PDC Media Release - Bates^ Joy In Crawley

BATES’ JOY IN CRAWLEY

BARRIE BATES won his first tournament since 2006 with a narrow 6-5 defeat of Denis Ovens in Saturday^s Players Championship final.

The Welshman picked up three titles and reached the UK Open four years ago in his most successful period of form and, having overcome his foot problems, enjoyed his best run since to claim the £6,000 title at the K2 Centre in Crawley.

He overcame some leading names in the process, defeating seeded players Co Stompe and Jamie Caven to reach the last 16, where he overcame his fellow countryman Richie Burnett 6-3.

In-form Mark Walsh was defeated 6-2 in the quarter-finals and Essex^s Steve Maish fell in the semis, before he came from behind to win the final.

Ovens made a fine start with two breaks of throw in the opening three legs to lead 3-0, including an 11-dart finish, before Bates landed double 16 to get off the mark and double 12 to reduce the gap to one.

Ovens edged two of the next three to move a leg away from victory at 5-3, but missed two darts for the match in leg nine and a further one dart for victory in the tenth as Bates forced a decider.

Three ton-plus scores from the Welshman put him ahead in the final leg, and he took out double six for a 14-darter to claim victory.

"It^s great and I^m delighted," said Bates. "It^s been a long time since my last win but I^m feeling good and playing well.

"I^ve been practising my finishing a lot and that was probably the difference throughout the day, I took my chances and am thrilled."

The defeat denied Ovens a second PDC ProTour win of the year, although he made a superb fightback from 5-2 down to defeat world number three James Wade in the semi-finals.

He had also been a narrow 6-5 winner against Vincent van der Voort and Rick Lowther in the latter stages, having also seen off Whyte & Mackay Premier League Darts stars Mervyn King and Simon Whitlock on the day.

Maish^s run to the semi-finals was his best performance since October 2008, and included a remarkable comeback from 5-2 down against Mark Dudbridge in the last eight, hitting finishes of 141, 121 and 110 in taking the win.

Dudbridge^s run saw him reach a third successive PDC ProTour quarter-final, although he rode his luck in the last 16 as Mark Webster came from 5-2 down to level before missing double top for a 160 finish in the decider, allowing the Bristol man to check out 120 to progress.

Tony Eccles reached the quarter-finals for the first time in 12 months before losing to Wade, while Vincent van der Voort - a Players Championship winner two weeks ago - also reached the last eight.

World number two Raymond van Barneveld went down 6-3 to Adrian Lewis in the second round in his first outing of the year on the PDC ProTour.

Andy Hamilton hit a nine-dart finish during a win over Alan Tabern in round three, before losing to Maish, and picked up a £3,600 bonus for the achievement.

Players Championship 8

Preliminary Round

Darren Webster 6-1 Par Riihonen

Chris Thompson 6-2 Dave Honey

Taro Yachi 6-1 Jim McKevitt

Matt Clark 6-4 Mark Frost

Justin Pipe 6-2 Gary Blades

Mark Carter 6-1 Didier de Vuyst

Dean Allsopp 6-4 Kevin McDine

Lee Williams 6-4 Mark Cox

Tony Martin 6-4 Kevin Harris

Lee White 6-5 Alex Tinsley

Colin Monk 6-4 Tony Ayres

Nigel Heydon 6-5 Matt Padgett

Rick Lowther 6-0 Andy Pearce

Tony Randell 6-2 Andy Fordham

First Round

Mark Walsh (1) 6-1 Robert Alford

Ian McFarlane 6-1 Tom Martin

Kirk Shepherd (32) 6-4 Steven Pearson

Andy Hutchings 6-3 Dave Askew

Michael van Gerwen (16) 6-2 Ian Eames

Wayne Mardle 6-1 Steve Perkins

Andy Smith (17) 6-5 Steve Evans

Aodhagan O^Neill 6-1 Darren Webster

Martyn Turner 6-5 Steve Beaton (8)

Stuart Bousfield 6-5 Mick McGowan

Richie Burnett 6-4 Peter Wright (25)

Chris Thompson 6-5 Arron Monk

Jamie Caven (9) 6-0 Rocco Maes

Jimmy Mann 6-4 Paul Williams

Barrie Bates 6-4 Co Stompe (24)

Taro Yachi 6-2 Mark Stephenson

Adrian Lewis (5) 6-4 Wayne Atwood

Raymond van Barneveld 6-3 Chris Loudon

Mark Webster (28) 6-3 Simon Burt

James Barton 6-2 Matt Clark

Wayne Jones (12) 6-5 Adrian Gray

Stuart Dutton 6-1 Andy Mason

Mark Dudbridge (21) 6-1 Stephen Hardy

Justin Pipe 6-0 Shaun Dring

Steve Maish 6-4 Colin Lloyd (4)

