Andrew Gilding ends long wait for his maiden Pro Tour title at Players Championship 16 “I’ve been waiting for this for a long while! I can’t believe it”
Andrew Gilding ends long wait for his maiden Pro Tour title at Players Championship 16 “I’ve been waiting for this for a long while! I can’t believe it”
Andrew Gilding finally captured his maiden Players Championship title on Wednesday, defeating Jonny Clayton 8-3 in a dominant final to win Players Championship 16 in Leicester.
The popular Englishman, affectionately known as “Goldfinger”, produced a superb series of performances throughout the day at the Mattioli Arena to end a long wait for ProTour glory and collect the £15,000 winner’s cheque.
Having previously lost six Players Championship finals across his career, Gilding entered the showpiece determined to make seventh time lucky, and he delivered one of the finest performances of his season against world number five Clayton.
The 55-year-old made a blistering start to the contest, racing into a 3-0 lead as Clayton struggled to settle into the final.
The Welshman halted the early momentum with a classy 61 checkout to get himself on the board, but Gilding immediately responded in emphatic fashion. A crucial 100 finish saw the former UK Open champion break throw once more before he extended his advantage to a commanding 5-1 lead.
Although Clayton attempted to fight his way back into the contest, Gilding remained composed under pressure and continued to hold throw confidently.
The Englishman survived six missed darts at double from Clayton during the closing stages before eventually pinning double ten to seal a famous victory — his first Players Championship title after 442 attempts on the ProTour circuit.
“I’ve been waiting for this for a long while! I can’t believe it,” admitted Gilding after finally lifting the trophy.
“I’ve had some great finals before. I remember playing Gary Anderson many years ago, he had a 112 average and I had a 107 average. But I finally got over the line!
“Your form dips and rises. You just have to be patient.
“I’ve had such a good start to the season, I’ve more or less qualified for everything now.
“I’ve just got to keep that up and make sure I don’t drop out of the rankings, and I’ll get into the World Matchplay again and the European Championship.”
Gilding’s path to the title was far from straightforward, with the veteran forced to battle through several difficult matches before eventually reaching the winner’s enclosure.
He opened his campaign with a hard-fought 6-4 victory over Dutchman Wesley Plaisier before surviving a major scare against World Championship breakout star Arno Merk.
Trailing 4-2 in that second-round clash, Gilding dug deep to force a deciding leg before completing a dramatic comeback victory to keep his hopes alive.
From that point onward, the former UK Open champion began to gather momentum.
A superb 102.36 average helped Gilding dispatch Players Championship 15 runner-up Dirk van Duijvenbode 6-4, before he produced a ruthless whitewash victory over Jermaine Wattimena to move into the quarter-finals.
The Englishman then delivered arguably his best display of the tournament in the last eight, averaging 103.82 during a convincing 6-2 victory over Challenge Tour leader Joe Hunt.
Gilding followed that up with a gritty 7-5 success against Ian White in the semi-finals to book his place in a second Players Championship final of the year.
Despite missing out on the title, Clayton also impressed during an exhausting run to the final which featured a series of dramatic encounters.
The Welsh number one survived three separate deciding-leg matches throughout the day, beginning with a narrow victory over Marvin van Velzen in his opening match.
A comfortable whitewash win against veteran Mervyn King followed before Clayton produced his strongest performance of the afternoon against fellow Welshman Derek Coulson, averaging 104.78 in a 6-4 triumph.
Another deciding-leg victory against Andy Boulton secured Clayton’s quarter-final place, and he then defeated Germany’s Gabriel Clemens to advance to the semi-finals.
One of the matches of the day followed in the last four, where Clayton recovered from 3-0 down to edge out Germany’s Niko Springer in a dramatic deciding-leg thriller.
Springer appeared poised to reach his maiden Players Championship final, only for Clayton to produce a clutch 102 checkout with the German youngster waiting on tops to complete victory.
Although his tournament ended in heartbreak, Springer enjoyed the best Players Championship run of his career.
The Hungarian Darts Trophy champion defeated Mensur Suljovic, Kevin Doets and former Masters winner Stephen Bunting during a hugely impressive day in Leicester, averaging above 92 in each of his six matches.
Ian White also enjoyed a strong resurgence by reaching his first Players Championship semi-final in over a year. The experienced Englishman defeated ninth seed Luke Woodhouse and World Championship quarter-finalist Justin Hood during his run, averaging over 102 in the latter contest.
There were several other notable stories throughout the day at the Mattioli Arena.
Fresh from winning Players Championship 15 just 24 hours earlier, Michael van Gerwen suffered a shock first-round defeat to Joe Hunt, who continued his excellent season with another deep run.
The Challenge Tour leader now sits 21st in the 2026 Players Championship Order of Merit after reaching a third quarter-final of the year.
Stephen Bunting also maintained his recent consistency by reaching back-to-back quarter-finals in Leicester, claiming victories over Beau Greaves and Krzysztof Ratajski along the way.
Welshman Callum Goffin enjoyed a breakthrough tournament, not only recording his first ProTour win of the season but advancing all the way to the quarter-finals after winning four matches.
Elsewhere, Gabriel Clemens reached his second quarter-final of 2026, notably defeating Australian number one Damon Heta during his campaign.
However, one of the standout moments of the day came from Belgium’s Kim Huybrechts, who produced a sensational nine-dart finish during his 6-1 demolition of Tavis Dudeney.
Huybrechts averaged 108.81 in the contest and thrilled the Leicester crowd with perfection in the second leg of the match.
The PDC ProTour season continues next week at the Mattioli Arena, with Players Championship 17 and 18 scheduled to take place from May 18-19 as the busy darting calendar rolls on.
Andrew Gilding ends long wait for his maiden Pro Tour title at Players Championship 16
2026 Players Championship Sixteen
Wednesday May 13
Mattioli Arena, Leicester
Last 16
Callum Goffin 6-5 Darius Labanauskas
Ian White 6-2 Justin Hood
Andrew Gilding 6-0 Jermaine Wattimena
Joe Hunt 6-5 Rob Owen
Stephen Bunting 6-3 Krzysztof Ratajski
Niko Springer 6-2 Kevin Doets
Jonny Clayton 6-5 Andy Boulton
Gabriel Clemens 6-4 Damon Heta
Quarter-Finals
Ian White 6-3 Callum Goffin
Andrew Gilding 6-2 Joe Hunt
Niko Springer 6-2 Stephen Bunting
Jonny Clayton 6-3 Gabriel Clemens
Semi-Finals
Andrew Gilding 7-5 Ian White
Jonny Clayton 7-6 Niko Springer
Final
Andrew Gilding 8-3 Jonny Clayton
Nine-Darter!
Kim Huybrechts struck a nine-dart leg in the second leg of his 6-1 win over Tavis Dudeney in round two.
