WES NEWTON claimed his first ranking title with a narrow victory over Steve Beaton in Saturday's Scottish Players Championship.
Newton has reached three PDC Pro Tour finals since the summer without victory, but ended that run in a final-leg thriller with Beaton at the Magnum Centre in Irvine.
In-form Beaton had defeated the Fleetwood ace a fortnight ago to claim his first win for eight years, but missed one dart for victory in the deciding leg.
Beaton took the final's opener and landed a 180 in the second, but missed doubles allowed Newton to level, and the pair also traded the next two before an 11-darter put the Warwickshire-based star 3-2 up.
Newton landed two 140s and a 70 finish to level, and then defied another 180 from Beaton to land double 12 for a break of throw for a 4-3 lead after his opponent missed double 16 for the leg.
Newton then hit four ton-plus scores and double eight to move 5-3 up - before Beaton landed back-to-back 14-dart finishes to send the final into a decider.
Beaton landed two 140s, but a missed double 16 allowed Newton - who had hit scores of 139 and 137 in leaving 66 - back to snatch the win on double 18.
"I'm so relieved to have finally won a Players Championship," said Newton. "There was so much pressure on me in the final and I was trying not to think about it and just to play darts how I had throughout the day.
"I played awesome all day long - it's probably the best I've played consistently round on round - so I'm over the moon.
"I was 5-3 up and Steve got it back to five-all and had the darts in the last leg, and I thought I'd blown it!
"I knew I had to produce just one big leg and treated it like it was just a normal leg down at my local pub, and luckily enough I won it."
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"It's probably the best I've played consistently round on round," Wes Newton |
A whitewash of Mick McGowan saw him start the day perfectly, and he narrowly missed double 12 for a nine-darter in defeating Nick Fullwell 6-1 in the second round, admitting: "I thought it was in and even celebrated, but it was right on the wire!"
Newton also dropped just one leg in a win over Roland Scholten before defeating Northern Irish pair Brendan Dolan and John MaGowan to reach the semi-finals, where he saw off Andy Smith 6-3.
Beaton sneaked past Peter Wright 6-5 in an exciting semi-final, with colourful star Wright missing three darts for victory in the decider before the European Championship runner-up took out 128 on the bull for victory.
Resurgent Beaton included Dutch pair Vincent van der Voort and Jelle Klaasen as well as former Lakeside Champion Mark Webster amongst his victims in reaching his third PDC Pro Tour final in as many months.
Wright's run to the semis matched his previous best run on the PDC Pro Tour, in the Las Vegas Players Championship this summer, and included a 6-2 win over practice partner Mervyn King in the last 16.
Steve Brown and John MaGowan reached the quarter-finals for just the second time this year, while Gary Anderson also reached the last eight before losing 6-2 to Smith.
Players Championship (Saturday)
First Round
Alex Roy (1) Bye
Gary Welding 6-4 Rick Lowther
Matt Clark (32) 6-4 Gary Mawson
Barrie Bates 6-3 Dave Smith
Vincent van der Voort (16) 6-0 Carl Minter
Steve Grubb 6-4 Joe Cullen
Andy Hamilton (17) 6-0 Geoff Whitworth
Matt Jackson 6-4 Sean White
Steve Beaton (8) 6-4 Stuart Holden
Colin Monk 6-4 Lee Holden
Andy Jenkins (25) 6-1 Norman Fletcher
Mark Webster 6-4 Danny Pinhorne
Ronnie Baxter (9) 6-5 Mark Stephenson
Tony Ayres 6-3 Jacko Barry
Jelle Klaasen (24) 6-0 Dave Ahmet
