Ten Winners Celebrate Titles

VICTORIES for Paul Nicholson and Wes Newton in the Players Championships in Crawley last weekend continued a new trend on the PDC ProTour this year.

So far, ten different players have won the ten PDC ProTour events held in 2011, with Steve Brown and Michael Smith winning their maiden titles in UK Open Qualifiers in Barnsley at the end of February.

Paul Nicholson's win in Crawley on Saturday saw him end a run of 18 months without a PDC ProTour win, while Wes Newton followed up his Players Championship double of last November with another victory on Sunday as he moved up to eighth in the PDC Order of Merit.

John Part's Players Championship win in Derby saw him pick up his first title since 2007, and he joins van der Voort, Caven and Nicholson in sitting in a strong position to qualify via the Players Championship Order of Merit for the World Matchplay this summer.

Adrian Lewis has also reached two finals alongside winning the third UK Open Qualifier, while Vincent van der Voort and Nicholson have also lost in a final this year alongside their wins.

Newton's victory moves him up to five career ProTour wins, while Lewis and Ronnie Baxter's triumphs took them to eight ProTour victories since the events were introduced.

The opening four PDC Unicorn Youth Tour events have also seen four separate winners, with Paul Barham's win on Sunday seeing him join fellow Essex youngster Ryan Harrington, Manchester's Shaun Griffiths and Chester-le-Street's Adam Hunt in taking victory.

2011 Players Championship Winners
Mervyn King
Ronnie Baxter
Jamie Caven
John Part
Paul Nicholson
Wes Newton

Speedy Hire UK Open Qualifier Winners
Steve Brown
Michael Smith
Adrian Lewis
Vincent van der Voort

PDC Unicorn Youth Tour Winners
Adam Hunt
Shaun Griffiths
Ryan Harrington
Paul Barham

PDC ProTour Career Wins