Croatian Tour Card holder Pero Ljubic endured a nightmare outing at Players Championship 17 on Monday, posting the lowest average by any Tour Card holder in an official match this year. Ljubic managed a paltry average of just 57.78 in his opening round clash against Ryan Searle, failing to register a single dart at a double across the entire contest.
Searle dismantled Ljubic 6-0 with a blistering average of 107.36 — nearly 50 points higher than his opponent. The closest Ljubic came to winning a leg was in the fourth, when he left a score of 107 after six visits. The result was a brutal reminder of the gap in class, echoing criticism from Michael van Gerwen last year.
Van Gerwen had branded Ljubic a “pub player” after their first-round meeting at the Poland Darts Masters. “Pero needs to be happy that he won one leg. Pero is not a good player. Pero is a pub player — we all know that,” Van Gerwen said at the time. “When you throw treble 12 for treble 20 then you need to go back to the dartboard.”
The Dutchman added: “I’m not harsh, he is a lovely man. Did you ever see me do that? I can only blame myself, I didn’t play well. I’m the one to blame. But I made Pero look good today. Pero won a few legs and it feels like his birthday!”