Benito van de Pas clinched his third Players Championship title of the year with a comprehensive 6-1 victory over Dave Chisnall in the final Pro Tour event of 2016 at the Barnsley Metrodome on Saturday afternoon.
The 23-year-old Dutchman, who broke into the world’s top 16 earlier this year, capitalised on an error-strewn display from Chisnall to scoop the £10,000 winner’s cheque, whilst also securing second spot on the final Players Championship Order of Merit.
Van de Pas opened his account in Saturday’s final with a solid 16-dart hold on tops, but Chisnall fired back by pinning D10, having missed tops for a 160 checkout in the preceding visit. However, the Dutchman regained his lead in leg three, kicking off the leg with a magnificent 177, before converting D16 for a classy 13-dart leg.
Nevertheless, the fourth leg saw farcical finishing from both players. Chizzy spurned an incredible ELEVEN darts at double to restore parity, and after missing 8 darts at double, Van de Pas eventually hit D1 to secure an important break.
Van de Pas endured further double-trouble in the fifth leg, but Chisnall’s scoring power had diminished completely, and Benito pinned D2 with his eighth dart at double to establish a commanding three-leg lead.
Chisnall fired in his first maximum in the sixth leg but failed to take out 73, and Benito produced a clinical 69 finish to move to the cusp of victory. The St Helens’ star was visibly deflated and Van de Pas clinched his fifth straight leg with a 43 checkout, to secure his third Players Championship title of the year.
Van de Pas kicked off Saturday’s proceedings with an emphatic 6-1 victory over talented Belgian Dimitri van den Bergh, before recording 6-3 wins over both Ted Evetts and Robert Owen. ‘Big Ben’ faced Jamie Lewis in round-three, in a repeat of Friday’s first-round contest which Lewis won.
However, the Dutchman gained revenge by recording a 6-3 victory, before storming into the semi-finals with a convincing 6-2 victory over Saturday’s surprise package Matthew Edgar who dumped out Jelle Klaasen, Cristo Reyes and Robbie Green to reach the last eight.
In the semi-finals, Benito faced Justin Pipe who continued his impressive Pro Tour form in Barnsley. Pipe recorded wins over Wes Newton, Richie Corner, Mark Walsh and Dennis Smith to reach the quarters, before seeing off Peter Wright in a thrilling last-leg decider.
However, Pipe spurned a wonderful opportunity to reach his first PDC final of 2016. Pipe led the Dutchman 4-1 and 5-4, but Van de Pas demonstrated admirable resilience to complete the comeback, which laid the foundations for the world number fifteen to win another title in Barnsley.
On the other side of the draw, Dave Chisnall breezed into round-three after registering successive 6-2 victories over Tony Newell and Scott Dale, before thrashing the veteran Ronnie Baxter 6-1 to reach the last 16. Chizzy faced the in-form Steve West in the fourth round, but the St Helens’ star prevailed 6-4 in a tight affair.
Chisnall stormed into the semi-finals with a convincing 6-2 victory over recent Pro Tour finalist James Wilson, to set up a last four clash with Daryl Gurney. The Northern Irishman was in sublime form to dispatch Raymond van Barneveld, Mensur Suljovic and Christian Kist, but Chisnall ended Gurney’s run with a hard-fought 6-4 win to reach the final.
Elsewhere, There were a host of big-names who suffered early exits in the final Players Championship event of the year. World champion Gary Anderson was edged out in a deciding-leg by Jeffrey de Graaf, whilst James Wade and Jelle Klaasen were beaten by Dick van Dijk and Matthew Edgar respectively.
Simon Whitlock, who had clinched successive Players Championship titles prior to today’s action, suffered a shock first-round loss at the hands of Brendan Dolan. Fifteenth seed Michael Smith was whitewashed by Ken MacNeil, whilst Ian White and Kim Huybrechts were beaten by Mark Frost and Ross Smith respectively.
It was a better day for five-time world champion Raymond van Barneveld, who secured his qualification for the Players Championship Finals. Van Barneveld romped past Terry Jenkins 6-2 in round-one, hitting seven maximums and three 177’s. He then edged out Joe Murnan in a last-leg shootout, before losing 6-2 to Daryl Gurney in round-three.
However, former world finalist Andy Hamilton agonisingly missed out on qualification for Minehead. ‘The Hammer’ was beaten 6-3 in the opening round by Christian Kist and he missed out via countback, after Brendan Dolan claimed the surprise scalp of Simon Whitlock in the last 128.
