IAN WHITE secured his maiden title on PDC circuit after defeating Premier League star Simon Whitlock 6-3 in the final of Players Championship 8 at the Barnsley Metrodome on Sunday. The 43-year-old from Stoke had come out second best in the five previous finals he had played on the PDC Pro Tour but claimed the £10,000 first prize at the sixth time of asking with an average of 100.97 to defeat the Australian number one. White’s memorable day began with wins over Steve Hine and Adrian Gray – both by 6-4 margins – before destroying two-time World Champion Adrian Lewis with a 6-1 win in the third round. White maintained that form as he whitewashed former UK Open finalist Mark Walsh before dropping just a total of three legs against Joe Cullen and Wayne Jones to seal his place in the final against Whitlock. The Australian started the better of the two players in the decider as he took the opening leg with a 76 finish on double top before White hit back to win the next two and establish a 2-1 lead. Whitlock levelled by claiming the fourth leg with a 70 finish before White landed double 16 to regain the lead which was increased to 4-2 in the next when he hit double 14 after Whitlock wasted three chances at double 11. White landed double eight for the second time in the game to lead 5-2 and move a leg away from victory before Whitlock kept the game alive by converting a 90 finish to win the eigth leg. The Stoke man held throw in the ninth and he made it count as he confirmed victory by landing an excellent 100 checkout on double top to close out the game and end Whitlock’s hopes of a second Pro Tour victory in 2013. Whitlock, who reached the last four of Saturday’s Players Championship, produced some scintillating darts on Sunday as he beat Colin Osborne in the second round with a 105 average before dismissing five-time World Champion Raymond van Barneveld 6-2 in the next round, averaging over 111. Whitlock edged out Germany’s Jyhan Artut in a dramatic deciding leg encounter which he won thanks to a fantastic 164 checkout to reach the last 16 of the competition. The world number four overcame Mervyn King 6-3 before whitewashing Scott Rand 6-0 to remain on course for claiming the first prize, but ran out of steam in the decider as White came out on top. Coventry’s Scott Rand run to the last four included a sparkling 6-2 victory over Dutch sensation Michael van Gerwen. The former Players Championship semi-finalist when on to beat Dean Winstanley and Paul Nicholson before falling to Whitlock in their semi-final clash. Wolverhampton’s Wayne Jones was the other semi-finalist on Sunday, having shown signs of a return to form after reaching the last 16 in Saturday’s Players Championship after a run of indifferent form. The 2010 European Championship finalist produced his best performance in PDC competition since making the last four of the Dutch Darts Masters, last October, recording wins over Stuart Kellett and Darren Webster to reach the semi-finals before finding White to strong an obstacle to pass. Paul Nicholson and Mervyn King lost at the last eight at the Barnsley Metrodome for the second day running alongside Bradford’s Joe Cullen who reached his third quarter-final of 2013 and Darren Webster who enjoyed his best PDC Pro Tour result since reaching the semi-finals in Killarney, last October. St Helens ace, Dave Chisnall, who won Saturday’s Players Championship, fell back down to earth with a bump as he narrowly lost out to Steve Grubb 6-5 in his opening game of the day, having had one dart at double 18 to progress. Saturday’s runner-up Peter Wright was also an early casualty as he exited the competition in the second round after losing out to London’s Paul Amos by a 6-4 margin. Major champions Robert Thornton, Colin Lloyd and Gary Anderson were a number of notable first round casualties on a day of surprises in Barnsley.
Posted on: Sun, 15 Sep 2013 17:56:23 +0000
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