Crawley Delight For Whitlock

SIMON WHITLOCK continued his run of success by defeating veteran star Dennis Priestley 6-2 in the final of Saturday's Players Championship in Crawley.

The Australian, September's PartyPoker.net European Championship winner and last weekend's Dutch Darts Masters champion, picked up his second Players Championship win of the autumn with a determined display throughout the event.

Whitlock defeated Richie Howson 6-3 in his first game and came from 5-2 down to see off Steve Farmer in a deciding leg to win through to the last 16, where he edged out Richie Burnett by the same scoreline.

Whitlock then saw off Terry Jenkins 6-4 in the quarter-finals and defeated Ian White in the same manner to reach the decider against two-time World Champion Priestley.

The world number six took the final's opening leg before Priestley hit a 180 and a 130 checkout to level - but it was Whitlock who took command by winning the next three on double ten, double six and double 19 for a 4-1 lead.

Whitlock then fired home a 160 checkout for a 12-darter to move a leg away from the win, but missed two match darts in the next as Priestley finished double ten to keep his hopes alive.

The 62-year-old then traded 180s in the next, but missed double to to win a third leg and Whitlock pinned double top to seal the win.

"It feels fantastic," said Whitlock, who was also the Championship League Darts runner-up on Thursday.

"I'm looking forward to every single time I play at the moment - I love winning and I've got to keep trying to win more and more.

"I was 5-2 down against Steve Farmer in our match today and I felt like giving up but then something kicked in to never say die, and I went on to win the tournament!"

He added: "Dennis has been around for a long time and is still a brilliant dart player, and fair play to him for reaching the final. He played really well - I enjoy playing him and he brings the best out of me, and you certainly don't want to draw him."

Priestley's run to the final will effectively secure his qualification for the Ladbrokes World Darts Championship in December through the ProTour Order of Merit as the veteran continued to show his ability to live with the world's top-ranked stars.

He opened the day with a defeat of Vincent van der Voort and then defeated Les Wallace, Mervyn King, Dave Chisnall and Kevin Painter to reach the semi-finals.

There, he averaged over 100 in a 6-1 win over in-form Michael van Gerwen, whose only leg came with a 156 checkout as he averaged almost 105 in defeat in a high-quality contest.

Van Gerwen's run to the semis saw him pick up £2,000 in prize money, but he fell two wins short of a seventh tournament win this year.

Stoke's rising star Ian White also reached the semi-finals as he continues his push to break into the world's top 32, while Painter, Jenkins, Justin Pipe and Peter Wright reached the last eight.

Sunday sees a second Players Championship of the weekend take place in Crawley, which will be the last event to take place before the William Hill Grand Slam of Darts kicks off next weekend.

Players Championship 17
K2 Centre, Crawley - Saturday November 3
First Round
Dave Chisnall (1) Bye

Johnny Haines 6-3 Keith Stephen

Scott Rand (32) 6-0 Ted Hankey

John Henderson 6-3 Liam Kelly

Dennis Priestley 6-3 Vincent van der Voort (16)

Les Wallace 6-3 Gino Vos

Mervyn King (17) 6-5 Steve Grubb

Matt Padgett 6-4 Dave Kelly

Adrian Lewis (8) Bye

Jim Walker 6-4 Steve Maish

Kevin Painter (25) 6-2 Reece Robinson

Adam Hunt 6-1 Ryan Harrington

Robert Thornton (9) Bye

Nick Fullwell 6-3 Paul Rowley

Jamie Caven (24) 6-5 Mark Jones

Mark Frost 6-3 Sam Hill

Michael van Gerwen (5) Bye

Kevin McDine 6-4 Andy Jenkins

Matt Clark 6-4 Joe Cullen (28)

Kevin Dowling 6-4 Scott Coleman

Colin Lloyd (12) 6-4 Brian Woods

Michael Mansell 6-3 John Scott

Mark Walsh (21) 1-6 Alex Roy

Daniel Day 6-4 Lee White

Wes Newton (4) Bye

Stuart Kellett 6-2 William O'Connor

Tony West 6-3 Arron Monk (29)

Gareth Pass 6-0 Adam Smith-Neale

Peter Wright (13) 6-4 John Bowles

Michael Barnard 6-5 Denis Ovens

Steve Beaton (20) 6-4 Shaun Griffiths

Dave Ladley 6-1 Chris Mason

Justin Pipe (2) Bye

Tony Littleton 6-4 Barrie Bates

Dean Winstanley (31) 6-5 Mark Hylton

Nigel Heydon 6-5 Joe Murnan

Steve Hine 6-5 Andy Smith (15)

Dennis Smith 6-4 Ross Smith

Mark Webster (18) 6-3 John Part

Darrell Claydon 6-4 Steven Pearson

Ian White (7) Bye

Terry Temple 6-3 Steve Brown

Wayne Jones (26) 6-2 Paddy Meaney

Mark Lawrence 6-1 Andy Relf

Ronnie Baxter (10) 6-3 Matthew Edgar

Jamie Lewis 6-2 Darren Whittingham

Michael Smith (23) 6-5 Stephen Hardy

Darren Johnson 6-1 Jerry Hendriks

Kim Huybrechts (6) Bye

Prakash Jiwa 6-2 Adrian Gray

Gary Anderson (27) 6-0 Paul Barham

Darren Webster 6-2 Brandon Walsh

Terry Jenkins (11) 6-5 James Richardson

Mick Todd 6-2 Mareno Michels

Colin Osborne (22) 6-1 Gaz Cousins

Ian Moss 6-2 Chris Aubrey

Simon Whitlock (3) Bye

Richie Howson 6-4 Alan Tabern

James Hubbard (30) 6-2 Roland Scholten

Steve Farmer 6-1 Andrew Gilding

Connie Finnan 6-2 Brendan Dolan (16)

