Karel Sedlacek secured his first PDC Pro Tour title at Players Championship 30, beating Scott Williams 8-7 despite a late scare as he closed in on victory.

It was a thrilling encounter, with Sedlacek outlasting Williams’ barrage of high scores, which included nine maximums, but both players struggled to close out the victory, with the Czech missing five match darts.

Sedlacek would ultimately claim victory, becoming the first Czech player to win a PDC tour title. But after mounting an epic comeback, winning two of the final three legs, Williams cut a furious figure after the match, shaking hands with his opponent and the officials before throwing his darts onto the ground.

Sedlacek would go 7-5 up before nerves set in, with the 47-year-old needing to check out on 24 to win, before missing a trio of match darts, allowing Williams to pull back a leg.

The momentum turned to Williams, who hit two 140s in the resulting leg, before he pulled the contest back to 7-7.

In the deciding leg, it looked as though the Englishman was set to produce a remarkable comeback victory, hitting a maximum to leave himself 112 to win the match, but he too stumbled, hitting five on his second dart when a single 20 would have double 16.

Williams shook his head and exclaimed, ‘you’re kidding me’, before hitting 15 with his final dart.

It left Sedlacek the chance to check out from 32, first missing double 16 inside, subsequently missing double eight, before he finally sealed the match.

Sedlacek, who hit a match-high checkout of 164 in the ninth leg, finished the final with a checkout success of 34.8 per cent, while Williams ended with 36.8 per cent.

“It’s a really special achievement,” Sedlacek told PDC TV. “I’ve been waiting for this for nearly 10 years, and now it is a reality.

Sedlacek, who lauded his opponent Williams as a “good player” after the match, booked his spot in the final by beating some top opponents, including Damon Heta in the round of 32, Nathan Aspinall in the last 16 and Chris Dobey in the quarter-final, before besting Niels Zonneveld 7-2 in the semi-finals.

“It means everything,” he said. “I’ve played for more than 30 years and now I’ve done it. I’m at the top of my career now and I’m really happy.

“I’m feeling stronger and I know I can play darts but I need more matches. But this is perfect.

“Darts is growing day by day in Czech Republic. More players and good players are coming through, this is one of the best points of my career and every player in Czech Republic will hopefully say, ‘Karel has done it, we can do it too!'”

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