Charlie Manby has broken new ground in Den Bosch, defeating Maik Kuivenhoven 8-2 to win his first ever PDC senior ranking title at Players Championship 31. The 21-year-old impressed throughout the day, averaging as high as 112 en route to his first ever PDC senior ranking final, and he looked at home on the big stage, producing a ridiculously clinical display on the outer ring to capitalise on his opponent not producing his best performance. The next big achievement in his young darting career was confirmed, and he also qualifies for the Grand Slam of Darts in the process, wrapping up what has been a hugely successful day.
Manby was electric all day and deservedly reached his first ever ProTour final. He began with a statement 6-1 win against Karel Sedlacek while averaging 104.01. A 6-5 win over Dennie Olde Kalter and 6-4 triumph against Adam Leek was followed up with a staggering 112.16 average to dispose of Domink Gruellich 6-3, concluding with three consecutive 12-darters. He won six legs on the spin against Alan Souter in the same scoreline before preventing a comeback charge by Beau Greaves, seeing off ‘Beau ‘n’ Arrow’ 7-5 to break new ground.
Kuivenhoven was in a second floor final, losing the first one in Wigan earlier this year. He was made to work for it, with his opening match ending 6-5 against Filip Bereza. Darius Labanauskas and Owen Bates were defeated 6-3 before he managed to get on the right end of another 6-5 scoreline, this time against Robert Owen. He averaged over 99 to defeat Mike De Decker 6-2 before halting a charging Dirk van Duijvenbode 7-6 to set up the clash against ‘Champagne.’
One of them was guaranteed to win their first PDC senior title, and it was Manby who exploded out of the blocks the quicker. He was better in the scoring phase and extremely clinical in the bottom left hand corner of the board. He broke the throw to go 2-0 ahead before double 16 was on hand to extend his lead. Kuivenhoven gave himself a moment before blowing what seemed like a leg in his hands, dragging a poor tops effort into the five segment before failing to clean up. It seemed like a pivotal leg as Manby pinned double eight and had a double break advantage. It was soon made 5-0 with a fifth effort on the outer ring on the spin finding its spot. Kuivenhoven was struggling, and it showed on the doubles. Manby slipped up, and eventually on double five Kuivenhoven was on the board. That was soon doubled with one of the breaks salvaged. The tables soon turned again as Manby left double 18 from the 170 and had time to play with, finding double nine to break once more and move two away from glory. Back-to-back 180s were found on the way to an 11-dart hold and Manby was flying. Kuivenhoven had to be immaculate from here until the end, and missed doubles at tops offered Manby the chance to win. Double 18 was nailed, and Manby is a PDC Ranking title holder. He averaged 99.72 while pinning 62% of his doubles. In contrast, Kuivenhoven racked up a checkout percentage of just 14% and averaged 84.76. The better player won in the final, and Manby was delighted afterwards.
The race to Minehead will soon reach its climax with not many Players Championship events left to be played out. As customary with floor events outside of England, there were a lot of withdrawals. Luke Littler stood out from the pack, with his chances of defending his Players Championship Finals title almost in tatters. Gary Anderson and Josh Rock are also leaving it late, the latter sitting in 78th. The likes of Nathan Aspinall and Peter Wright are also outside the top 64, but both were dumped out in the opening round. Michael Smith and Ritchie Edhouse made it one step further, but their spots at Minehead are also in the balance. Gian van Veen and Michael van Gerwen were the only top 10 players in action on home soil, along with Aspinall, but both would leave disappointed. They will feature in the Players Championship Finals so there is no worry about that, but especially for the three-time world champion it is about playing himself back into some form. While he snapped his losing streak dating back to the Czech Darts Open, a last-16 exit to Kevin Doets with a 102.16 average does have its positives and negatives. Van Veen would lose a round earlier, defeated by Jeffrey de Graaf. There was also a nine-darter completed in the first round. Cristo Reyes produced that against Cor Dekker, but would lose to van Gerwen in the third round.
The action in Den Bosch is not over yet, with Players Championship 32 set to be played out tomorrow. PC 33 and 34 will occur in Leicester on November 4 and 5, drawing the Players Championship events in 2026 to a dramatic close.
