Dave Chisnall has declared his game is in a good place after a strong showing at Players Championship 8 in Leicester, capped by a quarter-final appearance. The Englishman reflected, "I know I keep saying it but people might actually believe me now," following a busy spell that included exhibition matches at Carrow Road in Norwich last weekend before heading straight to Leicester for Players Championship 7 and 8.
Chisnall's week started with a relaxed exhibition at Norwich City, where he enjoyed the crowd interaction, saying, "I just wanted to thank the guys at Norwich City for really looking after us for a couple of days last weekend. The fans down at Carrow Road were brilliant and the form showed there really helped to a couple of days on the floor." However, the first day of Pro Tour action did not go as planned, as he suffered an early 6-3 defeat to Benjamin Pratnemer at Players Championship 7. Chisnall noted the fine margins, stating, "It's such fine margins in sport. I've gone 20-57 and missed tops by a whisker. He responded by taking out the match dart with last dart in hand. That's just the way it goes sometimes."
A day later, Chisnall bounced back impressively at Players Championship 8, battling into the quarter-finals with standout wins including a 6-1 victory over Martin Schindler. He highlighted a lost leg where he hit 180, 100, and 140 but didn't get a dart at a double, while his opponent took out 129 in twelve darts, calling it "darts in a nutshell." His best match came against Mervyn King, where he trailed early but fought back, taking out 55 to go 5-4 up and then scoring 139, 137, and 97 to build a decisive lead, closing it out despite a late 180 from King. In the quarter-finals, he lost 6-4 to Dutch talent Wessel Nijman, who went on to win the tournament, with Chisnall averaging over 100 and remarking, "I lost 6-4 with a 103 average and he played very, very well but I could have won that game."
Looking ahead, Chisnall is optimistic as he shifts focus to the Euro Tour in Munich, where due to a few withdrawals, he will be seeded and not in action until Saturday. He aims to win his first game, earn ranking points, and make inroads on the Euro Tour, with a busy month ahead including more Pro Tour events and a date in Sindelfingen. Chisnall added, "Hopefully I can carry the form on. I've got to the Quarter-Finals of a Players Championship event twice now this season but I'd really like to make some inroads on the Euro Tour now. Fingers crossed April can be a good one for us."
