PETER WRIGHT completed a superb weekend at the Coral UK Open Qualifiers in Wigan with his second victory in three days as he edged out Michael Smith 6-5 in Sunday's final.
The world number three had been victorious on Friday in the first of six UK Open Qualifiers as players bid to win spots in next month's Coral UK Open TV Finals in Minehead.
After losing out to eventual champion Simon Whitlock at the last 16 stage in Qualifier Two on Saturday, Wright bounced back to go all the way to take the £10,000 title once more as the weekend concluded.
Once a day which featured the first nine-dart finish of 2017 - from youngster Ted Evetts - Wright overcame Stuart Dutton, Lee Bryant, Paul Harvey with 6-2 scorelines before dropping just one leg against Stephen Bunting.
He then secured a superb 6-4 victory over World Champion Michael van Gerwen in the quarter-finals - his first defeat of the world number one since June 2015 in Japan as he suffered 16 successive losses - before defeating Mick Todd 6-2 in the semi-finals.
Wright then made a superb start to his final with Smith by landing a 180 as he broke in the opening leg, with the former World Youth Champion levelling and then punishing four misses from the Scot in leg four to move 2-1 up.
Wright landed another 180 before taking out 68 in the fourth, while Smith landed three 180s in taking two of the next three before breaking for a 5-3 cushion.
Wright, though, posted two maximums in an 11-darter to break back in leg nine and another pair of 180s as an 81 bull finish forced a decider, and when Smith missed two darts at tops for victory it was the world number three who pounced on double eight.
Smith's run to the final was his best display on the circuit since last June, when he was the runner-up in the Austrian Darts Open, as the St Helens ace scooped £5,000 in prize money.
Smith followed up his opening win over Paul Nicholson with defeats of Jamie Bain, Adrian Lewis and James Wade before then defeating Spain's Cristo Reyes in the quarter-finals.
He edged out Stoke's Ian White 6-5 in the semi-finals, but went on to lose by the same scoreline in the decider as a seventh senior PDC title eluded the 26-year-old.
White's run to the last four followed up Saturday's quarter-final appearance, as he defeated Michael Rasztovits, Martin Schindler, Ted Evetts, Steve Beaton and Mervyn King.
Mick Todd was the day's other semi-finalist as he enjoyed his best-ever run on the PDC ProTour, following up Saturday's run to the last 32 with wins over Callum Loose, Mark Dudbridge, Darren Johnson, Joe Davis, Stuart Kellett and Alan Norris to secure his fifth UK Open appearance.
Van Gerwen's quarter-final appearance was his best finish of the weekend, and he was joined in the last eight by Reyes, King and Norris, while Beaton followed up two quarter-finals with a last 16 finish on Sunday.
Qualifier Three also featured the first nine-dart finish of 2017 as Southam's Ted Evetts, the youngest PDC Tour Card Holder at 19, achieved a perfect leg in his memorable third round win over Simon Whitlock.
The final three Coral UK Open Qualifiers, each worth £60,000 in prize money, will be held next weekend at the Robin Park Tennis Centre, featuring PDC Tour Card Holders and PDPA Associate Members.
Following the completion of the six UK Open Qualifiers, the top 96 players from the UK Open Order of Merit progress to compete alongside 32 Rileys Amateur Qualifiers in the Coral UK Open TV Finals from March 3-5 at the Butlins Minehead Resort, live on ITV4.
The Coral UK Open Qualifiers are streamed live at www.livepdc.tv for all PDCTV-HD Subscribers worldwide as well as through a series of bookmakers' websites, with coverage from two boards simultaneously.
NB: From Sunday's original entries, Gary Anderson, Mensur Suljovic and Rowby-John Rodriguez did not compete.
WATCH LIVE
Live coverage from two streamed boards at each UK Open Qualifier will be available online for all PDCTV-HD Subscribers worldwide via www.livepdc.tv.
