Chisnall Rockets To Crawley Treble

DAVE CHISNALL continued his winning streak at the K2 Centre in Crawley by claiming his third successive Players Championship at the venue with a 6-4 defeat of Ronnie Baxter in Saturday's final.

The in-form St Helens ace followed up his back-to-back wins in Crawley last month by taking the £6,000 first prize in Saturday's 120-player event.

Chisnall had also won a Players Championship in Crawley last November and reached a UK Open Qualifier final at the venue in February, and continued the run of form which saw him reach the Speedy Services UK Open semi-finals and German Darts Championship final recently.

He opened the event with wins over youngsters Arron Monk and Joe Cullen and two-time World Champion Ted Hankey before defeating Ian White 6-4 in the quarter-finals and James Wade 6-2 in the semis.

He secured an immediate break of throw in the first leg of the final against Baxter, opening with a 180 and taking out 121 on the bull for a 12-darter, and finished 102 to lead 2-0 before Baxter finished tops to get off the mark.

The next four legs were shared as Baxter hit back to trail just 4-3, with Chisnall following up a second 102 checkout of the game by taking out 121 on the bull to lead 5-3.

Baxter finished 65 on tops to win the ninth, but Chisnall landed double 18 in the next to secure the win.

"It feels good - this must be my lucky venue!" said Chisnall. "I played well all through the day.

"I had some scares and had a few 6-4 wins, and the games against Arron Monk and Ian White could have gone either way, but I've come through and got the results."

The defeat in the final denied Baxter a second Players Championship victory this month, with the Blackpool man taking home £3,000 for reaching the decider.

He followed up a win over Nick Fullwell in his opener by whitewashing Mark Hylton, and then took narrow deciding-leg victories over Vincent van der Voort, Simon Whitlock and Adrian Lewis in progressing to the final.

Lewis' run to the semis saw him suffer a repeat loss to Baxter, who took victory when the pair met in a Players Championship final in Birmingham a fortnight ago.

The World Champion defeated Ross Smith, Devon Petersen, Justin Pipe, Reece Robinson and Brendan Dolan in reaching the last four, where he claimed £2,000 prize money.

World number three Wade also reached the last four in a fine day of darts, which began with a comeback from 4-1 down to defeat Andrew Gilding before he saw off Andy Smith, John Part and Peter Wright.

Whitlock reached the quarter-finals for the fourth successive Players Championship event with his display on the day, while Wright was appearing in the last eight for the second time this year.

Stoke's White took a further step towards winning a place in the World Matchplay next month with his run to the quarters, before he lost to Chisnall in a repeat of their final at the same venue last month.

Youngsters Keegan Brown and Mareno Michels both missed double 12 for a nine-dart finish on the day.

Sunday sees a second Players Championship of the weekend held at the K2 Centre in Crawley, with only next weekend's European Tour event in Dusseldorf then remaining before the cut-off for World Matchplay qualification.

Players Championship 9
K2 Centre, Crawley - Saturday June 30
First Round
Justin Pipe (1) Bye
Brian Woods 6-3 Alan Tabern
Adrian Lewis (32) 6-1 Ross Smith
Devon Petersen 6-5 Wayne Jones
Colin Osborne (16) 6-0 Darren Whittingham
Reece Robinson 6-1 Mark Dudbridge
Andy Jenkins 6-3 Steve Beaton (17)
Chris Aubrey 6-5 Kevin Dowling
Mervyn King (8) Bye
Robert Thornton 6-3 Prakash Jiwa
Andy Hamilton (25) 6-1 Shaun Griffiths
Darren Johnson 6-4 Sam Hill
Mark Webster (9) 6-1 Keith Stephen
Steve Farmer 6-5 Dennis Smith
Brendan Dolan (24) 6-2 Gary Butcher
Aaron Turner 6-2 Peter Evison
Ronnie Baxter (5) Bye
Nick Fullwell 6-5 Magnus Caris
Mark Hylton 6-3 Co Stompe (28)
Adrian Gray 6-5 Steve Maish
Colin Lloyd (12) 6-5 Jelle Klaasen
Michael Barnard 6-5 Peter Hudson
Vincent van der Voort (21) 6-2 Steve Hine
Matthew Waddoups 6-1 Andy Relf
Simon Whitlock (4) Bye
Mick Todd 6-5 Barrie Bates
Denis Ovens (29) 6-4 Michael Mansell
Jim Walker 6-3 Paul Barham
Terry Jenkins (13) 6-3 Mark Jones
Kevin McDine 6-5 Terry Temple
Richie Burnett (20) 6-4 Kurt Van De Rijck
Dave Ladley 6-4 Carlos Rodriguez
Dave Chisnall (2) Bye
Arron Monk 6-4 Keegan Brown
Ted Hankey 6-0 James Richardson (31)
Roland Scholten 6-2 Nigel Heydon
Kevin Painter (15) 6-2 Liam Kelly
Stuart Kellett 6-3 Steve Brown
Joe Cullen 6-4 Michael Smith (18)
Ian Moss 6-2 Jerry Hendriks
Michael van Gerwen (7) Bye
John Scott 6-5 Joe Murnan
Ian White (26) 6-4 Richie Howson
Mike Veitch 6-4 Simon Burt
Paul Nicholson (10) 6-4 Johnny Haines
Dean Winstanley 6-4 Les Wallace
Mark Walsh (23) 6-2 Matt Clark
Damien Sherwood 6-4 Ryan Harrington
James Wade (6) Bye
Andrew Gilding 6-4 Antonio Alcinas
Andy Smith (27) 6-4 Jamie Lewis
Mareno Michels 6-3 Mark Frost
John Part (11) 6-1 Gareth Cousins
John Henderson 6-5 Alex Roy
James Hubbard 6-2 Jamie Caven (22)
Daniel Day 6-1 Andrew Palmer
Wes Newton (3) Bye
William O'Connor 6-2 Steve Grubb
Scott Rand (30) 6-4 Adam Smith-Neale
Chris Thompson 6-4 Matthew Edgar
Kim Huybrechts (14) 6-2 Ian Jopling
Gareth Pass 6-2 Stephen Hardy
Peter Wright (19) 6-5 John Bowles
Darren Webster 6-1 Ashley Holgate