Bryan de Hoog 6-2 Michael Barnard
Colin Lloyd (5) 6-0 Matt Padgett
Dennis Smith 6-1 Richie Burnett
Steve Brown 6-1 Steve Hine (28)
James Barton 6-3 Chris Loudon
Alan Tabern (12) 6-1 Andy Callaby
Dylan Duo 6-3 Mark Carter
Michael van Gerwen (21) 6-3 Rocco Maes
Lee Williams 6-1 Andy Fulton
Colin Osborne (4) Bye
Michael Smith 6-1 Ian MacFarlane
Peter Wright (29) 6-0 Andy Fordham
Graeme Stoddart 6-4 Alex Tinsley
Mervyn King (13) 6-0 Geoff Wylie
Mark Jodrill 6-5 Paul Gudgeon
Mark Dudbridge (20) 6-2 Andy Relf
Ian Lever 6-3 Steve Watts
Mark Walsh (2) Bye
Colin McGarry 6-2 John Quantock
Kevin McDine (31) 6-1 Dave Honey
Jan van der Rassel 6-3 Darren Latham
Wayne Jones (15) 6-0 Chris Allen
Wayne Atwood 6-3 Louis Blundell
Andy Smith (18) 6-2 Dave Ladley
Nigel Birch 6-1 Par Riihonen
Gary Anderson (7) 6-3 Toon Greebe
Lionel Sams 6-1 Dave Ansell
Peter Manley (26) 6-3 Mark Lawrence
Adrian Gray 6-1 Shayne O'Connor
Dennis Priestley (10) 6-0 Tom Martin
Trevor Frost 6-1 Jim Leighton
Kevin Painter (23) 6-3 Ken Dobson
John Part 6-4 Simon Whitlock
Robert Thornton (6) 6-3 Jason Clark
Darren Johnson 6-0 Andy Pearson
Tony Eccles (27) 6-1 Kevin Harris
John MaGowan 6-2 Kirk Shepherd
Steve Evans 6-5 Jamie Caven (11)
Stuart Bousfield 6-4 Steve Maish
Denis Ovens (22) 6-4 Steve Musson
Martyn Turner 6-2 Chris Jackson
Adrian Lewis (3) Bye
Mark Frost 6-3 Billy Meakins
Brendan Dolan (30) 6-4 Stephen Hardy
Justin Pipe 6-0 Jon Archer
Wes Newton (14) 6-0 Mick McGowan
Nick Fullwell 6-4 Ray Farrell
Arron Monk 6-2 Paul Nicholson (19)
Roland Scholten 6-3 Anastasia Dobromyslova
Second Round
Alex Roy 6-5 Gary Welding
Barrie Bates 6-1 Matt Clark
Vincent van der Voort 6-1 Steve Grubb
Andy Hamilton 6-2 Matt Jackson
Steve Beaton 6-5 Colin Monk
Mark Webster 6-2 Andy Jenkins
Ronnie Baxter 6-3 Tony Ayres
Jelle Klaasen 6-1 Bryan de Hoog
Dennis Smith 6-3 Colin Lloyd
Steve Brown 6-4 James Barton
Alan Tabern 6-2 Dylan Duo
Lee Williams 6-4 Michael van Gerwen
Colin Osborne 6-3 Michael Smith
Peter Wright 6-5 Graeme Stoddart
Mervyn King 6-3 Mark Jodrill
Mark Dudbridge 6-1 Ian Lever
Mark Walsh 6-3 Colin McGarry
Jan van der Rassel 6-1 Kevin McDine
Wayne Jones 6-4 Wayne Atwood
Andy Smith 6-2 Nigel Birch
Gary Anderson 6-4 Lionel Sams
Adrian Gray 6-3 Peter Manley
Dennis Priestley 6-2 Trevor Frost
John Part 6-4 Kevin Painter
Robert Thornton 6-4 Darren Johnson
John MaGowan 6-3 Tony Eccles
Steve Evans 6-3 Stuart Bousfield
Denis Ovens 6-1 Martyn Turner
Mark Frost 6-5 Adrian Lewis
Brendan Dolan 6-4 Justin Pipe
Wes Newton 6-1 Nick Fullwell
Roland Scholten 6-3 Arron Monk
Losers £200
Third Round
Alex Roy 6-4 Barrie Bates
Vincent van der Voort 6-1 Andy Hamilton
Steve Beaton 6-4 Mark Webster
Jelle Klaasen 6-3 Ronnie Baxter
Steve Brown 6-5 Dennis Smith
Lee Williams 6-5 Alan Tabern
Peter Wright 6-3 Colin Osborne
Mervyn King 6-3 Mark Dudbridge
Mark Walsh 6-3 Jan van der Rassel
Andy Smith 6-4 Wayne Jones
Gary Anderson 6-0 Adrian Gray
Dennis Priestley 6-5 John Part
John MaGowan 6-4 Robert Thornton
Denis Ovens 6-0 Steve Evans
Brendan Dolan 6-0 Mark Frost
Wes Newton 6-1 Roland Scholten
Losers £300
Fourth Round
Vincent van der Voort 6-0 Alex Roy
Steve Beaton 6-5 Jelle Klaasen
Steve Brown 6-5 Lee Williams
Peter Wright 6-2 Mervyn King
Andy Smith 6-5 Mark Walsh
Gary Anderson 6-4 Dennis Priestley
John MaGowan 6-3 Denis Ovens
Wes Newton 6-5 Brendan Dolan
Losers £400
Quarter-Finals
Steve Beaton 6-3 Vincent van der Voort
Peter Wright 6-4 Steve Brown
Andy Smith 6-2 Gary Anderson
Wes Newton 6-3 John MaGowan
Losers £800
Semi-Finals
Steve Beaton 6-5 Peter Wright
Wes Newton 6-3 Andy Smith
Losers £1,500
Final
Wes Newton 6-5 Steve Beaton
Winner £6,000
Runner-Up £3,000