Live coverage is also available through the following bookmakers' websites:
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Coral UK Open Qualifier Three
Sunday February 5
Preliminary Round
John Part 6-3 Roger Scrivens
Wes Newton 6-3 Mark Stephenson
Roxy-James Rodriguez 6-5 Warrick Scheffer
Antonio Alcinas 6-2 Eikichi Nakanishi
Michael Huntley 6-4 Mark Walsh
Mark Hylton 6-3 Kevin Thomas
Chris Dobey 6-1 Billy Holmes
Mario Robbe 6-4 Nathan Aspinall
Harry Ward 6-3 Nigel Daniels
Adam Smith-Neale 6-1 John Brown
Martin Lukeman 6-4 Diogo Portela
Rene Eidams 6-5 Shaun Griffiths
Richie Corner 6-4 Dennis Smith
Steve Lennon 6-4 Ryan Palmer
Ross Twell 6-3 Yuki Yamanda
Steve Hine 6-1 Connor Scutt
Jonny Clayton 6-5 Sven Groen
Nigel Pinchen 6-4 Nolan Arendse
Ryan Searle 6-1 Kevin Simm
James Hajdar 6-5 Jonathan Worsley
First Round
Stephen Bunting Bye
Stephen Burton 6-0 Eelco Sieperda
Scott Dale 6-5 Dick van Dijk
John Part 6-3 Michael Barnard
Vincent van der Voort Bye
Wayne Jones 6-1 Ryan De Vreede
Kurt Parry 6-5 Jamie Guilfoyle
Ricky Sudale 6-2 Wes Newton
Kim Huybrechts Bye
James Richardson 6-5 Yordi Meeuwisse
Richard North 6-4 William O'Connor
Paul Harvey 6-2 John Bowles
Peter Wright Bye
Stuart Dutton 6-5 Jerry Hendriks
Dean Stewart 6-3 Robert Owen
Lee Bryant 6-3 Jeffrey de Graaf
Dave Chisnall Bye
Ken MacNeil 6-2 Kirk Shepherd
Stuart Bousfield 6-5 Derek Brand
Matt Clark 6-3 Eddie Dootson
Gerwyn Price Bye
Joe Murnan 6-4 Robbie Green
Mike De Decker 6-3 Karsten Kornath
Scott Taylor 6-5 Roxy-James Rodriguez
Michael van Gerwen Bye
Kevin McDine 6-5 Michael Burgoine
Brian Woods 6-1 Devon Petersen
Andy Jenkins 6-2 John Michael
Joe Cullen Bye
Chris Quantock 6-0 Jim Moston
Steve Douglas 6-1 Nick Fullwell
Maik Langendorf 6-5 Antonio Alcinas
Jamie Caven Bye
Joe Davis 6-3 Barry Lynn
Ting Chi Royden Lam 6-3 Josh Payne
Kai Fan Leung 6-5 Michael Huntley
Benito van de Pas Bye
Darren Johnson 6-3 James Lane
Mark Dudbridge 6-1 John Crossley
Mick Todd 6-5 Callum Loose
Robert Thornton Bye
Keegan Brown 6-4 Ritchie Edhouse
Dawson Murschell 6-4 Vincent Kamphuis
Dirk van Duijvenbode 6-2 Par Riihonen
Kyle Anderson Bye
Curtis Hammond 6-5 Justin Smith
Stuart Kellett 6-2 Jimmy Hendriks
Josh McCarthy 6-4 Mark Hylton
Daryl Gurney Bye
Jack Todd 6-3 Jeff Batham
Adrian Gray 6-0 Mark Westgarth
Chris Dobey 6-4 Craig Gilchrist
Alan Norris Bye
Terry Temple 6-1 Jon Jukes
Marc Dewsbury 6-4 Ryan Harrington
Kevin Dowling 6-5 Mario Robbe
John Henderson Bye
Joshua Richardson 6-4 Greg Ritchie
Zoran Lerchbacher 6-1 Jim Brown
Bernd Roith 6-2 Harry Ward
James Wilson Bye
Rob Cross 6-4 Barrie Bates
Dylan Duo 6-2 Rohit Rabadia
Adam Smith Neale 6-2 Richard Baillie
Jamie Lewis Bye
Scott Rollings 6-2 Bradley Brooks
Ryan Murray 6-0 Andrew Currivan
Martin Lukeman 6-4 Bryan De Hoog
Steve Beaton Bye
Richie Burnett 6-4 Michael van Dijk
Jason Wilson 6-5 Dave Ladley
Jan Dekker 6-4 Rene Eidams
