
  • Max Hopp 6-5 Jermaine Wattimena

Last Four

  • Madars Razma 6-2 Andrew Gilding
  • Max Hopp 6-3 James Wilson

Final

  • Max Hopp 6-3 Madars Razma

Related Darts Content