Danny Noppert completes scintillating comeback to land Players Championship title

With the Dutchman trailing 6-3, Gilding seemed on course for a long-awaited maiden PDC title. Instead, Goldfinger was handed his fourth final defeat as the UK Champion showed his class.

A late rally from Noppert saw him rattle off five consecutive legs - including a couple of 12 darters - as he took home the Players Championship 19 crown. "It was a long time ago since I last won one a Players Championship title," said Noppert, who also bagged the £12,000 winner's prize. "I won this title through fighting and never giving up, if you believe in something then you can achieve it. "I am a happy man to finally have my moment on the floor. There are 128 fantastic players here so to win this means a lot. "Now, I am looking forward to all the tournaments coming up."

Noppert began the day with a 6-0 whitewash of Gordon Mathers, before seeing off Luke Woodhouse and world number five James Wade to reach the last 16. After taking out Canada's Matt Campbell, the Dutchman went on to thrash Rowby-John Rodriguez 6-1 to progress to the semi-final. Noppert maintained his impressive form as he battled past in-form Luke Humphries to seal his spot in the final. While Gilding may be disappointed by the manner of defeat, the veteran can take encouragement from the fact that the £8,000 added onto his PDC ranking further solidifies his provisional spot in the field for the 2022 Betfred World Matchplay.

Players Championship 19 results

Quarter-Finals

Luke Humphries 6-3 Jamie Hughes Danny Noppert 6-1 Rowby Rodriguez Ryan Searle 6-4 Niels Zonneveld Andrew Gilding 6-1 Lee Evans

Semi-Finals

Danny Noppert 7-3 Luke Humphries Andrew Gilding 7-6 Ryan Searle

Final

Danny Noppert 8-6 Andrew Gilding Photo credit: Steve Paston/PDC

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