Simon Whitlock Bye
James Young 6-1 Arron Monk
Ted Evetts 6-1 Alan Tabern Jnr
Berry van Peer 6-3 Richie Corner
Ian White Bye
Michael Rasztovits 6-2 Dyson Parody
Martin Schindler 6-3 Paul Milford
Steve Brown 6-4 Alan Tabern
Andrew Gilding Bye
Jermaine Wattimena 6-0 Ricky Williams
Dimitri Van den Bergh 6-5 Martin Thomas
Steve Lennon 6-1 Max Hopp
Darren Webster Bye
Luke Woodhouse 6-3 Wilco Vermeulen
Nathan Rafferty 6-4 Ian Lever
Ross Twell 6-5 Ronny Huybrechts
Mervyn King Bye
Rob Hewson 6-0 Rhys Jackson
Jim Walker 6-5 Andy Parsons
Mick McGowan 6-4 Steve Hine
Justin Pipe Bye
David Pallett 6-1 Sam Head
Steve West 6-3 Ricky Evans
Kevin Painter 6-3 Jonny Clayton
Raymond van Barneveld Bye
Charlie Jackson 6-4 Willy van de Wiel
Ron Meulenkamp 6-4 Paul Osmotherley
Ryan Meikle 6-3 Callan Rydz
Mark Webster Bye
James Hubbard 6-5 Andy Boulton
Christian Kist 6-3 Kevin Garcia
Nigel Pinchen 6-1 Steven Harbert
Cristo Reyes Bye
Jay Foreman 6-4 Ioannis Selachoglou
Paul Rowley 6-3 Allan Candlish
Ryan Searle 6-1 Jeffrey de Zwaan
Brendan Dolan Bye
Matthew Edgar 6-2 Darron Brown
Tony Newell 6-2 Ben Ward
Peter Hudson 6-1 Jamie Hajdar
James Wade Bye
Andy Hamilton 6-3 Ronnie Baxter
Madars Razma 6-2 Ray Campbell
Prakash Jiwa 6-4 Nathan Derry
Jelle Klaasen Bye
Matthew Dennant 6-1 Gary Gullan
Mareno Michels 6-2 Kelvin Hart
Simon Stevenson 6-4 David Wilson
Michael Smith Bye
Paul Nicholson 6-1 Tim Hope
Colin Roelofs 6-1 Jim McKevitt
Jamie Bain 6-1 Sheamus Hagan
Adrian Lewis Bye
Mark Frost 6-0 Gary Stone
Mark Forman 6-4 Michael Wood
Coni Singh Nagi 6-4 Aden Kirk
Second Round
Stephen Bunting 6-5 Stephen Burton
John Part 6-2 Scott Dale
Vincent van der Voort 6-2 Wayne Jones
Kurt Parry 6-3 Ricky Sudale
Kim Huybrechts 6-4 James Richardson
Paul Harvey 6-4 Richard North
Peter Wright 6-2 Stuart Dutton
Lee Bryant 6-5 Dean Stewart
Dave Chisnall 6-4 Ken MacNeil
Stuart Bousfield 6-5 Matt Clark
Gerwyn Price 6-4 Joe Murnan
Scott Taylor 6-4 Mike De Decker
Michael van Gerwen 6-2 Kevin McDine
Andy Jenkins 6-2 Brian Woods
Joe Cullen 6-2 Chris Quantock
Maik Langendorf 6-3 Steve Douglas
Joe Davis 6-1 Jamie Caven
Kai Fan Leung 6-4 Ting Chi Royden Lam
Darren Johnson 6-4 Benito van de Pas
Mick Todd 6-1 Mark Dudbridge
Keegan Brown 6-3 Robert Thornton
Dirk van Duijvenbode 6-0 Dawson Murschell
Kyle Anderson 6-1 Curtis Hammond
Stuart Kellett 6-3 Josh McCarthy
Daryl Gurney 6-2 Jack Todd
Adrian Gray 6-3 Chris Dobey
Alan Norris 6-1 Terry Temple
Kevin Dowling 6-2 Marc Dewsbury
John Henderson 6-2 Joshua Richardson
Bernd Roith 6-4 Zoran Lerchbacher
Rob Cross 6-5 James Wilson
Adam Smith-Neale 6-5 Dylan Duo
Scott Rollings 6-5 Jamie Lewis
Martin Lukeman 6-4 Ryan Murray
Steve Beaton Bye (Richie Burnett withdrew)
Jan Dekker 6-4 Jason Wilson
Simon Whitlock 6-0 James Young
Ted Evetts 6-3 Berry van Peer
Ian White 6-2 Michael Rasztovits
Martin Schindler 6-2 Steve Brown
Andrew Gilding 6-2 Jermaine Wattimena
