Peter Wright secured his third PDC ranking title inside ten days after defeating eight-time major winner James Wade to win the sixth and final UK Open qualifying event at the Robin Park Tennis Centre in Wigan on Sunday afternoon; a day which saw former Lakeside world champion Christian Kist hit the fifth nine-darter of the weekend.
Wright won the opening qualifier last week and concluded his campaign in similar fashion, to scoop the £10,000 winner’s cheque and ensure that he will be top seed for next month’s Coral UK Open Finals in Minehead.
Wade clinched the opening leg of the final on tops, but Wright responded by finding D10 to level. Snakebite then landed a timely maximum and converted D4 to lead, before capitalising on missed doubles from ‘The Machine’ to record his third successive leg via D3.
The eight-time major winner hit tops for the second time in the contest to stop the rot, but Wright restored his two-leg cushion after sinking D10. Wade converted a pivotal 76 kill to reduce the arrears to 4-3, but the Scot was too strong in the scoring department and won the final two legs without reply to prevail convincingly.
This victory rounds off an astonishingly successful qualification campaign for the world number three, who has amassed a staggering £35,000 in prize money across the six events. Wright eased past Irish ace Steve Lennon in his opening tie, before defeating a resurgent Kevin Painter 6-3 to reach round-four.
The Scot stormed into the last 16 after thrashing Dirk van Duijvenbode 6-1, to set up a tie with his compatriot John Henderson. ‘Big John’ defeated Simon Whitlock in the preceding round, and this confirmed Wright’s spot at the summit of the UK Open Order of Merit after ‘The Wizard’s two victories within the last week.
Wright edged out Henderson 6-4, before easing past the legendary Steve Beaton, who was appearing in his third quarter-final inside nine days. This set up a tantalising last four clash with Adrian Lewis, and it didn’t disappoint. Wright came from behind to triumph in a dramatic last-leg decider, after firing in eight maximums inside eleven legs.
Nevertheless, it was also an excellent day for James Wade, who reached his first floor final since April 2016. ‘The Machine’ kicked off proceedings with a whitewash victory over Nigel Daniels, before facing Rob Cross in round-two.
The former Challenge Tour winner defeated Wade en route to reaching the semi-finals just 24 hours earlier, but the left-hander sealed his revenge, prevailing by a 6-3 scoreline. Wade was throwing superbly and continued his fine form by dumping out world number two Gary Anderson in a pulsating last-leg shootout to reach round-five.
The Aldershot ace then whitewashed Mick McGowan, before easing past his fellow Premier League star Kim Huybrechts 6-3 to seal his spot in the last four. Wade faced Alan Norris, who had defeated Stephen Bunting, Ian White and Kyle Anderson earlier in the day, but ‘Chuck’ ran out of steam in the semis, as Wade coasted to an emphatic 6-1 win.
In a weekend which has seen an incredible five nine-darters hit, former Lakeside world champion Christian Kist became the latest to add his name to that list, after striking the perfect leg in his quarter-final defeat to Adrian Lewis.
The Dutchman joins his compatriot Michael van Gerwen, who hit two nine-darters in the same game, Ronny Huybrechts and Darren Webster on the nine-dart roll of honour from this weekend’s action.
There were a total of six perfect legs hit in qualification for the UK Open, with Ted Evetts achieving the feat in Qualifier Three. Evetts came agonisingly close to hitting the second perfect leg of his qualification campaign today, but wired D12 in his second-round defeat to Vincent van der Voort.
It was a big day for seven-time PDC ranking winner Jamie Caven, who produced a series of vintage displays to secure his UK Open spot by the skin of his teeth. ‘Jabba’ had suffered five consecutive opening-round exits prior to today and had yet to amass any prize money towards the Order of Merit.
However, Caven halted his fourteen-match losing streak with a whitewash triumph against German ace Reine Eidams, the man who gave Michael van Gerwen an almighty scare at the 2016 World Championship. Caven then secured another whitewash win over Jeffrey de Graaf, before succumbing in a last-leg decider to his close friend Ian White.
Nevertheless, a number of big names will miss out on the UK Open Finals in Minehead. Phil Taylor and Mensur Suljovic will both be absent after failing to enter any qualifiers, whilst former UK Open finalists Andy Hamilton and Wes Newton failed to make the cut.
Three-time world champion John Part is another big-name absentee, whilst Robbie Green, Max Hopp, Rowby-John Rodriguez, Paul Nicholson, Steve West, Dimitri van den Bergh, Joe Murnan and Josh Payne also failed to qualify.
The Coral UK Open TV Finals will take place between March 3-5 at Butlins Minehead, with 128 players (96 from the Order of Merit and 32 Rileys Amateur Qualifiers) vying for the £350,000 prize fund and the highly sought-after title, in the multi-board tournament that has affectionately been dubbed ‘The FA Cup of Darts’.
