WOODHOUSE CLAIMS MAIDEN PDC RANKING TITLE

LUKE WOODHOUSE admitted he felt “relief” after ending his trophy drought by winning Players Championship 18.

‘Woody’ clinched his maiden PDC ranking title after defeating Andrew Gilding in the final to claim the £15,000 top prize in Leicester.

The world No.19 battled back from 3-0 down and produced a superb 102.04 average to seal an 8-4 victory over ‘Goldfinger’. 

The Worcestershire thrower averaged 99.14 in a 7-3 semi-final win against Harry Ward, having earlier dispatched Jonny Clayton 6-2 in the quarter-finals. 

Woodhouse is now determined to ensure his breakthrough success is not a one-off. 

He said: “It feels unbelievable. I have played some good stuff today. To get rid of that tag of being the highest-ranked player not to win a title is lovely. 

“I just thought whoever I played out of James [Wade] and Andrew was going to be a tough game. 

“I saw Andrew win one of the ProTours last week, so I thought I needed to get out of the game strongly early doors. 

“But then I was 3-0 down. I also didn’t want to collapse, so I thought: stick in there and show what you can do. 

“I wouldn’t call it frustrating because I know I am playing some really good stuff. I knew it was just a matter of when, not if. 

“I want to do well now in every tournament I play in. I want to do more. You look at all the great players — they are not happy with just winning one thing. 

“They want to win tournament after tournament. That is what I have to teach myself to do. I think my game is in a great place.

“So, who knows what I can do? It’s fantastic. I think relief is the big word, really.” 

Elsewhere, top seed Wessel Nijman suffered a shock first-round exit after a 6-2 defeat to Mario Vandenbogaerde. 

Beau Greaves also bowed out in the second round, losing 6-4 to a composed Danny Noppert. 

Meanwhile, the struggles of two-time world champion Peter Wright continued as he was thrashed 6-0 by Joe Cullen in the second round.

Image by Taylor Lanning.