History HAS been made and WILL be made at the Players Championship Finals!
Unicorn ace Wes Newton became the first man ever to hit back-to-back 170 finishes in a TV ‘Major’ in his quarter-final victory over Mark Walsh.
And James Wade’s shock defeat against Scott Rand means there will be a first time winner of a big PDC title on Sunday night.
And it may yet be Newton, or even Team Unicorn stablemate Kevin Painter with their name on that prized trophy, as ‘The Artist’ beat Phil Taylor’s conqueror – Mervyn King….
But Wade will be hugely disappointed after running into an inspired Scott Rand.
Newton was highly fancied to do well in this tournament before a dart was thrown and his brilliant finishing was more than enough to see off Walsh 9-5.
And he will take on Welshman Mark Webster for a place in the final.
From 1-2 down, he won four consecutive legs – hitting three 180s and a 103 finish – to take control of the quarter-final against Walsh.
But he saved the best for last…..7-5 up and in comes the first 170 check-out and he followed it up with another! It was an amazing feat and it took the tournament tally of 170 finishes to six, which is another record in a TV ‘Major’!
“I was actually nervous going into the match,” he revealed. “But I can’t quite believe what I have achieved with those 170 finishes. The important thing though, is the win and I have to carry that momentum forward.”
Wade was stunned by Rand…..the Unicorn star went into Sunday as the bookies favourite to win an 8th ‘Major’ but the Coventry darter followed up his 2nd Round win over Raymond van Barneveld with another big scalp.
Wade actually led 4-2 despite not being at his best, but Rand then found some rhythm and range and reeled off five consecutive legs to take him to the verge of victory.
A second 180 stopped the rot, but Rand wasn’t to be denied and a fourth maximum sealed the biggest win of his career with an average of just shy of the magical 100 mark.
And next up for Rand is Team Unicorn star Kevin Painter, who won through to his first TV ‘Major’ semi-final since the 2009 UK Open.
He made hard work of it, but finally got the job done against King where a break of throw was the norm!
“Normally, I’m moaning about having bad luck,” Painter said. “But I’ve had some good luck this tournament. Both Gary Anderson and Mervyn King have missed a lot of doubles against me. I just hope that luck continues for me!”
He was 2-1 down but cashed in on a lot of King missed doubles to open up a 5-2 advantage….Painter then extended that lead to 8-4, as he hit those doubles when it really mattered.
In one leg that summed it all up, King bust his score when he needed only 70 and Painter stepped in to nail ‘tops’
He did struggle to get over the finishing line as King won three legs on the spin, but after missing one dart at the bull to win 8-6, an impressive 13 dart leg – finished off by D15 took ‘The Artist’ into the semi-finals.
In the other quarter-final, Mark Webster stumbled over the line against Dave Chisnall…..the Welshman was 8-4 in front, but saw Chisnall drag it back to 8-8!
Webster had incredibly missed 11 darts to win it and Chisnall had the darts in the decider! But somehow, Webster found a way and D5 took him through in the most dramatic of circumstances.
Quarter-Finals:
Mark Walsh 5-9 Wes Newton
Scott Rand 9-5 James Wade
Kevin Painter 9-7 Mervyn King
Mark Webster 9-8 Dave Chisnall
Semi-Finals (best of 19 legs):
Wes Newton v Mark Webster
Scott Rand v Kevin Painter
By STUART PYKE at the Doncaster Dome
Photos courtesy Lawrence Lustig / PDC