Ryan Searle clinches Players Championship 4 title as Michael van Gerwen skips home tournament.
Michael van Gerwen skipped Tuesday’s event, along with Luke Humphries, Luke Littler, and Gary Anderson. Ryan Searle defeated Cameron Menzies 8-3 to become the first non-Premier League player to win a ranking title in 2025.
Searle has won a PDC ranking title in each of the last five years, and the Somerset star extended that streak with a host of top-quality displays at the Autotron.
The 37-year-old averaged just shy of 105 in a first round whitewash of Florian Hempel, and after easing past Mensur Suljovic in round two, he averaged 109 in a third round thumping of Owen Bates.
Searle continued his charge with hard-fought wins over Mickey Mansell and William O’Connor, before producing a clinical 120 checkout to topple Stefan Bellmont 7-6 in the semi-finals.
The man nicknamed ‘Heavy Metal’ delivered more heavy artillery in Tuesday’s showpiece against Menzies, converting eight of his 12 attempts at double to triumph with a 100.7 average.
Menzies kicked off proceedings with a brilliant 145 outshot – sparking a sequence of four consecutive holds – before Searle registered legs of 13 and 12 darts to establish a 4-2 buffer.
Following back-to-back holds, Searle then followed up a crucial 110 kill with a brilliant tops-tops 100 finish to move to the brink of victory, which he sealed via his trusted tops in leg 11.
“I’ve been playing really well in practice, so to prove it this week is fantastic,” admitted Searle, who becomes the first non-Premier League player to win a ranking title this year.
Menzies enjoyed a breakthrough year on the PDC ProTour in 2024, and the Grand Slam of Darts quarter-finalist impressed on Dutch soil to reach his third Players Championship final.
The Scot fought back from 5-2 to deny Jose de Sousa in a dramatic first round tie, and after averaging in three figures to dispose of Christian Kist, he won through another deciding-leg tussle against Wesley Plaisier.
Menzies then recorded successive 6-3 victories over Stephen Bunting and James Wade to book a last four showdown against Dom Taylor, where he ran out a resounding 7-4 winner.
Taylor landed five ton-plus averages in reaching the semi-finals, with a 99.31 average in his third round win over Ryan Meikle representing his worst performance of the day.
The 26-year-old also overcame Karel Sedlacek and Damon Heta before whitewashing Nick Kenny and averaging 106 in his quarter-final victory over Gabriel Clemens.
Taylor was joined in the last four by Bellmont, who claimed eye-catching wins over Gerwyn Price and Josh Rock to become the first Swiss representative to reach a PDC ranking semi-final.
The World Cup star had kicked off his campaign with a crushing 6-2 win over European Champion Ritchie Edhouse, while he also launched a late fightback to deny Ryan Joyce in the last 16.
Following a hat-trick of first round exits in the year’s opening three events, Clemens enjoyed a welcome return to form in Rosmalen, reaching the quarter-finals alongside Rock and Wade.
Irish star O’Connor completed the quarter-final line-up, defeating top seed Dave Chisnall before overturning a 5-3 deficit against five-time World Champion Raymond van Barneveld in the last 16.
Dutch superstar Michael van Gerwen opted not to compete in Tuesday’s event, with Luke Humphries, Luke Littler and Gary Anderson amongst the other Tour Card Holders not in action.
The 2025 PDC ProTour season continues in Leicester next month, as Players Championships 5-6 take place at the Mattioli Arena on March 11-12.
Live coverage will be broadcast live through PDCTV and bookmakers’ websites worldwide, with German commentary also available for PDCTV subscribers.
2025 Players Championship 4
Tuesday February 18
Autotron, Rosmalen
Last 16
William O'Connor 6-5 Raymond van Barneveld
Ryan Searle 6-5 Mickey Mansell
Stefan Bellmont 6-5 Ryan Joyce
Josh Rock 6-3 James Hurrell
Gabriel Clemens 6-2 Wessel Nijman
Dom Taylor 6-0 Nick Kenny
Cameron Menzies 6-3 Stephen Bunting
James Wade 6-5 Maik Kuivenhoven
Quarter-Finals
Ryan Searle 6-4 William O'Connor
Stefan Bellmont 6-2 Josh Rock
Dom Taylor 6-3 Gabriel Clemens
Cameron Menzies 6-3 James Wade
Semi-Finals
Ryan Searle 7-6 Stefan Bellmont
Cameron Menzies 7-5 Dom Taylor
Final
Ryan Searle 8-3 Cameron Menzies
