Nine-Dart Wright's Coventry Triumph

NINE-DART HERO WRIGHT'S COVENTRY TRIUMPH
 

PETER WRIGHT followed up the first nine-dart finish of his career with victory in Players Championship 7 on Saturday, as he overcame James Wade 6-5 in a final of outstanding quality.

Wade was left one leg away from a PDC ProTour win for a second successive day as Wright matched Friday's winner Michael van Gerwen in claiming a deciding-leg triumph in the final.

The day had already seen Wright etch his name into the record books with a perfect leg during his win over Justin Pipe, and he also defeated Nigel Heydon, John Part, Mark Barilli, Jamie Lewis - from 4-1 down - and Christian Kist on his way to the final.

He then averaged 110.14 in a stunning performance to take the £10,000 first prize and pick up his fifth career title, hitting eight maximums.

Wade opened the final with a maximum and took the first two legs on double four, before Wright hit back with a pair of 12-darters, finishing 99 and 116 to level.

The pair traded 180s in the fifth as Wade edged back ahead, with Wright replying in 13 darts only to then miss two darts to break in leg seven - after posting a pair of maximums - before the left-hander took out 71 to lead 4-3.

Wright's tops was followed by the pair trading 13-darters to take the game into a deciding leg, in which the Scot scored 180, 140 and 130 before finishing double eight for a 12-darter, leaving Wade waiting on 68 after his fourth 180 of the final came in vain.

"It's a special day for me," said Wright, who had lost out to Wade in the final of a Players Championship in Barnsley recently.

"Obviously I was disappointed to drop out of the Premier League so to hit a nine-darter and win the tournament means a lot to me. I've been working hard in practice so I'm pretty happy.

"I wired the double 12 for a nine-darter recently in Barnsley and I've had one in practice too, but to do it in competition means a lot. With my wife Jo we look after Nathan Derry and he'd had one before me and was bugging me about it!"

He added: "James beat me 6-5 in a Players Championship final in March and he was becoming a bit of a bogey player for me - and after the first two legs in the final I thought that again.

"He's playing brilliant darts at the moment and he got to the final yesterday, so for me to nick that one is great."

Wade picked up his second £5,000 runner-up cheque of the weekend following another superb day of darts.

The left-hander defeated Matthew Edgar, Steve McNally, Mark Webster, Kim Huybrechts, Darren Webster and Terry Jenkins - from 5-2 down - as he booked his place in the final with three deciding-leg victories before losing out in the same manner.

Jenkins enjoyed his best run of the year in a 'floor' tournament by reaching the semi-finals, only to see Wade hit back to end his hopes in a deciding leg after he failed to finish off his opponent.

The Ledbury veteran opened the day with a narrow 6-5 win over Terry Temple and then defeated Mark Walsh, Mark Dudbridge, Gary Anderson and Ian White with some superb darts.

Dutch ace Kist also reached the last four, picking up his challenge to win a BetVictor World Matchplay spot with £2,500 prize money.

He opened the day by knocking out Simon Whitlock and also overcame Welsh duo Kevin Thomas and Barrie Bates, Austria's Mensur Suljovic and world number one Michael van Gerwen in a memorable run.

Van Gerwen's bid to claim victory for a second successive day had seen him defeat Ronnie Baxter, Robert Owen, Chris Dobey and Lee Palfreyman before he was edged out by Kist.

Darren Webster improved his hopes of qualifying for July's BetVictor World Matchplay as he overcame Roxy-James Rodriguez, Stuart Kellett, Mickey Mansell and Gerwyn Price before losing in a decider to Wade.

White continued his strong form by following up Friday's semi-final appearance with a run to the quarter-finals, seeing off Brian Woods, Conan Whitehead, Darren Johnson and Michael Smith ahead of his exit to Jenkins.

World Champion Gary Anderson won through to the last 16, and was joined in exiting in round four by Betway Premier League stars Stephen Bunting and Kim Huybrechts, Austrian ace Mensur Suljovic, Michael Smith, Justin Pipe, Lee Palfreyman and Welshman Gerwyn Price.

Sunday sees a third £60,000 Players Championship take place at the Ricoh Arena in Coventry to complete the PDC ProTour weekend.

