Ireland's William O’Connor narrowly missed out on a second PDC Players Championship title after losing to world number eight Chris Dobey in the final in Wigan.
The Limerick man, now ranked 43rd in the order of merit, led Dobey 6-5 but the Englishman reeled off the last three legs to edge a high-quality decider.
O’Connor beat Ryan Joyce 7-2 in the semi-final having earlier seen off Thibault Tricole, Chris Landman, Andy Boulton, Michele Turetta and Robert Grundy.
The Magpie won a Players Championship event in 2019 and reached the World Cup of Darts final, alongside Steve Lennon, in the same year.
O'CONNOR TWO AWAY!
— PDC Darts (@OfficialPDC) October 29, 2025
William O'Connor conjures up a brilliant 151 checkout to move two legs away from the Players Championship 33 title!
The Irishman leads Chris Dobey 6-5 in a high-quality final!
📺 https://t.co/YyBPPwoMK8 #PC33 pic.twitter.com/hh8PRGxYAJ
Meanwhile, Luke Littler missed the event after a traffic jam caused the world number two to be late for registration
It is understood the 18-year-old was stuck in road congestion and did not arrive in time for the strict 11am deadline.
The reigning world champion has already qualified for next month's finals in Minehead after winning Players Championship 32 earlier this month.
It was also a disappointing afternoon for world number one Luke Humphries as he was edged out 6-5 in the first round by outsider Adam Warner.
Littler's place in the draw was taken by Charlie Manby, who went on to beat former champion Rob Cross in another last-leg decider.
Elsewhere, both Nathan Aspinall and Damon Heta hit a nine-dart finish in their respective first-round wins over Ian White and George Killington.
The Robin Park Leisure Centre meeting is the penultimate Players Championship event of the year.
