PDC Media Release - Newton Adds Second Title
NEWTON^S DELIGHT AT SECOND PDC PROTOUR TITLE
WES NEWTON claimed his second PDC ProTour win by defeating Andy Smith 6-2 in the final of Saturday^s Players Championship in Wigan.
The Fleetwood ace followed up last November^s victory in a Players Championship in Scotland to claim the £6,000 title at the Robin Park Tennis Centre, a win which should also ensure his place in the summer^s StanJames.com World Matchplay in Blackpool.
On a fine day of darts, Newton whitewashed Mareno Michels and Nigel Birch and defeated Steve Evans 6-2 and Terry Jenkins 6-1 to reach the quarter-finals, where he saw off Colin Osborne 6-4.
Newton then held off Andy Hamilton^s fightback to edge their semi-final 6-5, having seen Hamilton hit back from 5-1 down to force a decider.
A strong start to the final ensured that the final would not be as tight, as he took the opening three legs to lead 3-0.
Smith landed double top and double ten to win two of the next three, with a 13-darter having seen Newton take a fourth leg as he held a 4-2 advantage.
Smith hit three ton-plus scores in the next, but a 180 from Newton left him 61, which he took out in two darts before adding another 14-darter in the next leg to claim victory with Smith waiting on a double.
"It^s great to win, I^m over the moon," said Newton, who had lost 6-5 in the final of a UK Open Qualifier to Gary Anderson last month.
"I^ve lost a few finals in the last year so to win another one is great for me. Losing to Gary Anderson hurt me but this will give me a lot more belief.
"I played really well all day today and am pleased with my performance. I^m getting more confidence and hopefully I^ll kick on from this."
Smith^s run saw him reach his first final since winning a Players Championship in Germany last June, and included a 6-4 semi-final win over in-form Gary Anderson.
He overcame Chris Thompson, Peter Hudson and Alex Roy in the early rounds, before overcoming Mark Walsh 6-3 and sealing a 6-4 win over Kevin Painter with a 154 finish.
Barrie Bates^ run to the semi-finals included an 11-darter in the deciding leg of his win over Adrian Lewis in the last 16, before he was defeated by Anderson 6-5.
Mark Webster and Colin Osborne joined Painter and Bates in the quarter-finals, but Simon Whitlock^s bid to win a third successive Players Championship was ended in the second round, as the Australian went down 6-2 to Alex Roy.
Players Championship 11
Preliminary Round
Peter Hudson 6-0 Jim McKevitt
Tony Ayres 6-1 Chris Loudon
Brian Startin 6-5 Wayne Atwood
First Round
Mark Walsh (1) 6-2 Kirk Shepherd
Mark Stephenson 6-2 Martyn Bevan
Dave Smith 6-4 Tony Eccles (32)
Gary Eastwood 6-1 Steve Grubb
Simon Whitlock (16) 6-3 Stuart Bousfield
Alex Roy 6-2 Andy Callaby
Andy Smith (17) 6-2 Chris Thompson
Peter Hudson 6-4 Mark Jones
Wayne Jones (8) 6-5 Steve Maish
Gary Welding 6-2 Michael Smith
Kevin Painter (25) 6-2 Daz Mawer
Tony Martin 6-3 Lee Hayes
Steve Beaton (9) 6-4 Mark Lawrence
Matt Clark 6-3 Martyn Turner
Mark Cox 6-3 Brendan Dolan (24)
John Part 6-2 Mark Hylton
Gary Anderson (5) 6-2 Joe Cullen
Par Riihonen 6-3 Robbie Newland
Jelle Klaasen (28) 6-4 Ian McFarlane
Terry Temple 6-3 Roland Scholten
James Wade (12) 6-3 Stuart Dutton
Ian White 6-2 Lee White
Alan Tabern (21) 6-1 Andy Hutchings
Gary Mawson 6-5 Stephen Hardy
Adrian Lewis (4) 6-3 Jimmy Mann
