Damon Heta and Jim Williams Clinch Victory in Pro Tour
Damon Heta and Jim Williams won Pro Tour events 5 and 6 in Barnsley after two days of action in Barnsley with Williams winning his first event on the PDC circuit.
Williams won a close final in event 6 on Sunday defeating Ricky Evans 8-6 in the final which saw Evans the highest ranked player going in at 38 in the world. Welshman Williams won a very nervy last leg with both players stuck on the madhouse, as he finally prevailed to win with an 89.92 average.
Williams enjoyed a good run on the Sunday as he came through some difficult fixtures against the likes of an inform Martin Schindler in the semi final and world number four Michael Smith in the quarters. Schindler defeated Luke Humphries in the last 32 with an average of a 102.83 so Williams knew of the threat of the German going into the semi.
Damon Heta avenged his defeat in the final of event 3 back in February and won on the Saturday, as the number one Australian player defeated Gary Anderson in the final 8-6.
“The Heat” was in fine form and had to be on top form to beat the Scotsman with Anderson taking out the likes of Michael van Gerwen and Joe Cullen in previous rounds. He beat him in the final with a 107.27 in an 8-6 victory including a ten-dart leg in the match in the tenth leg.
Heta beat Dimitri van den Bergh in the semi final of the event as he beat the Belgian 7-4 in a close match with both averaging below 93 in the match. His finishing was enough to help him prevail with a 41% checkout rate with van den Bergh only checking out at 25%.
The Australian is up two places in the rankings with his win taking him to 21st in the order of merit after beating Gary Anderson who came into the Pro Tour in Barnsley after winning the Premier League in Nottingham on Thursday.
Danny Noppert fresh off his UK Open triumph returned to action and put in a good performance in event 6 reaching the semi finals on Sunday. The world number 12 hit a perfect nine dart leg in his semi final with Ricky Evans despite losing out to the Englishman.
“The Freeze” was impressive in previous rounds beating the likes of Raymond van Barneveld, Adrian Lewis, and Dirk van Duijvenbode including a 105.28 average in beating Dutch compatriot van Duijvenbode.
Despite being bottom of the Premier League, Joe Cullen had a return to form in event 5 with averages of 105.59 and 100.53 in beating Dirk van Duijvenbode and James Wilson on Saturday with “The Rockstar” looking to take that form into Rotterdam when he faces Gary Anderson in a repeat of the semi final of the two in the event.
Cullen needs points in the Premier League and will hope his performances at the weekend are enough to give him the confidence to go and pick up points, with him being four points of the play off positions.
Daryl Gurney enjoyed a strong Saturday as he reached another quarter final of a Pro Tour losing out to eventual winner Heta. He beat the likes of Max Hopp in the first round, beating the German 6-2 with a 93.42 average. “Super Chin” also beat Nathan Aspinall in the last 32 in a very tight game as he prevailed 6-5.
Josh Rock had a very impressive weekend in Barnsley hitting a nine darter on the Saturday as he beat Dave Chisnall 6-2 to reach the second round making it two hit across the weekends action.
Rock also had an impressive run-in event 6 as he reached the quarter finals after prevailing against the likes of Brendan Dolan and Martijn Kleermaker. The youngster averaged a very impressive 109.72 as he beat Dolan 6-2 in the last 32 in Barnsley.
Simon Whitlock was very unfortunate in the last 32 as a 108.04 average was not enough to beat Gary Anderson and progress on.
“The Wizard” was in good form going into the tie with Anderson after beating Ian White in the previous round, but the Scotsman was in a hot run of form of his own averaging 108.85 in beating Whitlock after taking out Michael van Gerwen in the round prior.
The darting action returns as the Premier League makes its way to Rotterdam with Michael van Gerwen returning to in front of his home fans as he takes on Michael Smith in the quarter finals.
By Harry Masterson
Event 5: Last 16 Results
Gary Anderson 6-3 Chris Dobey
Rob Cross 6-4 Luke Humphries
Joe Cullen 6-3 Stephen Bunting
Dirk van Duijvenbode 6-0 Shaun Wilkinson
Daryl Gurney 6-3 Matt Campbell
Damon Heta 6-3 Steve Beaton
Mike de Decker 6-1 Mervyn King
Dimitri van den Bergh 6-4 Jeffrey de Zwaan
Quarter Finals:
Gary Anderson 6-2 Rob Cross
Joe Cullen 6-3 Dirk van Duijvenbode
Damon Heta 6-3 Daryl Gurney
Dimitri van den Bergh 6-4 Mike de Decker
Semi Finals:
Gary Anderson 7-3 Joe Cullen
Damon Heta 7-4 Dimitri van den Bergh
Final:
Damon Heta 8-6 Gary Anderson
Event 6: Last 16 Results
Josh Rock 6-3 Martijn Kleermaker
Martin Schindler 6-5 Callan Rydz
Jim Williams 6-5 Scott Williams
Michael Smith 6-2 Jonny Clayton
Ian White 6-5 Cameron Menzies
Danny Noppert 6-5 Adrian Lewis
Ricky Evans 6-5 Mensur Suljovic
Gabriel Clemens 6-0 Mario Vandenbogaerde
Quarter Finals:
Martin Schindler 6-1 Josh Rock
Jim Williams 6-3 Michael Smith
Danny Noppert 6-4 Ian White
Ricky Evans 6-3 Gabriel Clemens
Semi Finals:
Jim Williams 7-5 Martin Schindler
Ricky Evans 7-4 Danny Noppert
Final:
Jim Williams 8-6 Ricky Evans