Second Round
Justin Pipe 6-0 Brian Woods
Adrian Lewis 6-5 Devon Petersen
Reece Robinson 6-4 Colin Osborne
Andy Jenkins 6-4 Chris Aubrey
Robert Thornton 6-5 Mervyn King
Andy Hamilton 6-2 Darren Johnson
Mark Webster 6-4 Steve Farmer
Brendan Dolan 6-2 Aaron Turner 
Ronnie Baxter 6-2 Nick Fullwell
Mark Hylton 6-1 Adrian Gray
Colin Lloyd 6-4 Michael Barnard
Vincent van der Voort 6-2 Matthew Waddoups
Simon Whitlock 6-1 Mick Todd
Jim Walker 6-3 Denis Ovens
Terry Jenkins 6-5 Kevin McDine
Richie Burnett 6-0 Dave Ladley
Dave Chisnall 6-4 Arron Monk
Ted Hankey 6-5 Roland Scholten
Stuart Kellett 6-5 Kevin Painter
Joe Cullen 6-5 Ian Moss
Michael van Gerwen 6-2 John Scott
Ian White 6-1 Mike Veitch
Paul Nicholson 6-5 Dean Winstanley
Mark Walsh 6-2 Damien Sherwood
James Wade 6-5 Andy Gilding
Andy Smith 6-5 Mareno Michels
John Part 6-2 John Henderson
James Hubbard 6-2 Daniel Day
William O'Connor 6-5 Wes Newton
Chris Thompson 6-1 Scott Rand
Gareth Pass 6-4 Kim Huybrechts
Peter Wright 6-3 Darren Webster 
Losers £200

Third Round
Adrian Lewis 6-2 Justin Pipe
Reece Robinson 6-5 Andy Jenkins
Robert Thornton 6-2 Andy Hamilton
Brendan Dolan 6-4 Mark Webster
Ronnie Baxter 6-0 Mark Hylton
Vincent van der Voort  6-5 Colin Lloyd
Simon Whitlock 6-3 Jim Walker 
Richie Burnett 6-3 Terry Jenkins
Dave Chisnall 6-3 Ted Hankey
Joe Cullen 6-5 Stuart Kellett
Ian White 6-4 Michael van Gerwen
Mark Walsh 6-2 Paul Nicholson
James Wade 6-3 Andy Smith 
John Part 6-3 James Hubbard
William O'Connor 6-1 Chris Thompson
Peter Wright 6-4 Gareth Pass
Losers £400

Fourth Round
Adrian Lewis 6-0 Reece Robinson
Brendan Dolan 6-3 Robert Thornton
Ronnie Baxter 6-5 Vincent van der Voort
Simon Whitlock 6-2 Richie Burnett
Dave Chisnall 6-4 Joe Cullen
Ian White 6-2 Mark Walsh
James Wade 6-5 John Part
Peter Wright 6-3 William O'Connor
Losers £600

Quarter-Finals
Adrian Lewis 6-4 Brendan Dolan
Ronnie Baxter 6-5 Simon Whitlock
Dave Chisnall 6-4 Ian White
James Wade 6-5 Peter Wright
Losers £1,000

Semi-Finals
Ronnie Baxter 6-5 Adrian Lewis
Dave Chisnall 6-2 James Wade
Losers £2,000

Final
Dave Chisnall 6-4 Ronnie Baxter
Winner £6,000
Runner-Up £3,000

Final - Leg-By-Leg
Ronnie Baxter v Dave Chisnall
0-0 - Ronnie Baxter wins the bull and throws first.
0-1 - Chisnall opens with a 180 and finishes 121 on the bull to break throw with a 12-darter.
0-2 - Chisnall finishes 102 on double 18 to double his lead.
1-2 - Chisnall hits a 180 but is unable to take out 89 and Baxter lands tops at the first time of asking to get off the mark.
1-3 - Chisnall hits two 140s and a 170 before finishing double one to edge the leg.
2-3 - Baxter lands tops again at the first time of asking to win his second leg.
2-4 - Chisnall takes out a classy 102 with 20, bullseye and double 16.
3-4 - Baxter finishes 90 on double 15 to hit back again.
3-5 - Chisnall finishes 121 on the bull for the second time in the match to move a leg away from another victory.
4-5 - Chisnall kicks off the leg with a 180 but Baxter finishes 65 in two darts to keep the game alive.
4-6 - Baxter opens with scores of 123 and 140 against the throw but misses three darts to force a decider, and Chisnall finishes 47 on double 18 to claim his third successive Crawley win.

Match Stats