Players Championship Seven
Ricoh Arena, Coventry, Saturday May 2
First Round
Michael van Gerwen (1) 6-1 Ronnie Baxter
Robert Owen 6-3 Tim Martin
Chris Dobey 6-5 Raymond van Barneveld (32)
Adam Hunt 6-1 Steve Hine
Lee Palfreyman 6-5 Dave Chisnall (16)
Keegan Brown 6-3 Andy Jenkins
William O'Connor 6-2 Steve Beaton (17)
Gary Stone 6-4 David Pallett
Christian Kist 6-2 Simon Whitlock (8)
Kevin Thomas 6-0 Tomas Seyler
Dean Winstanley (25) 6-2 Pete Dyos
Barrie Bates 6-2 Kevin Voornhout
Dirk van Duijvenbode 6-4 Brendan Dolan (9)
Jason Marriott 6-3 Kyle Anderson
Mensur Suljovic (24) 6-1 Kevin McDine
Devon Petersen 6-4 Jonny Clayton
Peter Wright (5) 6-4 Nigel Heydon
John Part 6-4 Jason Wilson
Mark Barilli 6-4 Andy Smith (28)
Nathan Aspinall 6-2 Kirk Shepherd
Justin Pipe (12) 6-5 John Bowles
Robbie Green 6-4 Jim Walker
Jelle Klaasen (21) 6-1 Ken MacNeil
Ronny Huybrechts 6-5 Mike Zuydwijk
Adrian Lewis (4) 6-1 Jason Lovett
Joe Cullen 6-4 Jay Foreman
Jamie Lewis (29) 6-0 Paul Nicholson
Ross Smith 6-4 Dimitri van den Bergh
Mervyn King (13) 6-3 Ben Ward
Mick Todd 6-1 Ian Moss
Stephen Bunting (20) 6-3 Paul Milford
Joey Ten Berge 6-5 Ricky Evans
James Wade (2) 6-3 Matthew Edgar
Steve McNally 6-2 Johnny Haines
Mark Webster (31) 6-2 Daryl Gurney
James Wilson 6-5 Andy Parsons
Kim Huybrechts (15) 6-1 Steve West
Steve Douglas 6-2 Curtis Hammond
Luke Woodhouse 6-4 Jamie Caven (18)
Nathan Derry 6-4 Max Hopp
Robert Thornton (7) 6-4 Alan Norris
Eddie Dootson 6-1 Dennis Smith
Gerwyn Price (26) 6-3 Nick Fullwell
Jyhan Artut 6-3 Tony Newell
Vincent van der Voort (10) 6-1 Andy Boulton
Mickey Mansell 6-3 Martyn Turner
Stuart Kellett 6-5 Andrew Gilding (23)
Darren Webster 6-4 Roxy-James Rodriguez
Michael Smith (6) 6-4 Alan Tabern
Matt Padgett 6-4 Dave Ladley
John Henderson (27) 6-5 Jamie Bain
Jan Dekker 6-5 Wayne Jones
Ian White (11) 6-2 Brian Woods
Conan Whitehead 6-3 Ross Twell
Mark Frost 6-3 Andy Hamilton (22)
Darren Johnson 6-5 Jamie Robinson
Gary Anderson (3) 6-3 Jermaine Wattimena
Jeffrey De Zwaan 6-4 Joe Murnan
Cristo Reyes 6-2 Kevin Painter (30)
Magnus Caris 6-0 Wes Newton
Terry Jenkins (14) 6-5 Terry Temple
Mark Walsh 6-4 Prakash Jiwa
Mark Dudbridge 6-5 Benito van de Pas (19)
Josh Payne 6-1 Steve Brown

