JAMES Wade went one step in better in Barnsley as he beat Peter Wright to win the Players Championship 2 on a day which also saw two spectacular nine-darter finishes.
Wade, who narrowly lost out in the final to Gary Anderson at the Players Championship 1 on Saturday, ensured that he would be leaving as winner this time around, sweeping through the field before beating Wright 6-5 in a dramatic final.
The day also saw 18-year-old Jeffrey de Zwaan and Tenerife’s Cristo Reyes hit their first nine-darters on the PDC circuit, meaning that the Barnsley Metrodome played home to an incredible four perfect legs over the weekend.
Wade’s afternoon began with a comfortable 6-2 win over James Forster before he then saw off Jay Foreman, who was replacing Michael van Gerwen after he pulled out through illness, 6-3 in round two.
A 6-4 success over Austrian Mensur Suljovic followed as he won his board before he narrowly defeated Wales’ Kevin Thomas 6-5 in the Last 16.
Gerwyn Price, who was enjoying a great day at the oche having knocked out Adrian Lewis with a 105.78 average earlier in the day, was Wade’s next opponent, but the Aldershot-thrower would show his class as he averaged 104.58 in a 6-2 victory.
Another tough examination would follow for Wade in the semi-finals as he met with Michael Smith, who had blitzed his way into the last four, again coming out on top as he ran out a 6-4 victor to book his place in the final.
Wright’s route to the final began in more testing circumstances as he narrowly defeated Alan Norris 6-5 in round one.
A more comfortable 6-3 success against Jonny Clayton would follow, before Wright would again seal victory in a deciding leg, this time against Mark Webster, to win his board.
Dutchman Jelle Klaasen would be Snakebite’s next opponent as he ran out a comprehensive 6-1 victor before the 45-year-old was then taken to the distance for the third time of the afternoon as he defeated Robert Thornton 6-5 in the quarter-finals.
Wright would be made to work hard again in the semi-finals as he came up against last weekend’s Coral UK Open semi-finalist Andrew Gilding, winning 6-4 to set up the final with Wade.
And both players’ form would not desert them in the final as the pair swapped blows in the opening exchanges before Peter Wright kicked on to open up a 4-2 lead.
But Wade was not prepared to go down without a fight and hit back in style, taking the next three legs to move just one leg away from the win.
Wright would hold his throw to take the game into a final leg but it would be Wade who would hold his nerve with the darts as he eventually took out 20 to take the title and the £10,000 winner’s cheque.
Players Championship Two
Sunday March 15, Barnsley Metrodome
First Round
Gary Anderson 6-3 Wayne Jones
Brian Woods 6-5 Alan Tabern
Christian Kist 6-3 Dave Ladley
Mark Frost 6-5 Keegan Brown
Stephen Bunting 6-4 Andy Jenkins
Kyle Anderson 6-1 Gary Stone
Kevin McDine 6-5 Steve Beaton
Mick Todd 6-4 Lee Palfreyman
Brendan Dolan 6-3 Colin Osborne
Jason Wilson 6-1 Colin Lloyd
Nathan Aspinall 6-5 Andy Smith
Robert Owen 6-3 Dirk van Duijvenbode
Vincent van der Voort 6-5 Joe Cullen
Paul Milford 6-5 Devon Petersen
Andrew Gilding 6-1 Tony Richardson
Ricky Evans 6-1 Dave Bird
Robert Thornton 6-4 William O'Connor
John Bowles 6-3 Dennis Smith
Prakash Jiwa 6-5 Darren Webster
Jason Lovett 6-1 Luke Woodhouse
Justin Pipe 6-2 Ross Smith
Joe Murnan 6-4 Kenny MacNeil
Andy Hamilton 6-3 Jim Walker
Cristo Reyes 6-4 Dimitri van den Bergh