Photo Credit: Lawrence Lustig/PDC
Players Championship 20
Saturday October 22, Barnsley Metrodome
First Round
Mensur Suljovic (1) 6-2 Haruki Muramatsu
Yordi Meeuwisse 6-3 Kevin Painter
Robert Thornton (32) 6-5 Jason Wilson
Mike De Decker 6-4 Paul Milford
Raymond van Barneveld 6-2 Terry Jenkins (16)
Joe Murnan 6-1 Matthew Dennant
Daryl Gurney (17) 6-2 Darren Johnson
Ryan Meikle 6-4 Vincent Kamphuis
Ross Smith 6-2 Kim Huybrechts (8)
Christian Kist 6-3 Andy Hamilton
Mark Webster (25) 6-4 Ron Meulenkamp
Paul Nicholson 6-4 Mickey Mansell
Alan Norris (9) 6-5 Peter Hudson
Andy Parsons 6-1 Dean Winstanley
Jan Dekker 6-5 Chris Dobey (24)
Keegan Brown 6-3 Ronny Huybrechts
Mark Frost 6-3 Ian White (5)
Max Hopp 6-3 Alan Tabern
Steve Hine 6-1 Jamie Caven (28)
Andy Jenkins 6-0 Shaun Griffiths
Stephen Bunting (12) 6-3 Jamie Robinson
Kevin Dowling 6-4 Rowby-John Rodriguez
James Wilson (21) 6-3 Brett Claydon
Johnny Haines 6-5 Ricky Evans
Dave Chisnall (4) 6-2 Tony Newell
Scott Dale 6-2 Mick McGowan
Vincent van der Voort (29) 6-5 John Bowles
Ronnie Baxter 6-3 Ray Campbell
Jeffrey de Graaf 6-5 Gary Anderson (13)
John Henderson 6-2 Andy Smith
Steve West (20) 6-5 Nathan Aspinall
Dave Ladley 6-0 Andy Boulton
Peter Wright (2) 6-3 Brian Woods
Simon Preston 6-3 Steve McNally
Prakash Jiwa 6-3 Jermaine Wattimena (31)
Devon Petersen 6-2 Stuart Kellett
Ken MacNeil 6-0 Michael Smith(15)
Matt Clark 6-3 William O’Connor
Adrian Lewis (18) 6-0 Jason Marriott
Jonny Clayton 6-4 Berry van Peer
Brendan Dolan 6-5 Simon Whitlock (7)
Mark Walsh 6-4 Jim Walker
Justin Pipe (26) 6-3 Wes Newton
Richie Corner 6-4 Simon Stevenson
Dennis Smith 6-5 Gerwyn Price (10)
Colin Littlecott 6-5 James Richardson
Mervyn King (23) 6-1 Nigel Daniels
John Part 6-1 David Pallett
Dick van Dijk 6-4 James Wade (6)
Ricky Williams 6-1 Terry Temple
Robbie Green (27) 6-3 Harry Robinson
Darren Webster 6-2 Mike Zuydwijk
Matthew Edgar 6-4 Jelle Klaasen (11)
Wayne Jones 6-4 Darron Brown
Cristo Reyes (22) 6-5 Jeffrey de Zwaan
Trevor Burkhill 6-3 Jonathan Worsley
Benito van de Pas (3) 6-1 Dimitri Van den Bergh
Ted Evetts 6-5 Kirk Shepherd
Robert Owen 6-5 Josh Payne (30)
Dirk van Duijvenbode 6-3 Steve Brown
Joe Cullen (14) 6-0 Ryan Palmer
Andrew Gilding 6-3 Nigel Heydon
Nathan Derry 6-2 Steve Beaton (19)
Jamie Lewis 6-3 Jason Lovett
Second Round
Mensur Suljovic 6-1 Yordi Meeuwisse
Robert Thornton 6-2 Mike De Decker
Raymond van Barneveld 6-5 Joe Murnan
Daryl Gurney 6-4 Ryan Meikle
Christian Kist 6-2 Ross Smith
Paul Nicholson 6-4 Mark Webster
Alan Norris 6-1 Andy Parsons
Jan Dekker 6-1 Keegan Brown
Max Hopp 6-3 Mark Frost
Andy Jenkins 6-5 Steve Hine
Stephen Bunting 6-4 Kevin Dowling
James Wilson 6-5 Johnny Haines
Dave Chisnall 6-2 Scott Dale
Ronnie Baxter 6-3 Vincent van der Voort
John Henderson 6-4 Jeffrey de Graaf
Steve West 6-1 Dave Ladley
Peter Wright 6-5 Simon Preston
Prakash Jiwa 6-2 Devon Petersen
Matt Clark 6-4 Ken MacNeil
Adrian Lewis 6-3 Jonny Clayton
Mark Walsh 6-4 Brendan Dolan
Justin Pipe 6-3 Richie Corner
Dennis Smith 6-3 Colin Littlecott
John Part 6-3 Mervyn King
Ricky Williams 6-1 Dick van Dijk
Robbie Green 6-5 Darren Webster
Matthew Edgar 6-5 Wayne Jones
Cristo Reyes 6-4 Trevor Burkhill
Benito van de Pas 6-3 Ted Evetts
Robert Owen 6-1 Dirk van Duijvenobde
Andrew Gilding 6-4 Joe Cullen
Jamie Lewis 6-4 Nathan Derry
Third Round
Mensur Suljovic 6-1 Robert Thornton
Daryl Gurney 6-2 Raymond van Barneveld
Christian Kist 6-4 Paul Nicholson
Jan Dekker 6-4 Alan Norris
Andy Jenkins 6-3 Max Hopp
James Wilson 6-5 Stephen Bunting
Dave Chisnall 6-1 Ronnie Baxter
Steve West 6-3 John Henderson
Peter Wright 6-5 Prakash Jiwa
Adrian Lewis 6-0 Matt Clark
Justin Pipe 6-1 Mark Walsh
Dennis Smith 6-4 John Part
Robbie Green 6-2 Ricky Williams
Matthew Edgar 6-2 Cristo Reyes
Benito van de Pas 6-3 Robert Owen
Jamie Lewis 6-5 Andrew Gilding
Fourth Round
Daryl Gurney 6-2 Mensur Suljovic
Christian Kist 6-5 Jan Dekker
James Wilson 6-4 Andy Jenkins
Dave Chisnall 6-4 Steve West
Peter Wright 6-5 Adrian Lewis
Justin Pipe 6-1 Dennis Smith
Matthew Edgar 6-4 Robbie Green
Benito van de Pas 6-3 Jamie Lewis
Quarter-Finals
Daryl Gurney 6-3 Christian Kist
Dave Chisnall 6-2 James Wilson
Justin Pipe 6-5 Peter Wright
Benito van de Pas 6-2 Matthew Edgar
Semi-Finals
Dave Chisnall 6-4 Daryl Gurney
Benito van de Pas 6-5 Justin Pipe
Final
Benito van de Pas 6-1 Dave Chisnall
Leave a Reply