Wes Newton was the comeback kid to reach the last eight of the Players Championship Finals!
And he was joined in the quarter-finals by James Wade, but Raymond van Barneveld suffered a shock defeat to Scott Rand at the Doncaster Dome.
Newton showed a lot of character and some bottle, as he fought back brilliantly to book a Quarter-Final clash against Mark Walsh.
He looked down and out as he fell 0-4 behind against an inspired Peter Wright, but the Unicorn ace battled back with a 100 average and some great finishing.
“That was tough!” Newton admitted. “I felt like I was swimming against the tide but I knew he would start missing eventually.”
“My first target was to get through to Sunday and now I have done that, the next target is a place in the final,” he added.
After four legs, Wright averaged 120 and could do no wrong…..three 180s and a 105 check-out and for Newton, it looked like the writing was on the wall.
The match-changing moment came in the fifth leg, as Wright missed three darts at D12, D6 and D3 for what would surely have been an unassailable 5-0 lead…..Newton pinched the leg with a 70 finish and that was the start of the fightback.
He managed to level at 4-4 and you could see the confidence draining away from his opponent…..the next four legs were shared but at 6-6, Wright missed two at ‘tops’ and Newton nailed D10 to move ahead for the first time in the match.
And he wrapped up a superb win in the next leg on the same double!
Wade was way off the pace, but as the old cliché goes – a win is a win is a win!
And sometimes in sport you have to win ugly and that is exactly what Wade managed to do…..he perhaps struggled to come to terms with a subdued atmosphere, but finally got the job done.
Team Unicorn’s World No.3 went 4-1 up, including a 106 finish but then lost focus and concentration, as he bust 25 when he should have gone 5-1 clear.
A terrific 142 check-out from nowhere restored a two leg advantage for Wade, who then missed two darts at the bull in consecutive legs to win 8-4 and 8-5 before finally hitting ‘tops’ to cross the finishing line.
But he knows that he’ll have to improve on an 88 average if he wants to challenge for the title on Sunday.
And Wade will face Scott Rand in those quarter-finals, after he surprised Barney on Saturday afternoon….it will be a hugely disappointing defeat for the Dutchman – especially after the way he played in his 1st Round win against Ronnie Baxter.
For Rand the biggest win of his career to date….and in the end just one break of throw was enough!
Barneveld had his chances but didn’t take them….he missed two darts at ‘tops’ for 2-0, only to see Rand take out 96 to break and lead 2-1…..it was nip and tuck after that.
Barney found his scoring touch but rarely threatened the Rand throw despite hitting seven 180s….the Unicorn man took out 112 to get it back to 4-5 and had his only chance to break back and level….one dart at ‘tops’ – he missed and Rand held his nerve and won it in style with a terrific 170 finish.
So for Barney, all his focus now switches to the World Championship…..but make no mistake, he will be disappointed, because it was a game he should have won.
Saturday afternoon 2nd Round results:
Wes Newton 8-6 Peter Wright
Wayne Jones 3-8 Mark Walsh
Steve Brown 6-8 James Wade
Raymond van Barneveld 6-8 Scott Rand
Saturday night 2nd Round schedule:
Co Stompe v Dave Chisnall
Justin Pipe v Mark Webster
Phil Taylor v Mervyn King
Gary Anderson v Kevin Painter
By STUART PYKE at the Cash Converters Players Championship Finals
Photo courtesy Lawrence Lustig / PDC