Searle, a finalist in last year’s Players Championship opener, enjoyed another strong start to his ProTour season, producing a series of battling displays to prevail at the Barnsley Metrodome.
The former Players Championship Finals runner-up came through two last-leg shoot-outs en route to the final, where he recovered from a sluggish start to scoop the £12,000 top prize in style.
Hughes - featuring in his first ProTour final since 2019 - made a dream start, following up a clinical 120 checkout with a 13-dart break to establish an early 2-0 lead.
However, the Tipton thrower paid the price for squandering two darts for a 3-0 lead, as a sublime 152 finish from Searle in leg three sparked a sequence of six consecutive legs.
The 35-year-old followed up a classy 98 kill with legs of 16, 13 and 14 darts to lead 6-2, and although Hughes stopped the rot, Searle kept his cool to close out a resounding win with a 100.75 average.
“I’ve not played a huge amount since The Masters and I was terrible at The Masters and the World Championship,” conceded Searle, who moves back into the top 16 of the ProTour Order of Merit.
“It has taken a lot for me to come back from those two performances to win today, so it means a lot to me.
“I feel like I’m playing well. I was playing pretty well towards the end of last season but people were just playing phenomenally against me, and that can be disheartening.
“I’ve won the title today and I don’t feel like I’ve played anywhere near my best.
“It’s nice to have a B-game that competes with people, and I know if I play my A-game, I can win a lot more of these.”
Searle, who has lifted ProTour titles in each of the last four years, kicked off his campaign with convincing wins over German duo Daniel Klose and Florian Hempel.
The Somerset star then edged out the returning Keegan Brown in a deciding-leg tussle to advance to the last 16, where he produced a ton-plus average to defeat top seed Luke Humphries 6-4.
Searle recovered from 5-3 down to come through another last-leg shoot-out in his quarter-final tie against Dirk van Duijvenbode, before defying a 102 average from Jonny Clayton to seal his place in Saturday’s showpiece.
Hughes, meanwhile, claimed a host of big scalps to secure a place in his second Players Championship final, his first ranking final in over three years.
2023 Players Championship 1 results
Saturday February 11
Last 16
- Ryan Searle 6-4 Luke Humphries
- Dirk van Duijvenbode 6-5 Jurjen van der Velde
- Jonny Clayton 6-5 Kim Huybrechts
- Dave Chisnall 6-5 Stephen Bunting
- Callan Rydz 6-4 Mario Vandenbogaerde
- Jamie Hughes 6-3 Michael Smith
- Dylan Slevin 6-3 Bradley Brooks
- Daryl Gurney 6-2 Danny Noppert
Quarter-finals
- Ryan Searle 6-5 Dirk van Duijvenbode
- Jonny Clayton 6-1 Dave Chisnall
- Jamie Hughes 6-4 Callan Rydz
- Dylan Slevin 6-5 Daryl Gurney
Semi-finals
- Ryan Searle 7-4 Jonny Clayton
- Jamie Hughes 7-2 Dylan Slevin
Final
- Ryan Searle 8-4 Jamie Hughes
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