Players Championship 7 & 8 Results
Aspinall Wins PC7
Nathan Aspinall claimed the £10,000 top prize at Players Championship Seven in Barnsley on Saturday, beating Brendan Dolan 8-4 in the final to pick up his second title of 2020.
The Premier League star recovered from 4-2 down to seal the win, ending the final with an average of 94 as he reeled off six successive legs - five of which were between 12 and 14 darts.
The former UK Open champion first saw off Alan Tabern before going on to secure wins over Geert Nentjes, Chris Dobey and Vincent van der Voort.
The last eight is where Aspinall produced his standout victory, beating world number one Michael van Gerwen 6-1 to progress to the semi-finals.
Another Dutchman - Danny Noppert - was Aspinall's next victim as the US Darts Masters champion brushed his opponent aside in a 7-3 win to move in to the final.
Dolan took the early initiative in the decider, moving in to a 4-2 lead before Aspinall fought back superbly to win the title.
"I played steady at times and not so well at others but I'm really happy," said Aspinall. "I'm full of confidence and was determined to have a good run this weekend.
"I know what I can produce and I know how good I am and there is no reason why I can't win more titles."
Aspinall is currently planning his wedding to partner Kirsty-Louise, and after pocking a second £10,000 cheque of the year added: "The other half is booking our wedding soon so I need the money!"
It was also a good day for finalist Brendan Dolan, who moved through the field with some impressive wins.
The Northern Ireland World Cup star began his day with a 6-4 win over Adrian Gray, before going on to defeat Niels Zonneveld, Ciaran Teehan and Dave Chisnall.
A quarter-final win over Derk Telnekes secured a semi-final clash with multiple title winner James Wade, where Dolan was far too good for his English opponent, coming through with a 7-1 win.
Despite a good start in the final Dolan wasn't able to overcome Aspinall and secure a third title within a year - but the the 46-year-old will be pleased with his day's work.
Wade enjoyed his best run of 2020 so far as he reached the semi-finals alongside Noppert, while Telnekes overcame World Champion Peter Wright as he reached his first quarter-final on the PDC ProTour.
The PDC ProTour weekend in Barnsley concludes on Sunday with Players Championship Eight, where 128 players will be hoping to claim the title. Watch action from two streams simultaneously through video.pdc.tv.
Players Championship Eight
Saturday March 14, Barnsley Metrodome
Last 16
Michael van Gerwen 6-3 Jermaine Wattimena
Nathan Aspinall 6-2 Vincent van der Voort
Krzysztof Ratajski 6-5 Luke Humphries
Danny Noppert 6-0 Daryl Gurney
Ian White 6-1 Kai Fan Leung
James Wade 6-2 Glen Durrant
Derk Telnekes 6-1 Peter Wright
Brendan Dolan 6-2 Dave Chisnall
Quarter-Finals
Nathan Aspinall 6-1 Michael van Gerwen
Danny Noppert 6-2 Krzysztof Ratajski
James Wade 6-5 Ian White
Brendan Dolan 6-5 Derk Telnekes
Semi-Finals
Nathan Aspinall 7-3 Danny Noppert
Brendan Dolan 7-1 James Wade
Final
Nathan Aspinall 8-4 Brendan Dolan
White wins first title of 2020 at Players Championship 8
Ian White claimed his first title of the year at Players Championship 8 in Barnsley on Sunday, defeating James Wade 8-3 in the final.
White produced an incredibly consistent level throughout the day, averaging over 100 in all but one of his seven victories, including a 111.3 in his win over John Henderson in the last 32.
A winner of two European Tour events in 2019, White began the second day of the ProTour double-header with wins over William Borland, Diogo Portela and Henderson.
The 49-year-old then overcame Stephen Bunting in the last 16 before a 109.7 average was enough to see off Dave Chisnall in the last eight.
White defeated Kim Huybrechts 7-4 in the semi-finals and went on to brush Wade aside to pick up his first Players Championship title since June 2018 and a 13th PDC title of his career.
"I've been playing good darts through the year but not been getting the luck, so this title has been coming," said White, who moves back up to tenth on the PDC Order of Merit.
"The form is coming on, I've had a few problems but I'm sorting myself out and everything is going well.
"A couple of weeks ago Peter Wright was hitting lots of 100-plus averages so that spurred me on to keep up with him.
"Everyone goes on about my TV form not being as good as my ProTour form but I play good darts on the TV stages, I've hit a few averages over 100.
"I've just run into top class players at their best a few times, I just think I've been unlucky.
"My heads on this year and I want to stay in that top ten."
The eighth Players Championship event of the year also saw former TV finalist Huybrechts reach his first ranking semi-final in almost two years.
Dutchman Derk Telnekes, who was among the new Tour Card winners in January, also reached the final four having reached the quarter-finals at Saturday's Players Championship 7.
The 2020 PDC ProTour continues with two Players Championship events at Marshall Arena, Milton Keynes on Saturday March 28 and Sunday March 29, with live streaming on PDCTV.
See full Players Championship 8 results in the Match Centre.
Players Championship 8
Sunday March 15
Last 16
Derk Telnekes 6-2 Gavin Carlin
Luke Woodhouse 6-5 Glen Durrant
James Wade 6-5 Josh Payne
Keegan Brown 6-2 Justin Pipe
Ian White 6-2 Stephen Bunting
Dave Chisnall 6-0 Christian Bunse
Kim Huybrechts 6-0 Peter Wright
Michael Smith 6-5 Ricky Evans
Quarter-Finals
Derk Telnekes 6-3 Luke Woodhouse
James Wade 6-4 Keegan Brown
Ian White 6-4 Dave Chisnall
Kim Huybrechts 6-4 Michael Smith
Semi-Finals
James Wade 7-2 Derk Telnekes
Ian White 7-4 Kim Huybrechts
Final
Ian White 8-3 James Wade