Mensur Suljovic 6-0 Richie Burnett
Steve Brown (29) 6-4 Darren Webster
Louis Blundell ! 6-2 Jon Archer
Paul Nicholson (13) 6-1 Ian Jopling
Kevin Harris 6-4 Jason Clark
Barrie Bates (20) 6-0 Ron Atwill
Steve Hine 6-2 Lee Williams
Nigel Heydon 6-3 Colin Lloyd (2)
Dave Ladley 6-5 Adrian Gray
Mark Webster (31) 6-2 William O^Connor
Tony Randell 6-5 Didier de Vuyst
Denis Ovens (15) 6-2 Mark Frost
Sam Allen 6-4 Colin Monk
Dennis Smith 6-5 Mark Dudbridge (18)
Tony Ayres 6-0 Darren Latham
Jamie Caven (7) 6-3 Shaun Dring
Justin Pipe 6-5 Peter Manley
Michael van Gerwen (26) 6-1 Andy Relf
Arron Monk 6-4 Dave Honey
Andy Hamilton (10) 6-0 Kevin McDine
Harry Robinson 6-1 Chris Mason
Dennis Priestley (23) 6-2 Ian Lever
Paul Williams 6-3 Alex Tinsley
Wes Newton (6) 6-0 Mareno Michels
Nigel Birch 6-3 Andy Pearce
Peter Wright (27) 6-1 Michael Barnard
Steve Evans 6-4 Nick Fullwell
Vincent van der Voort (11) 6-2 Andy Fordham
Lionel Sams 6-3 Dean Allsopp
Terry Jenkins (22) 6-3 Wayne Mardle
! Steve Farmer 6-2 Dylan Duo
Colin Osborne (3) 6-4 James Bart! on
Da rren Johnson 6-5 Tony Blundell
Anastasia Dobromyslova 6-3 Co Stompe (30)
Dave Askew 6-1 Matt Padgett
Mervyn King (14) 6-1 Kevin Dowling
Darren Weaver 6-0 Paul Rowley
Robert Thornton (19) 6-1 Mick McGowan
Brian Startin 6-4 Tom Martin
Second Round
Mark Walsh 6-4 Mark Stephenson
Gary Eastwood 6-2 Dave Smith
Alex Roy 6-3 Simon Whitlock
Andy Smith 6-3 Peter Hudson
Wayne Jones 6-3 Gary Welding
Kevin Painter 6-0 Tony Martin
Steve Beaton 6-5 Matt Clark
John Part 6-5 Mark Cox
Gary Anderson 6-1 Par Riihonen
Terry Temple 6-5 Jelle Klaasen
James Wade 6-5 Ian White
Alan Tabern 6-4 Gary Mawson
Adrian Lewis 6-2 Mensur Suljovic
Steve Brown 6-4 Louis Blundell
Kevin Harris 6-5 Paul Nicholson
Barrie Bates 6-5 Steve Hine
Nigel Heydon 6-2 Dave Ladley
Mark Webster 6-0 Tony Randell
Denis Ovens 6-3 Sam Allen
Dennis Smith 6-1 Tony Ayres
Jamie Caven 6-5 Justin Pipe
Arron Monk 6-1 Michael van Gerwen
Andy Hamilton 6-1 Harry Robinson
Dennis Priestley 6-4 Paul Williams
Wes Newton 6-0 Nigel Birch
Steve Evans 6-5 Peter Wright
Vincent van der Voort 6-3 Lionel Sams
Terry Jenkins 6-4 Steve Farmer
Colin Osborne 6-2 Darren Johnson
Anastasia Dob! romyslova 6-1 Dave Askew
Mervyn King 6-3 Darren Weaver
Robert Thornton 6-1 Brian Startin
Losers £200
Third Round
Mark Walsh 6-1 Gary Eastwood
Andy Smith 6-3 Alex Roy
Kevin Painter 6-3 Wayne Jones
Steve Beaton 6-0 John Part
Gary Anderson 6-3 Terry Temple
James Wade 6-2 Alan Tabern
Adrian Lewis 6-3 Steve Brown
Barrie Bates 6-4 Kevin Harris
Mark Webster 6-4 Nigel Heydon
Denis Ovens 6-3 Dennis Smith
Jamie Caven 6-1 Arron Monk
Andy Hamilton 6-3 Dennis Priestley
Wes Newton 6-2 Steve Evans
Terry Jenkins 6-4 Vincent van der Voort
Colin Osborne 6-0 Anastasia Dobromyslova
Mervyn King 6-3 Robert Thornton
Losers £300
Fourth Round
Andy Smith 6-3 Mark Walsh
Kevin Painter 6-3 Steve Beaton
Gary Anderson 6-2 James Wade
Barrie Bates 6-5 Adrian Lewis
Mark Webster 6-3 Denis Ovens
Andy Hamilton 6-3 Jamie Caven
Wes Newton 6-1 Terry Jenkins
Colin Osborne 6-5 Mervyn King
Losers £500
Quarter-Finals
Andy Smith 6-4 Kevin Painter
Gary Anderson 6-5 Barrie Bates
Andy Hamilton 6-2 Mark Webster
Wes Newton 6-4 Colin Osborne
Losers £1,000
Semi-Finals
Andy Smith 6-4 Gary Anderson
Wes Newton 6-5 Andy Hamilton
Losers £1,500
Final
Wes Newton 6-2 Andy Smith
Winner £6,000
Runner-Up £3,000