Peter Wright 6-5 Alan Norris
Jonny Clayton 6-5 Nigel Heydon
Mark Webster 6-5 Jamie Bain
Robbie Green 6-4 Ben Ward
Max Hopp 6-3 Kim Huybrechts
Darren Johnson 6-2 Kirk Shepherd
Jelle Klaasen 6-2 Mark Barilli
Mark Cox 6-0 Andy Parsons
Michael Smith 6-3 Chris Dobey
Jyhan Artut 6-2 Jan Dekker
Joey Ten Berge 6-5 Wes Newton
John Henderson 6-3 Ronny Huybrechts
Johnny Haines 6-5 Dave Chisnall
Curtis Hammond 6-2 Jamie Robinson
Paul Nicholson 6-2 Jamie Caven
Jamie Lewis 6-1 Eddie Dootson
Ian White 6-1 Matt Padgett
James Wilson 6-1 Ross Twell
Ian Moss 6-1 Ronnie Baxter
Jeffrey de Zwaan 6-4 Daryl Gurney
Simon Whitlock 6-5 Matthew Edgar
Stuart Kellett 6-1 Steve Hine
Raymond van Barneveld 6-2 Steve West
Terry Temple 6-3 Josh Payne
Adrian Lewis 6-2 Adam Hunt
Gerwyn Price 6-5 Nathan Derry
David Pallett 6-4 Kevin Painter
Mike Zuydwijk 6-2 David Dodds
Mark Dudbridge 6-2 Mervyn King
Mickey Mansell 6-2 Tony Newell
Benito van de Pas 6-5 Rowby-John Rodriguez
Steve Douglas 6-3 Stephen McNally
James Wade 6-2 James Forster
Jay Foreman 6-5 Magnus Caris
Mensur Suljovic 6-2 Tim Martin
Andy Boulton 6-1 John Part
Steve Brown 6-3 Terry Jenkins
Tomas Seyler 6-4 Mark Walsh
Dean Winstanley 6-3 Conan Whitehead
Kevin Thomas 6-1 Kevin Voornhout
Second Round
Brian Woods 6-3 Gary Anderson
Christian Kist 6-1 Mark Frost
Stephen Bunting 6-5 Kyle Anderson
Mick Todd 6-5 Kevin McDine
Brendan Dolan 6-0 Jason Wilson
Robert Owen 6-2 Nathan Aspinall
Vincent van der Voort 6-1 Paul Milford
Andrew Gilding 6-5 Ricky Evans
Robert Thornton 6-3 John Bowles
Jason Lovett 6-3 Prakash Jiwa
Justin Pipe 6-2 Joe Murnan
Cristo Reyes 6-5 Andy Hamilton
Peter Wright 6-3 Jonny Clayton
Mark Webster 6-3 Robbie Green
Darren Johnson 6-5 Max Hopp
Jelle Klaasen 6-3 Mark Cox
Michael Smith 6-3 Jyhan Artut
Joey Ten Berge 6-0 John Henderson
Johnny Haines 6-2 Curtis Hammond
Paul Nicholson 6-3 Jamie Lewis
Ian White 6-3 James Wilson
Jeffrey de Zwaan 6-0 Ian Moss
Simon Whitlock 6-3 Stuart Kellett
Raymond van Barneveld 6-1 Terry Temple
Gerwyn Price 6-4 Adrian Lewis
Mike Zuydwijk 6-0 David Pallett
Mark Dudbridge 6-5 Mickey Mansell
Benito van de Pas 6-1 Steve Douglas
James Wade 6-3 Jay Foreman
Mensur Suljovic 6-3 Andy Boulton
Steve Brown 6-4 Tomas Seyler
Kevin Thomas 6-3 Dean Winstanley
Losers: £250
Third Round
Christian Kist 6-4 Brian Woods
Stephen Bunting 6-4 Mick Todd
Brendan Dolan 6-1 Robert Owen
Andrew Gilding 6-2 Vincent van der Voort
Robert Thornton 6-2 Jason Lovett
Cristo Reyes 6-3 Justin Pipe
Peter Wright 6-5 Mark Webster
Jelle Klaasen 6-3 Darren Johnson
Michael Smith 6-3 Joey Ten Berge
Paul Nicholson 6-1 Johnny Haines
Ian White 6-3 Jeffrey de Zwaan (Jeffrey de Zwaan Nine-Darter)
Raymond van Barneveld 6-2 Simon Whitlock
Gerwyn Price 6-4 Mike Zuydwijk
Mark Dudbridge 6-4 Benito van de Pas
James Wade 6-4 Mensur Suljovic
Kevin Thomas 6-4 Steve Brown
Losers: £750
Last 16
Christian Kist 6-3 Stephen Bunting
Andrew Gilding 6-3 Brendan Dolan
Robert Thornton 6-2 Cristo Reyes (Cristo Reyes Nine-Darter)
Peter Wright 6-1 Jelle Klaasen
Michael Smith 6-1 Paul Nicholson
Raymond van Barneveld 6-3 Ian White
Gerwyn Price 6-1 Mark Dudbridge
James Wade 6-5 Kevin Thomas
Losers: £1,500
Quarter-Finals
Andrew Gilding 6-4 Christian Kist
Peter Wright 6-5 Robert Thornton
Michael Smith 6-2 Raymond van Barneveld
James Wade 6-2 Gerwyn Price
Losers: £2,000
Semi-Finals
Peter Wright 6-4 Andrew Gilding
James Wade 6-4 Michael Smith
Losers: £2,500
Final
James Wade 6-5 Peter Wright
Winner: £10,000
Runner-Up: £5,000