Second Round
Michael van Gerwen 6-1 Robert Owen
Chris Dobey 6-5 Adam Hunt
Lee Palfreyman 6-4 Keegan Brown
Gary Stone 6-4 William O'Connor
Christian Kist 6-5 Kevin Thomas
Barrie Bates 6-3 Dean Winstanley
Dirk van Duijvenbode 6-3 Jason Marriott
Mensur Suljovic 6-2 Devon Petersen
Peter Wright 6-1 John Part
Mark Barilli 6-2 Nathan Aspinall
Justin Pipe 6-2 Robbie Green
Jelle Klaasen 6-0 Ronny Huybrechts
Adrian Lewis 6-5 Joe Cullen
Jamie Lewis 6-2 Ross Smith
Mervyn King 6-1 Mick Todd
Stephen Bunting 6-4 Joey Ten Berge
James Wade 6-0 Steve McNally
Mark Webster 6-4 James Wilson
Kim Huybrechts 6-5 Steve Douglas
Nathan Derry 6-4 Luke Woodhouse
Robert Thornton 6-2 Eddie Dootson
Gerwyn Price 6-1 Jyhan Artut
Mickey Mansell 6-5 Vincent van der Voort
Darren Webster 6-3 Stuart Kellett
Michael Smith 6-5 Matt Padgett
Jan Dekker 6-2 John Henderson
Ian White 6-3 Conan Whitehead
Darren Johnson 6-3 Mark Frost
Gary Anderson 6-2 Jeffrey De Zwaan
Magnus Caris 6-5 Cristo Reyes
Terry Jenkins 6-2 Mark Walsh
Mark Dudbridge 6-5 Josh Payne
Losers £250

Third Round
Michael van Gerwen 6-4 Chris Dobey
Lee Palfreyman 6-4 Gary Stone
Christian Kist 6-1 Barrie Bates
Mensur Suljovic 6-1 Dirk van Duijvenbode
Peter Wright 6-3 Mark Barilli
Justin Pipe 6-4 Jelle Klaasen
Jamie Lewis 6-3 Adrian Lewis
Stephen Bunting 6-4 Mervyn King
James Wade 6-5 Mark Webster
Kim Huybrechts 6-5 Nathan Derry
Gerwyn Price 6-0 Robert Thornton
Darren Webster 6-3 Mickey Mansell
Michael Smith 6-1 Jan Dekker
Ian White 6-3 Darren Johnson
Gary Anderson 6-0 Magnus Caris
Terry Jenkins 6-3 Mark Dudbridge
Losers £750

Fourth Round
Michael van Gerwen 6-5 Lee Palfreyman
Christian Kist 6-4 Mensur Suljovic
Peter Wright 6-3 Justin Pipe - Peter Wright hits nine-dart finish
Jamie Lewis 6-3 Stephen Bunting
James Wade 6-1 Kim Huybrechts
Darren Webster 6-5 Gerwyn Price
Ian White 6-2 Michael Smith
Terry Jenkins 6-3 Gary Anderson
Losers £1,500

Quarter-Finals
Christian Kist 6-4 Michael van Gerwen
Peter Wright 6-5 Jamie Lewis
James Wade 6-5 Darren Webster
Terry Jenkins 6-1 Ian White
Losers £2,000

Semi-Finals
Peter Wright 6-1 Christian Kist
James Wade 6-5 Terry Jenkins
Losers £2,500

Final
Peter Wright 6-5 James Wade
Winner £10,000
Runner-Up £5,000

Final - Leg-By-Leg
0-0 - James Wade wins the bull and throws first
0-1 - Wade opens the game with a 180 before finishing double four to claim the first leg.
0-2 - Wright lands a maximum in bring first to a finish but pays for misses at double top, ten and five as Wade takes out 76 on double four to break.
1-2 - Wright hits back with a superb 12-darter, scoring 140, 180 and 82 before taking out 99 with single 19 and two double tops.
2-2 - Wright levels with another 12-dart leg, scoring 140, 140 and 105 before finishing 116 on tops.
2-3 - Both players land maximums in the fifth leg as Wade takes out double two to edge back ahead, with Wright waiting on tops.
3-3 - Wright posts a 180 in a 13-darter as he squares the game again, this time landing double 16.
3-4 - Wright fires in two maximums - taking his tally for the game to six - only to miss double 16 and eight to break, allowing Wade in to take out 71 on tops.
4-4 - Wright levels by finishing 80 on tops.
4-5 - Tops for a 13-darter puts Wade one leg away from the triumph.
5-5 - Wright lands his seventh 180 of the game before hitting double 16 for a 13-darter in reply to take the match into a decider.
6-5 - Wright scores 180, 140 and 130, with Wade landing a 180 of his own only to see the world number five claim the victory with double eight for a 12-darter.

Final Stats