It’s day four of Super Series 3, the fourth and final Players Championship event being staged in Niedernhausen in Germany, and it’s as wide open as you’d expect any PDC floor tournament to be.
The cream, it has to be said, has been rising to the top with Premier League star Jose de Sousa prevailing in Players Championship 9 on Saturday and Michael Smith, a man who thinks he should be playing in the Premier League, powering through to win PC10 on Sunday.
And there’s a couple of Irish arrowsmiths throwing well out in Germany who, at decent prices, could merit a punt.
De Sousa De Man Over First Two Days
De Sousa, the Portuguese Man O’Scores as he has come to be known, was the absolute superstar over the first two days.
The reigning Grand Slam champion topped the averages on Saturday in PC9, which he went on to win, with a series of breathtaking performances.
Few thought he could improve on the 111 average he posted in battering Brendan Dolan in the last eight, only for the big-hitting Portuguese chucker to register a mind-boggling 114 in his final demolition of Luke Humphries.
De Sousa, who looks right at home in the Premier League, has finally arrived in the big time. But as if to show that top-flight ‘arrers’ can bite even the very best on the backside, he followed up a series of dazzling efforts over the first two days by being dumped at the first hurdle in PC11 on Monday by Chas Barstow. It’s a funny old game
Van Gerwen’s Struggles Continue
The Van-men, the likes of Michael van Gerwen, Dimitri van den Bergh and big-hitting Dirk van Duijvenbode will have their supporters at PC12. Raymond van Barneveld, however, withdrew after feeling unwell, the second time he has been taken ill on tour in his comeback year.
Van Gerwen, meanwhile, was thumped 6-1 by Gino Vos, the sort of result that was unimaginable last year. He’s still awaiting a first win of 2021.
Another player to watch out for from down the card is Stephen Bunting, the former Lakeside world champ who turned back the clock on Sunday with a nine-darter during a whitewash of Ron Meulenkamp.
Home fans hoping to see their No.1 Gabriel Clemens go deep have been disappointed so far, while Max Hopp has hardly covered himself in glory either.
Lennon Imagines German Glory
There have been some seriously solid efforts from Steve Lennon and Brendan Dolan over the weekend and both could go deep on the final day.
The Republic’s Lennon is having a good year on the floor, averaging over 95, and has been competing well in Niedernhausen. He took out Michael Smith in PC9 and reached the quarter-finals in PC10.
Dolan, from Northern Ireland, is doing even better. The History Maker has been in top form anyway having won PC5 in Milton Keynes last month and has carried on in the same vein in Germany.
We’ve mentioned the 111 average De Sousa needed to beat him in the last eight on Saturday, minutes after Dolan himself had averaged 102 beating Nathan Aspinall. He’s boasted a three-figure average in at least one match on each of the first three days.