Andy Hamilton just missed out in the final of the third Players Championship event of the year in Swindon.
The Unicorn star was beaten 6-3 by Mervyn King in the final, as King won his first event for 16 months.
Hamilton had enjoyed some luck during the day….in the last 16, he beat Steve Brown in a deciding leg after his opponent had missed 11 darts at a double for the win!
And he pinched a thrilling all Unicorn semi-final against Jamie Caven in another decider! Caven missed a dart to win it 6-4, only to see ‘The Hammer’ hit a 120 finish and then win that 11th leg in 13 darts!
But in the final, he trailed 3-1 and 4-2 but still had his chances…..a 76 check-out won Hamilton the 7th leg and he missed three darts to make it 4-4…and that was enough for King to seize the initiative and 5-3 became 6-3 with a 99 check-out to clinch victory in the final.
Caven’s run to the semi-finals included a 6-3 win over World Championship runner-up Simon Whitlock and a whitewash of Kevin Painter.
But the alarm bells are certainly ringing for John Part, because Unicorn’s three-times World Champion is going through the worst run of form in his long and illustrious career….and clearly a crisis of confidence as well.
The Canadian lost in the preliminary round for the second time in three Players Championship events this year.
Of course, Part’s only route to the TV ‘Majors’ after slipping down the world rankings, is through the Players Championship Order of Merit. But he was beaten 6-3 by Louis Blundell in Swindon and that means he still hasn’t earned any money in 2010.
Part is now ranked down at No.27 in the world and there’s no doubt, he is facing a real struggle over the next few months.
There’s an old sporting cliché about ‘form being temporary but class being permanent’ and that certainly applies to Part. But he will know that it’s time to show his pedigree in the coming weeks and months.
Adrian Lewis played really well all day but just one break of throw was enough as he lost 6-4 in the quarter-finals to King.
The Unicorn pair of Terry Jenkins and James Wade lost in the 4th Round. Wade was edged out 6-4 by Wayne Jones, while ‘The Bull’ was beaten Lewis by the same score.
Four Team Unicorn stars were beaten at the last 32 stage….Peter Manley missed chances and lost a last leg decider to Lloyd, Osborne also lost a decider to Steve Brown, Painter was disappointing as he was whitewashed by Caven and Wes Newton was a 6-3 loser to Simon Whitlock.
In the 2nd round, Joe Cullen lost 6-3 to Brown, Kirk Shepherd lost 6-1 to Wayne Jones and Paul Nicholson couldn’t cope with the snail’s pace of Dennis Smith – losing 6-4.
In the 1st Round, Mick McGowan failed to win a leg against Alan Tabern, Anastasia lost 6-1 to Matt Draper, Arron Monk was beaten 6-4 by Adrian Gray and Barrie Bates lost a deciding leg to Nick Fulwell.
Players Championship ‘3’ – results – last 16:
Adrian Lewis 6-4 Terry Jenkins
Ronnie Baxter 6-2 Kevin McDine
Mervyn King 6-2 Steve Hine
Jamie Caven 6-3 Simon Whitlock
Mark Walsh 6-3 Alan Tabern
Wayne Jones 6-4 James Wade
Andy Hamilton 6-5 Steve Brown
Colin Lloyd 6-4 Denis Ovens
Losers - £500
Quarter-Finals:
Mervyn King 6-4 Adrian Lewis
Ronnie Baxter 6-5 Mark Walsh
Andy Hamilton 6-5 Wayne Jones
Jamie Caven 6-5 Colin Lloyd
Losers - £1,000
Semi-Finals:
Mervyn King 6-1 Ronnie Baxter
Andy Hamilton 6-5 Jamie Caven
Losers - £1,500
Final:
Mervyn King 6-3 Andy Hamilton
Winner - £6,000
Runner-up- £3,000
By STUART PYKE
Photo courtesy Chris Sargeant