Darts results: Ryan Joyce wins second Players Championship event of PDC Summer Series

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Competing in his first final on the circuit, the 34-year-old Geordie found himself 7-3 down against the experienced Chizzy but brilliantly fought back to win five legs on the spin to clinch a dramatic 8-7 victory and top prize of £10,000.

Chisnall, who was chasing the 16th PDC title of his career and first of the season, blew four match darts when still leading 7-6 and then another at the bullseye in the decider before Joyce made him pay by completing a landmark 14-darter.

Joyce was languishing around £4,000 outside the qualification places for this month's World Matchplay before he arrived in Milton Keynes for this five-day extravaganza, but this cheque has put him in the driving seat to seal one of the 16 spots available via the ProTour Order of Merit.

• Click here for pre-Summer Series ranking and qualification update including prize money targets

'Relentless', who used to pack women's clothes at a Matalan warehouse before he won his PDC Tour Card at the start of 2018, has been steadily rising up through the ranks over the past two seasons and this could take his career to a new level.

"It's unbelievable - it hasn't sunk in yet," said Joyce. "It's a fantastic win. At 7-3 down in the final I thought the game was gone. I was trying to enjoy the rest of the match and make the score more respectable, but Dave tightened up a bit, he missed his chances and I punished him.

"To win an event like this, you need a couple of rounds where you get the rub of the green and I got that today. I don't want to be a one-hit wonder and I've got to build on this."

On his World Matchplay chances, Joyce added: "I haven't been thinking about the World Matchplay. I've got to take it one game at a time over the next three days and see how I play, so I'll go into Friday with the same mentality."

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The world number 44 averaged over 100 on four occasions during the day, including a 101.9 against Gary Anderson in the semi-finals, which he won 7-3, and 100.2 during his triumph over Chisnall.

Before that, Joyce came through two last-leg deciders against Madars Razma in the last 16 and Glen Durrant in the quarters while his best statistical display came against fellow north-east thrower Chris Dobey in the last 32 as he averaged 103 compared to his opponent's 99 in a 6-4 win.

His other wins came against Andy Hamilton (6-4) and Luke Humphries (6-3), averaging 101.9 and 93.9 in the process.

Despite blowing a big lead in the final, Chisnall will can take plenty of positives from the first two days having also made an encouraging run to the quarter-finals 24 hours earlier, in which he averaged over 100 in four of his victories.

The 39-year-old from St Helens, who will be growing in confidence ahead of his bid to win a first major title at the World Matchplay, maintained the momentum by seeing off Aaron Beeney (6-3) and Jamie Lewis (6-2) before overcoming Dutch trio Benito van de Pas (6-4), Maik Kuivenhoven (6-4) and Martijn Kleermaker (6-2) - but only against the latter did he average a ton.

In the semi-finals he sprung a minor surprise by claiming a 7-5 victory over Nathan Aspinall, who had earlier taken out Peter Wright 6-2 and James Wade 6-3, as he reached his first final since losing 5-2 to Michael van Gerwen at last year's World Grand Prix and his first on the floor since September.

Meanwhile, Anderson bounced back from his first-round exit on Wednesday with a superb run to the last four, which peaked with an average of 110 in a 6-0 defeat of Ryan Murray.

That wasn't the highest mark of the day, however, as Gerwyn Price managed a blistering 115.9 in a whitewash of Steve Lennon that raised the bar from Ian White's 113.3 against Cameron Menzies. While the Iceman was promptly eliminated by Razma in the last 32, Diamond departed a round earlier after losing a decider to Bradley Brooks.

Price had earlier received a bye in the first round due to Eddie Lovely withdrawing from the remainder of the PDC Summer Series for family reasons. He will be replaced by PDPA Associate Member Ryan Hogarth for days three-five should he provide a negative result to the Covid-19 test on arrival in Milton Keynes.

Michael van Gerwen, who won Wednesday's title after a deciding leg with Wright, was defeated 6-5 by Kuivenhoven in the last 32 having earlier beaten William O'Connor (6-2) and Mervyn King (6-1) while fellow Premier League stars Michael Smith, Rob Cross, Daryl Gurney failed to venture beyond the same stage.

Apart from Joyce, there wasn't any real notable big movements in the race to return to the Marshall Arena for the World Matchplay given most of those reaching the latter stages are either already safe or little outside chance, which is good news for those clinging onto a spot. But with three tournaments and and £225,000 still to play for, this could all change.

PDC Summer Series Day Two Results (Players Championship 10)

• Last 16 onwards. For all the Players Championship NINE results and detailed stats, head to Dart Connect (tv.dartconnect.com/events/pdc)

Last 16

• Ryan Joyce 6-5 Madars Razma
• Glen Durrant 6-1 Niels Zonneveld
• Gary Anderson 6-1 Gabriel Clemens
• Jonny Clayton 6-2 Martin Atkins
• Peter Wright 6-2 Jermaine Wattimena
• Nathan Aspinall 6-3 James Wade
• Martijn Kleermaker 6-3 Jason Lowe
• Dave Chisnall 6-4 Maik Kuivenhoven

Quarter-Finals

• Ryan Joyce 6-5 Glen Durrant
• Gary Anderson 6-4 Jonny Clayton
• Nathan Aspinall 6-2 Peter Wright
• Dave Chisnall 6-2 Martijn Kleermaker

Semi-Finals

• Ryan Joyce 7-3 Gary Anderson
• Dave Chisnall 7-5 Nathan Aspinall

Final

• Ryan Joyce 8-7 Dave Chisnall

Related Darts Content

• Chris Hammer's Summer Series guide
• 2020 World Matchplay draw and schedule
• 2020 Premier League venues & dates
• 2020 PDC event calendar & results
• 2020 World Darts Championship results
• 2019 PDC event results
• Sky Bet's darts odds

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