Photo Credit: Lawrence Lustig/PDC
Coral UK Open Qualifier Six
Sunday February 12
Preliminary Round
Dyson Parody 6-3 Martin Lukeman
Roxy-James Rodriguez 6-4 Mark Stephenson
First Round
Darren Webster Bye
Shaun Griffiths 6-4 Dimitri Van den Bergh
Dirk van Duijvenbode 6-5 Nathan Derry
Ray Campbell 6-5 John Brown
Peter Wright Bye
Steve Lennon 6-5 Mark Dudbridge
Ron Meulenkamp 6-4 Scott Rollings
Kevin Painter 6-4 Ian Lever
Simon Whitlock Bye
Michael Rasztovits 6-2 Sven Groen
Scott Taylor 6-2 Sam Head
Curtis Hammond 6-5 Madars Razma
John Henderson Bye
Matthew Dennant 6-2 Michael Huntley
Dennis Smith 6-2 Eddie Dootson
Dyson Parody 6-5 Sean Ryan
Robert Thornton Bye
John Part 6-3 Andreas Hajimina
Prakash Jiwa 6-3 Steve West
Darren Johnson 6-2 Colin Roelofs
Benito van de Pas Bye
Jermaine Wattimena 6-2 Adrian Gray
Joe Murnan 6-5 Gary Stone
Alan Tabern 6-0 Nick Jennings
Vincent van der Voort Bye
Ted Evetts 6-2 Alan Tabern Jnr
Barrie Bates 6-4 Allan Candlish
Jimmy Hendriks 6-3 Andy Jenkins
Steve Beaton Bye
Kirk Shepherd 6-1 James Hubbard
Martyn Turner 6-2 Arron Monk
Lee Bryant 6-3 James Young
Joe Cullen bye
Brian Woods 6-5 Darron Brown
Wes Newton 6-1 Rohit Rabadia
Mark Walsh 6-3 Zoran Lerchbacher
Michael Smith Bye
Jonathan Worsley 6-2 Dave Ladley
Kevin Dowling 6-5 Matt Clark
Berry van Peer 6-2 Derek Brand
Brendan Dolan Bye
James Richardson 6-1 Jim Walker
Ting Chi Royden Lam 6-3 Martin Schindler
Max Hopp 6-5 Aden Kirk
Mervyn King Bye
Simon Stevenson 6-5 Josh Payne
Paul Nicholson 6-4 Terry Roach
Richie Burnett 6-2 Ricky Sudale
Gerwyn Price Bye
William O’Connor 6-0 Charlie Jackson
Mark Frost 6-3 Richie Corner
Kai Fan Leung 6-0 Jon Jukes
Adrian Lewis Bye
Matt Padgett 6-4 Andy Hamilton
Robbie Green 6-4 Adam Hunt
Nick Fullwell 6-1 Andy Parsons
Dave Chisnall Bye
Antonio Alcinas 6-3 Robert Owen
Mark Hylton 6-4 Maik Langendorg
Vincent Kamphuis 6-2 Jay Foreman
Justin Pipe Bye
Christian Kist 6-0 Shane Reidy
Steve McNally 6-2 Callum Loose
Ryan Palmer 6-4 Paul Milford
Raymond van Barneveld Bye
Andy Boulton 6-3 Richard Baillie
Bradley Brooks 6-3 Callan Rydz
Bryan De Hoog 6-2 Steve Douglas
Daryl Gurney Bye
Richard North 6-4 Matthew Edgar
John Michael 6-3 Diogo Portela
Keegan Brown 6-1 Ronnie Baxter
Cristo Reyes Bye
Ryan Harrington 6-3 Luke Woodhouse
Jamie Bain 6-5 Martin Thomas
Eikichi Nakanishi 6-5 Roxy-James Rodriguez
Kyle Anderson Bye
Dean Stewart 6-4 Billy Holmes
Nathan Aspinall 6-4 Roger Scrivens
Stephen Burton 6-3 Jerry Hendriks
Stephen Bunting Bye
Kurt Parry 6-3 Mark Forman
Dawson Murschell 6-3 James Hadjar
Ryan Murray 6-4 Harry Ward
Alan Norris Bye
Mick Todd 6-0 Sheamus Hagan
Rob Hewson 6-3 Luke Humphries
Ross Twell 6-2 Simon Cassidy
Ian White Bye
Ricky Evans 6-5 Chris Dobey
James Wilson 6-4 Ben Ward
Mareno Michels 6-3 John Bowles
Jamie Caven Bye
Rene Eidams 6-5 Stuart Bousfield
Jeffrey de Graaf 6-0 Wilco Vermeulen
Jan Dekker 6-5 Jeffrey de Zwaan
Jamie Lewis Bye
Mark Westgarth 6-4 Mario Robbe
Dylan Duo 6-5 Coni Singh Nagi
Chris Quantock 6-4 Wayne Jones
Jelle Klaasen Bye
Willy van de Wiel 6-3 Barry Lynn
Yordi Meeuwisse 6-4 Ryan De Vreede
Yuki Yamada 6-3 Par Riihonen
