Searle sweeps aside Soutar to secure Players Championship Seven title

[p]The 38-year-old produced a comprehensive performance in the final, averaging 95.65 and striking four maximums to secure the £15,000 top prize. He averaged 100.13 across the day. [/p][p][b]“I played really solid today,"[/b] reflected [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/searle-ryan/UFF3Eh5C/"]Searle[/a], whose victory lifts him to fourth in the 2026 Players Championship standings.[/p][p][b]“Averages wise, my best was against [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/van-barneveld-raymond/QyLUYvr0/"]Raymond (van Barneveld)[/a], and feeling wise it felt like the worst, which was a little bit odd.[/b][/p][p][b]“February and March time is normally my time of year when I win things, and if I can win one or two more to break new ground this year, I will do that.”[/b][/p][embed guid="942e0e37-c927-44ce-9581-ec72dcd4d325" url="https://x.com/OfficialPDC/status/2038676100281155787?s=20" social-type="twitter" /][p][b]“I’ve had a bit more attention this year so far. It’s been really good," [/b]added Searle.[b] "I’ve been able to raise awareness for the Cure ADOA Foundation, but motivation wise, I haven’t been practising.[/b][/p][p][b]“I would like to win a European Tour; that would be the next goal for me; to prove that I can win something on the big stage would be good.”[/b][/p][p]Searle set the tone early, averaging 101.50 in a 6-2 win over [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/lovely-thomas/0M4ioXqO/"]Thomas Lovely[/a] before dispatching [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/labanauskas-darius/xEYlNLtI/"]Darius Labanauskas[/a] 6-1. He then beat [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/van-schie-jimmy/bVfvhls2/"]Jimmy van Schie[/a] and, indeed, produced his best display of the day against Van Barneveld, averaging 104.50. [/p][p]Further victories over [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/manby-charlie/bPLltm0n/"]Charlie Manby[/a] (6-3) and Scottish number one [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/anderson-gary/MyKZZS6r/"]Gary Anderson[/a] (7-3) carried him into the final.[/p][embed guid="45df26ad-67e8-488e-8445-40adf0bdc20f" url="https://x.com/OfficialPDC/status/2038665418219372628?s=20" social-type="twitter" /][p]There, Searle raced into a 3-0 lead with winning legs of 15, 14 and 13 darts. [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/soutar-alan/0lKCTRWo/"]Soutar[/a] briefly threatened a response, but 'Heavy Metal' reasserted control, taking three of the next four legs to move within one of the title before closing out with a 17-darter. [/p][p]Soutar had impressed en route to the final, averaging 105.03 in his opening win over [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/dudeney-tavis/U3bMlfhU/"]Tavis Dudeney[/a], and came through three last-leg deciders during the day, including a narrow semi-final victory over [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/barry-keane/Ycu2Oplg/"]Keane Barry[/a].[/p][p]Barry had earlier delivered the highest average of the tournament (109.43) in a win over [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/ratajski-krzysztof/jNZjSeIT/"]Krzysztof Ratajski[/a], and also accounted for [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/smith-michael/fuylyQpD/"]Michael Smith[/a] and [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/bunting-stephen/xANKMtPG/"]Stephen Bunting[/a] before his run was halted.[/p][p]Anderson reached the semi-finals, but has not won a ranking title since March 2025, while Bunting and [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/van-gerwen-michael/SU4UkKsm/"]Michael van Gerwen[/a] both exited in the fourth round.[/p][h2]Results[/h2][p][b]Last 16[/b][/p][p]Ryan Searle 6-3 Raymond van Barneveld[/p][p]Charlie Manby 6-5 Jermaine Wattimena[/p][p]Gary Anderson 6-3 James Hurrell[/p][p]Chris Dobey 6-4 Cristo Reyes[/p][p]Keane Barry 6-4 Stephen Bunting[/p][p]Jeffrey Sparidaans 6-3 Michael van Gerwen[/p][p]Peter Wright 6-3 Maik Kuivenhoven[/p][p]Alan Soutar 6-3 Alexander Merkx[/p][p][b]Quarter-finals[/b][/p][p]Ryan Searle 6-3 Charlie Manby[/p][p]Gary Anderson 6-2 Chris Dobey[/p][p]Keane Barry 6-3 Jeffrey Sparidaans[/p][p]Alan Soutar 6-1 Peter Wright[/p][p][b]Semi-finals[/b][/p][p]Ryan Searle 7-3 Gary Anderson[/p][p]Alan Soutar 7-6 Keane Barry[/p][p][b]Final[/b][/p][p]Ryan Searle 8-3 Alan Soutar[/p][h2][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/darts/world/players-championship-7/"]Catch up on PC7 with Flashscore[/a][/h2]