Peter Hudson 6-3 Bernd Roith

Richie Burnett (19) 6-2 Ian Jopling

Matthew Waddoups 6-3 Paul Sawyer

Second Round
Dave Chisnall 6-1 Johnny Haines

Scott Rand 6-2 John Henderson

Dennis Priestley 6-1 Les Wallace

Mervyn King 6-0 Matt Padgett

Adrian Lewis 6-5 Jim Walker

Kevin Painter 6-3 Adam Hunt

Robert Thornton 6-3 Nick Fullwell

Jamie Caven 6-1 Mark Frost

Michael van Gerwen 6-2 Kevin McDine

Kevin Dowling 6-2 Matt Clark

Colin Lloyd 6-4 Michael Mansell

Alex Roy 6-0 Daniel Day

Stuart Kellett 6-5 Wes Newton

Tony West 6-1 Gareth Pass

Peter Wright 6-4 Michael Barnard

Steve Beaton 6-1 Dave Ladley

Justin Pipe 6-2 Tony Littleton

Dean Winstanley 6-2 Nigel Heydon

Steve Hine 6-0 Dennis Smith

Mark Webster 6-0 Darrell Claydon

Ian White 6-5 Terry Temple

Wayne Jones 6-3 Mark Lawrence

Ronnie Baxter 6-3 Jamie Lewis

Darren Johnson 6-4 Michael Smith

Kim Huybrechts 6-2 Prakash Jiwa

Gary Anderson 6-1 Darren Webster

Terry Jenkins 6-1 Mick Todd

Colin Osborne 6-5 Ian Moss

Simon Whitlock 6-3 Richie Howson

Steve Farmer 6-5 James Hubbard

Connie Finnan 6-3 Peter Hudson

Richie Burnett 6-4 Matthew Waddoups

Losers £200

Third Round
Dave Chisnall 6-3 Scott Rand

Dennis Priestley 6-4 Mervyn King

Kevin Painter 6-5 Adrian Lewis

Robert Thornton 6-1 Jamie Caven

Michael van Gerwen 6-4 Kevin Dowling

Colin Lloyd 6-4 Alex Roy

Stuart Kellett 6-4 Tony West

Peter Wright 6-4 Steve Beaton

Justin Pipe 6-1 Dean Winstanley

Steve Hine 6-5 Mark Webster

Ian White 6-1 Wayne Jones

Ronnie Baxter 6-2 Darren Johnson

Gary Anderson 6-4 Kim Huybrechts

Terry Jenkins 6-4 Colin Osborne

Simon Whitlock 6-5 Steve Farmer

Richie Burnett 6-4 Connie Finnan

Losers £400

Fourth Round
Dennis Priestley 6-3 Dave Chisnall

Kevin Painter 6-3 Robert Thornton

Michael van Gerwen 6-2 Colin Lloyd

Peter Wright 6-5 Stuart Kellett

Justin Pipe 6-4 Steve Hine

Ian White 6-5 Ronnie Baxter

Terry Jenkins 6-3 Gary Anderson

Simon Whitlock 6-5 Richie Burnett

Losers £600

Quarter-Finals
Dennis Priestley 6-4 Kevin Painter

Michael van Gerwen 6-4 Peter Wright

Ian White 6-1 Justin Pipe

Simon Whitlock 6-4 Terry Jenkins

Losers £1,000

Semi-Finals
Dennis Priestley 6-1 Michael van Gerwen

Simon Whitlock 6-4 Ian White

Losers £2,000

Final
Simon Whitlock 6-2 Dennis Priestley

Winner £6,000

Runner-Up £3,000

Final - Leg-By-Leg
Dennis Priestley v Simon Whitlock
0-0 - Dennis Priestley wins the bull and throws first
0-1 - Whitlock hits a 180 to be first to a double, but misses double seven to take out 86 and two further darts at double two - only for the two-time World Champion to miss four darts at a double and allow him back to finish double two.
1-1 - Priestley fires in a 180 and takes out 130 on double five to break back and level, with Whitlock waiting on 36.
1-2 - Whitlock misses tops to finish 119, but returns to finish double ten to break throw again and edge ahead.
1-3 - Whitlock scores 140, 140 and 137 and has enough cushion to initially miss five darts for the leg before returning to pin double six.
1-4 - Whitlock finishes double 19 to move three legs clear.
1-5 - The Australian produces a superb 160 checkout to finish a 12-darter and move a leg away from victory for the second successive weekend.
2-5 - Priestley misses three darts to save the match, but Whitlock misses double top and ten for the game and the veteran returns to hit double ten and keep his hopes alive.
2-6 - Both players hit 180s but Priestley misses tops to win a third leg, and Whitlock hits the same bed to seal the title.

Match Stats