Steve Lennon 6-0 Dimitri Van den Bergh
Darren Webster 6-2 Luke Woodhouse
Ross Twell 6-2 Nathan Rafferty
Mervy King 6-0 Rob Hewson
Mick McGowan 6-2 Jim Walker
Justin Pipe 6-1 David Pallett
Kevin Painter 6-5 Steve West
Raymond van Barneveld 6-1 Charlie Jackson
Ron Meulenkamp 6-5 Ryan Meikle
Mark Webster 6-0 James Hubbard
Christian Kist 6-2 Nigel Pinchen
Cristo Reyes 6-5 Jay Foreman
Ryan Searle 6-2 Paul Rowley
Matthew Edgar 6-5 Bendan Dolan
Tony Newell 6-2 Peter Hudson
James Wade 6-2 Andy Hamilton
Prakash Jiwa 6-0 Madars Razma
Jelle Klaasen 6-2 Matthew Dennant
Simon Stevenson 6-1 Mareno Michels
Michael Smith 6-4 Paul Nicholson
Jamie Bain 6-2 Colin Roelofs
Adrian Lewis 6-3 Mark Frost
Mark Forman 6-3 Coni Singh Nagi
Third Round
Stephen Bunting 6-4 John Part
Vincent van der Voort 6-5 Kurt Parry
Paul Harvey 6-2 Kim Huybrechts
Peter Wright 6-2 Lee Bryant
Dave Chisnall 6-1 Stuart Bousfield
Gerwyn Price 6-5 Scott Taylor
Michael van Gerwen 6-3 Andy Jenkins
Joe Cullen 6-5 Maik Langendorf
Joe Davis 6-3 Kai Fan Leung
Mick Todd 6-2 Darren Johnson
Keegan Brown 6-4 Dirk van Duijvenbode
Stuart Kellett 6-2 Kyle Anderson
Daryl Gurney 6-2 Adrian Gray
Alan Norris 6-1 Kevin Dowling
John Henderson 6-3 Bernd Roith
Rob Cross 6-0 Adam Smith-Neale
Martin Lukeman 6-2 Scott Rollings
Steve Beaton 6-3 Jan Dekker
Ted Evetts 6-4 Simon Whitlock - Ted Evetts hits nine-dart finish
Ian White 6-5 Martin Schindler
Andrew Gilding 6-3 Steve Lennon
Darren Webster 6-3 Ross Twell
Mervyn King 6-4 Mick McGowan
Kevin Painter 6-3 Justin Pipe
Raymond van Barneveld 6-2 Ron Meulenkamp
Christian Kist 6-4 Mark Webster
Cristo Reyes 6-2 Ryan Searle
Tony Newell 6-5 Matthew Edgar
James Wade 6-1 Prakash Jiwa
Jelle Klaasen 6-4 Simon Stevenson
Michael Smith 6-4 Jamie Bain
Adrian Lewis 6-2 Mark Forman
Losers £250
Fourth Round
Stephen Bunting 6-3 Vincent van der Voort
Peter Wright 6-2 Paul Harvey
Dave Chisnall 6-4 Gerwyn Price
Michael van Gerwen 6-4 Joe Cullen
Mick Todd 6-3 Joe Davis
Stuart Kellett 6-5 Keegan Brown
Alan Norris 6-2 Daryl Gurney
Rob Cross 6-1 John Henderson
Steve Beaton 6-5 Martin Lukeman
Ian White 6-3 Ted Evetts
Darren Webster 6-3 Andrew Gilding
Mervyn King 6-1 Kevin Painter
Christian Kist 6-4 Raymond van Barneveld
Cristo Reyes 6-4 Tony Newell
James Wade 6-3 Jelle Klaasen
Michael Smith 6-4 Adrian Lewis
Losers £750
Fifth Round
Peter Wright 6-1 Stephen Bunting
Michael van Gerwen 6-2 Dave Chisnall
Mick Todd 6-4 Stuart Kellett
Alan Norris 6-4 Rob Cross
Ian White 6-2 Steve Beaton
Mervyn King 6-2 Darren Webster
Cristo Reyes 6-3 Christian Kist
Michael Smith 6-3 James Wade
Losers £1,500
Quarter-Finals
Peter Wright 6-4 Michael van Gerwen
Mick Todd 6-4 Alan Norris
Ian White 6-3 Mervyn King
Michael Smith 6-2 Cristo Reyes
Losers £2,000
Semi-Finals
Peter Wright 6-2 Mick Todd
Michael Smith 6-5 Ian White
Losers £2,500
Final
Peter Wright 6-5 Michael Smith
Winner £10,000
Runner-Up £5,000