Anton Liscsey 6-3 Darren Johnson

Steve Hine (29) 6-1 Darren Weaver

Geoff Whitworth 6-2 Mark Carter

Andy Hamilton (13) 6-2 Anastasia Dobromyslova

Tony Clark 6-1 Steve Watts

Alan Tabern (20) 6-0 Steve Grubb

Mark Lawrence 6-1 Dean Allsopp

Colin Osborne (2) 6-5 Louis Blundell

Dennis Smith 6-3 Michael Banard

Tony Eccles (31) 6-3 Steven Perry

Ian Jopling 6-1 Daz Mawer

Paul Nicholson (15) 6-4 Toon Greebe

Darren Latham 6-1 Jon Archer

Robert Thornton (18) 6-4 Ian Lever

Lee Williams 6-1 Andy Relf

James Wade (7) 6-1 Gary Eastwood

Mareno Michels 6-4 Martyn Bevan

Steve Brown (26) 6-4 Nigel Birch

Tony Martin 6-5 Ron Atwill

Anthony Urmston-Toft 6-4 Ronnie Baxter (10)

Kevin Dowling 6-4 Dylan Duo

Brendan Dolan (23) 6-4 Dave Ladley

Chris Mason 6-4 Lee White

John Quantock 6-5 Wes Newton (6)

Alex Roy 6-2 Jimmy O^Regan

Jelle Klaasen (27) 6-0 Mark Hylton

Colin Monk 6-0 Matthew Wenham

Vincent van der Voort (11) 6-5 John Part

Matt Draper 6-2 Dave Ansell

Kevin Painter (22) 6-5 Joe Cullen

Steve Farmer 6-3 Nigel Heydon

Gary Anderson (3) 6-0 Robbie Newland

Jason Clark 6-3 Sam Allen

Nick Fullwell 6-5 Peter Manley (30)

Rick Lowther 6-4 Steve Musson

Mervyn King (14) 6-3 Gary Mawson

Mark Jones 6-3 Lee Hayes

Denis Ovens (19) 6-2 Peter Hudson

Simon Whitlock 6-4 Tony Randell

Second Round

Mark Walsh 6-2 Ian McFarlane

Andy Hutchings 6-3 Kirk Shepherd

Wayne Mardle 6-2 Michael van Gerwen

Aodhagan O^Neill 6-5 Andy Smith

Martyn Turner 6-3 Stuart Bousfield

Richie Burnett 6-4 Chris Thompson

Jamie Caven 6-1 Jimmy Mann

Barrie Bates 6-4 Taro Yachi

Adrian Lewis 6-3 Raymond van Barneveld

Mark Webster 6-2 James Barton

Wayne Jones 6-5 Stuart Dutton

Mark Dudbridge 6-3 Justin Pipe

Steve Maish 6-3 Anton Liscsey

Steve Hine 6-0 Geoff Whitworth

Andy Hamilton 6-0 Tony Clark

Alan Tabern 6-1 Mark Lawrence

Dennis Smith 6-4 Colin Osborne

Tony Eccles 6-2 Ian Jopling

Paul Nicholson 6-0 Darren Latham

Lee Williams 6-5 Robert Thornton

James Wade 6-3 Mareno Michels

Steve Brown 6-2 Tony Martin

Anthony Urmston-Toft 6-4 Kevin Dowling

Chris Mason 6-5 Brendan Dolan

John Quantock 6-4 Alex Roy

Jelle Klaasen 6-3 Colin Monk

Vincent van der Voort 6-5 Matt Draper

Kevin Painter 6-4 Steve Farmer

Jason Clark 6-3 Gary Anderson

Rick Lowther 6-1 Nick Fullwell

Mervyn King 6-1 Mark Jones

Denis Ovens 6-3 Simon Whitlock

Losers £200

Third Round

Mark Walsh 6-2 Andy Hutchings

Aodhagan O^Neill 6-4 Wayne Mardle

Richie Burnett 6-3 Martyn Turner

Barrie Bates 6-4 Jamie Caven

Mark Webster 6-4 Adrian Lewis

Mark Dudbridge 6-5 Wayne Jones

Steve Maish 6-5 Steve Hine

Andy Hamilton 6-4 Alan Tabern - Andy Hamilton hits nine-dart finish

Tony Eccles 6-0 Dennis Smith

Lee Williams 6-4 Paul Nicholson

James Wade 6-3 Steve Brown

Chris Mason 6-3 Anthony Urmston-Toft

Jelle Klaasen 6-4 John Quantock

Vincent van der Voort 6-4 Kevin Painter

Rick Lowther 6-3 Jason Clark

Denis Ovens 6-2 Mervyn King

Losers £300

Fourth Round

Mark Walsh 6-1 Aodhagan O^Neill

Barrie Bates 6-3 Richie Burnett

Mark Dudbridge 6-5 Mark Webster

Steve Maish 6-3 Andy Hamilton

Tony Eccles 6-5 Lee Williams

James Wade 6-5 Chris Mason

Vincent van der Voort 6-4 Jelle Klaasen

Denis Ovens 6-5 Rick Lowther

Losers £500

Quarter-Finals

Barrie Bates 6-2 Mark Walsh

Steve Maish 6-5 Mark Dudbridge

James Wade 6-3 Tony Eccles

Denis Ovens 6-5 Vincent van der Voort

Losers £1,000

Semi-Finals

Barrie Bates 6-4 Steve Maish

Denis Ovens 6-5 James Wade

Losers £1,500

Final

Barrie Bates 6-5 Denis Ovens

Winner £6,000

Runner-Up £3,000