Gilding's glory: Goldfinger downs Premier League star to claim Players Championship title

Former UK Open champion Andrew Gilding picked up his maiden PDC Pro Tour title on Wednesday, after defeating Premier League Contender Jonny Clayton 8-3 in the final of Players Championship 16, as the midweek double header concluded at Leicester’s Mattioli Arena.  

The popular player, known as Goldfinger, finally claimed one of the PDC's tour titles after 442 previous attempts and many near misses!

MORE ELITE DARTS COVERAGE: Check Out Our Devoted PDC Area

Gilding – a six-time runner-up on the Pro Tour – went a step further at the seventh time of asking as he reached Wednesday’s Finale firstly by recording victories against Wesley Plaisier, Arno Merk, Dirk Van Duijvenbode, Jermaine Wattimena, Joe Hunt and Ian White, to set up a clash with Clayton.  

The final began with the Suffolk star racing into a 3-0 lead with winning legs coming in a total of 43 darts, before Clayton ended the drought in Leg Four to pick up his first leg of the tie in 18 darts. Gilding then rattled off three successive legs again to extend his lead at 6-1 before there was a run of four straight holds of throw between the pair, which resulted in ‘Goldfinger’ sealing an 8-3 victory in Leg 11 with a 19 darter to pick up a first Pro Tour title as well as £15,000 top prize.  

Clayton’s run to the final saw the Welsh starlet record victories on the day against Marvin Van Velzen, Mervyn King, Derek Coulson, Andy Boulton, Gabriel Clemens and Niko Springer, before being denied a first ranking title of the year by Gilding.  

Elsewhere, there were Quarter Final runs for Premier League Star Stephen Bunting and Former Tour Card Holder Callum Goffin, with the Welshman stepping up from the Challenge Tour, whilst Tuesday’s PC15 winner Michael Van Gerwen was amongst the high profile first round casualties alongside fellow Premier League rival Gian Van Veen. The day also saw Belgium’s Kim Huybrechts hit a nine-dart finish during his second-round victory against Tavis Dudeney.  

DARTS PLAYER MERCHANDISE AND COLLECTABLES AT OUR DARTSWORLD STORE!

The PDC Pro Tour season resumes next week on May 18-19 with Players Championship 17 & 18 taking place again in Leicester, with 128 players competing for a further £150,000 in prize money each day. Play will be broadcasted across four streaming boards on PDC.TV and various bookmaker websites worldwide, with all live scores and results on tv.dartconnect.com.  

2026 PDC Players Championship 16 

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 

For the full stories and more in depth coverage of everything darts, together with the latest issues of their legendary publications, head on over to dartsworld.com