Chris Dobey delivered a dazzling display in Wigan to secure his ninth Players Championship crown, thrashing Stephen Bunting 8-1 in the final of Players Championship Three.
Dobey, 35, claimed his first PDC ranking title of 2026 and the £15,000 top prize with a dominant performance. He stormed into a 5-0 lead, winning four of those legs in five visits or fewer. Bunting managed a 14-dart reply, but Dobey closed out the contest by taking the final three legs, the last two in 26 darts combined.
“I felt like I played pretty steady all day, and I’m happy to get over the line,” stated Dobey, who averaged 11 points higher than Bunting in the final.
“Stephen said he felt good before the game, but sometimes it just isn’t your day, and fortunately for me, I came out on the winning end.
“You need luck to win tournaments like this, I was defending this one from two years ago, and on Day One I won it.
“I want to be back in there [Premier League]. I didn’t do enough last year; I want to produce this game on the big stages.”
Dobey began with a 6-1 win over Shane McGuirk before defeating Jimmy van Schie and Ryan Joyce, averaging 106 against the latter. He then beat Bradley Brooks and edged out Darryl Pilgrim in a deciding leg to reach the semi-finals, where he swept aside Tom Bissell 7-2.
Bunting impressed en route with three ton-plus averages, including 105 in a win over Alexander Merkx, and victories against Danny Noppert, Jonny Clayton and James Wade.
Quarter-finalists included Kevin Doets, Pilgrim and Canada’s Jim Long, while Bissell eliminated Ritchie Edhouse and Rob Cross before his semi-final exit.
Source: PDC.TV
