Darts May 07, 2026

Players Championship 13: Kevin Doets wins maiden PDC ranking title as Michael van Gerwen exits early in Hildesheim

👤
By Admin
Sports Journalist
Players Championship 13: Kevin Doets wins maiden PDC ranking title as Michael van Gerwen exits early in Hildesheim

Kevin Doets claimed his maiden PDC ranking title as he beat Luke Woodhouse 8-5 in the final of Players Championship 13 in Hildesheim.

The Dutchman featured in back-to-back semi-finals during last week's ProTour double-header, but he broke through that barrier at Halle 39 before denying Woodhouse in Monday's showpiece.

The pair were the two highest-ranked players without a PDC title to their name, and it looked like it would be Woodhouse to buck that trend after establishing a 4-2 lead.

However, Doets burst into life with a two-dart 100 checkout in leg seven - sparking a five-leg sequence which saw him take control of the contest.

The 27-year-old followed up his second 11-darter by converting consecutive 105 and 128 finishes to lead 7-4, before defying some late nerves to triumph with his ninth match dart.

"Finally! What a relief," said Doets, who averaged 100.61 to claim the £15,000 top prize.

"My confidence is growing. I have been playing pretty well lately, and I showed it again today.

"I was a bit nervous in the beginning of the final, but as soon as I got into it, I played great."

Doets added: "The next goal for me is to get into the top 16 of the world and win a major [title], because I have shown everyone that I have the game to do it."

Earlier in the day, Dirk van Duijvenbode added another nine-dart finish to his growing haul, producing perfection in his opening round tie against Madars Razma.

Michael van Gerwen - the solitary Premier League star in action - suffered a disappointingly early exit, being beaten by Krzysztof Ratajski in round three.

Last 16
Andrew Gilding 6-3 Viktor Tingstrom
Maik Kuivenhoven 6-4 Marvin van Velzen
Rob Owen 6-2 Tyler Thorpe
Kevin Doets 6-3 Jermaine Wattimena
Chris Dobey 6-1 Dave Chisnall
Luke Woodhouse 6-1 Krzysztof Ratajski
Darius Labanauskas 6-2 Derek Coulson
Mensur Suljovic 6-0 Ritchie Edhouse

Quarter-finals
Maik Kuivenhoven 6-4 Andrew Gilding
Kevin Doets 6-2 Rob Owen
Luke Woodhouse 6-4 Chris Dobey
Mensur Suljovic 6-4 Darius Labanauskas

Semi-finals
Kevin Doets 7-1 Maik Kuivenhoven
Luke Woodhouse 7-2 Mensur Suljovic

Final
Kevin Doets 8-5 Luke Woodhouse

Who will win this year's Premier League Darts? You can watch the action every single Thursday until May on Your Site. .

Tags:

darts news

Share this article

Related Posts

Austrian Darts Open schedule: Michael van Gerwen, Gian van Veen, Peter Wright and defending champion Martin Schindler in action

Austrian Darts Open schedule: Michael van Gerwen, Gian van Veen, Peter Wright and defending champion Martin Schindler in action

Martin Schindler will begin his defence of the Elten Safety Shoes Austrian Darts Open against Peter Wright or a Host Nation representative.The sixth E...

Austrian Darts Open schedule: Michael van Gerwen, Gian van Veen, Peter Wright and defending champion Martin Schindler in action

Austrian Darts Open schedule: Michael van Gerwen, Gian van Veen, Peter Wright and defending champion Martin Schindler in action

Martin Schindler will begin his defence of the Elten Safety Shoes Austrian Darts Open against Peter Wright or a Host Nation representative.The sixth E...

Premier League Darts: Luke Littler and Gian van Veen could meet as Luke Humphries bids to kickstart title defence in Brighton

Premier League Darts: Luke Littler and Gian van Veen could meet as Luke Humphries bids to kickstart title defence in Brighton

World No 1 Luke Littler and rival Gian van Veen could be set for a swift reunion in Brighton following their heated spat which boiled over last Thursd...

Premier League Darts: Michael van Gerwen and Luke Humphries set for crucial battle in Aberdeen on Night 13

Premier League Darts: Michael van Gerwen and Luke Humphries set for crucial battle in Aberdeen on Night 13

Luke Humphries and Michael van Gerwen will face off in a crunch contest in the race to make the top four on Night 13 of the Premier League Darts seaso...

Luke Humphries: I don't care about 'aura' - I play darts to win money and provide for my family

Luke Humphries: I don't care about 'aura' - I play darts to win money and provide for my family

Luke Humphries has hit back at comments on social media that he lacks "stage aura" and that he is "giving in" to world No 1 Luke Littler. Humphries cl...

Luke Littler: Darts star makes copyright application to trademark his face and stop AI fakes

Luke Littler: Darts star makes copyright application to trademark his face and stop AI fakes

Luke Littler has made an application to trademark his face to combat AI fakes.The darts world No 1 has lodged an application with the Intellectual Pro...