World Champion Luke Littler endured a below-par day as he suffered another early exit, while Josh Rock secured the Players Championship 10 title on Tuesday.
The Warrington ace could only hit the heights of 97.82 as he went out 6-4 to Scott Williams, who averaged 86, in their quarter-final showdown in Leicester.
Rock, meanwhile, defeated Williams 7-5 in the semi-finals, before beating Cameron Menzies 8-4 in the final for his first PDC title of 2025 and fourth ever Players Championship one.
“It was probably my scoring right throughout the day. I felt like I had important checkouts at the right times. When it comes to three darts for a checkout, I’ve been hitting the ton-plus checkouts, thankfully,” Rock said after victory.
“It feels absolutely fantastic. I’m racking them up [PDC titles]. It’s my fifth on the PDC Tour, but I still want to prove it at the majors.
“There’s a lot to tick off the list. Being a seed doesn’t mean anything, it’s whoever you play in front of you. The game of darts has gone through the roof. I’m not here for money, I’m here to win titles.”
Littler beat Adam Lipscombe and Dimitri Van den Bergh both by a 6-3 scoreline, and then came through against Jim Williams 6-4 and Justin Hood 6-2 before bowing out to Boston star Williams, who averaged 86, in the last eight.
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Williams reached the last four of a ProTour tournament for the first time since 2023, but bowed out to a red-hot Josh Rock, who averaged a whopping 110.34 and hit a brilliant 150 checkout in a 6-1 demolition against Martin Schindler before seeing off Williams 7-5.
Cameron Menzies edged out Raymond van Barneveld 6-4 in the quarter-finals, hitting 10 140s, with the Scot then defeating Michael Smith 7-5 to reach Tuesday’s final.
Stephen Bunting showed glimpses of his best form ahead of Thursday night’s Premier League clash against Nathan Aspinall in Berlin.
‘The Bullet’ averaged a remarkable 111.72 to beat Mike De Decker for a fifth successive match. He smashed in six out of eight doubles and hit a brilliant 167 on the way to achieving a 6-3 win but then lost in disappointing fashion to ‘Bully Boy’ 6-1 in the last eight.
Where does the Premier League head next?
The Premier League continues at the Uber Arena, Berlin on Thursday, April 3 as Michael van Gerwen and Gerwyn Price clash in a titanic quarter-final encounter, while Luke Littler takes on Chris Dobey. Watch Night Nine of Premier League Darts, in Berlin, live on Sky Sports Main Event and Sky Sports+ from 6pm – stream with NOW.
Sky Sports will once again be the home of the Premier League in 2025, with every night exclusively live along with the World Matchplay, World Grand Prix, Grand Slam of Darts and more! Stream darts and more top sport with NOW
