Dave Chisnall edged out in Players Championship final

Chisnall was edged out 8-7 at the Barnsley Metrodome by Callan Rydz, who ended an almost two-year wait for a PDC ranking title.

Having been victorious in a brace of European Tour events earlier this year, Chisnall – the top seed – had been in superb form during his six wins on the way to the final..

UK Open champion Andrew Gilding was defeated 6-4 before he averaged almost 106 in a quarter-final win over Joe Cullen and 103 in the semi-finals against Ryan Joyce.

Rydz had beaten Gabriel Clemens and James Wade with ton-plus averages, as well as seeing off Peter Wright, Ross Smith, Mervyn King and Robert Owen.

Finishes of 108 and 118 had helped Rydz to open up a 4-1 lead against Chisnall before he moved 6-3 in front.

Chisnall closed the gap to one leg at 6-5 before Rydz took the next to move one from victory.

Checkouts of 100 and 73 gave Chisnall consecutive legs to set up a last leg decider, which Rydz took with a 75 finish on tops.

“I’ve been awful this year, but in this last month I’ve been using new darts and they went alright today,” Rydz said afterwards.

“I’ve always thought about slowing down. Sometimes I was a little bit too quick for myself, but it’s worked for me today.

“Today I didn’t play fantastic all day, but I was hitting the right shots at the right time. It’s baby steps for me and today was a big step.”