Luke Humphries' recent slump continued with a disappointing exit in the last 16 at the Players Championship 9 in Wigan, while Chris Dobey dominated the competition to secure his second title of the year. Humphries' hopes of reaching the Premier League finals took a hit following his quarter-final defeat to Jonny Clayton just four days prior. He was then unable to bounce back, suffering a 6-4 loss to Andrew Gilding.
Gilding's impressive run included a 6-3 win over Beau Greaves, who made history by becoming the first woman to reach a ProTour quarter-final. However, Gilding's campaign came to an end with a 7-1 semi-final loss to Dobey, who went on to thrash Luke Woodhouse 6-1 and Richard Veenstra 6-3 in the quarter-finals before overcoming Justin Hood 8-4 in the final to claim the £15,000 prize. Dobey's victory was marked by a strong performance, which included a 105.28 average in the final. The 35-year-old from Northumberland expressed his desire to build on this success, stating, 'The way I've been playing throughout the year, I'm hoping to pick up more titles.
It's hard just to win one of these, so to win ten is a great feeling.' A notable highlight from the tournament was Thomas Lovely's nine-darter in his round three defeat to Woodhouse. The competition also saw several other exciting matches, including the last 16, quarter-finals, semi-finals, and the final, which ended with Dobey's 8-4 win over Hood.