Andrew Gilding Bye
Jonny Clayton 6-4 Peter Hudson
Terry Temple 6-3 Jeff Batham
Michael Barnard 6-2 Greg Ritchie
Kim Huybrechts Bye
Craig Gilchrist 6-5 Michael Burgoine
Paul Rowley 6-5 Ronny Huybrechts
Stuart Kellett 6-1 Ritchie Edhouse
James Wade Bye
Nigel Daniels 6-4 Scott Dale
Steve Brown 6-3 Kevin McDine
Rob Cross 6-2 Nigel Pinchen
Gary Anderson Bye
Jason Wilson 6-2 John Crossley
Devon Petersen 6-0 Jim Moston
David Pallett 6-1 Kelvin Hart
Terry Jenkins Bye
Tony Newell 6-2 Justin Smith
Mike De Decker 6-2 Jack Todd
Mick McGowan 6-0 Ricky Willams
Mark Webster Bye
Ryan Searle 6-2 Adam Smith-Neale
Ryan Meikle 6-0 Joe Davis
Joshua Richardson 6-5 Jim Brown
Second Round
Darren Webster 6-0 Shaun Griffiths
Dirk van Duijvenbode 6-2 Ray Campbell
Peter Wright 6-2 Steve Lennon
Kevin Painter 6-4 Ron Meulenkamp
Simon Whitlock 6-2 Michael Rasztovits
Scott Taylor 6-2 Curtis Hammond
John Henderson 6-1 Matthew Dennant
Dyson Parody 6-2 Dennis Smith
Robert Thornton 6-2 John Part
Prakash Jiwa 6-5 Darren Johnson
Benito van de Pas 6-4 Jermaine Wattimena
Alan Tabern 6-4 Joe Murnan
Vincent van der Voort 6-4 Ted Evetts
Barrie Bates 6-5 Jimmy Hendriks
Steve Beaton 6-4 Kirk Shepherd
Lee Bryant 6-4 Martyn Turner
Joe Cullen 6-5 Brian Woods
Wes Newton 6-5 Mark Walsh
Michael Smith 6-3 Jonathan Worsley
Berry van Peer 6-5 Kevin Dowling
Brendan Dolan 6-1 James Richardson
Max Hopp 6-5 Ting Chi Royden Lam
Mervyn King 6-3 Simon Stevenson
Paul Nicholson 6-3 Richie Burnett
Gerwyn Price 6-5 William O’Connor
Mark Frost 6-3 Kai Fan Leung
Adrian Lewis 6-2 Matt Padgett
Robbie Green 6-5 Nick Fullwell
Antonio Alcinas 6-4 Dave Chisnall
Vincent Kamphuis 6-4 Mark Hylton
Christian Kist 6-4 Justin Pipe
Ryan Palmer 6-4 Steve McNally
Raymond van Barneveld 6-3 Andy Boulton
Bryan De Hoog 6-1 Bradley Brooks
Richard North 6-4 Daryl Gurney
John Michael 6-4 Keegan Brown
Cristo Reyes 6-2 Ryan Harrington
Jamie Bain 6-1 Eikichi Nakanishi
Kyle Anderson 6-1 Dean Stewart
Nathan Aspinall 6-2 Stephen Burton
Stephen Bunting 6-4 Kurt Parry
Dawson Murschell 6-0 Ryan Murray
Alan Norris 6-3 Mick Todd
Ross Twell 6-5 Rob Hewson
Ian White 6-2 Ricky Evans
Mareno Michels 6-0 James WIlson
Jamie Caven 6-0 Rene Eidams
Jeffrey de Graaf 6-3 Jan Dekker
Jamie Lewis 6-4 Mark Westgarth
Chris Quantock 6-2 Dylan Duo
Willy van de Wiel 6-3 Jelle Klaasen
Yordi Meeuwisse 6-4 Yuki Yamada
Jonny Clayton 6-4 Andrew Gilding
Michael Barnard 6-2 Terry Temple
Kim Huybrechts 6-1 Craig Gilchrist
Stuart Kellett 6-4 Paul Rowley
James Wade 6-0 Nigel Daniels
Rob Cross 6-4 Steve Brown
Gary Anderson 6-2 Jason Wilson
David Pallett 6-5 Devon Peterson
Tony Newell 6-2 Terry Jenkins
Mick McGowan 6-5 Mike De Decker
Ryan Searle 6-2 Mark Webster
Ryan Meikle 6-3 Joshua Richardson
Third Round
Dirk van Duijvenbode 6-2 Darren Webster
Peter Wright 6-3 Kevin Painter
Simon Whitlock 6-3 Scott Taylor
John Henderson 6-1 Dyson Parody
Robert Thornton 6-4 Prakash Jiwa
Benito van de Pas 6-4 Alan Tabern
Vincent van der Voort 6-1 Barrie Bates
Steve Beaton 6-5 Lee Bryant
Joe Cullen 6-4 Wes Newton
Michael Smith 6-4 Berry van Peer
Brendan Dolan 6-4 Max Hopp
Mervyn King 6-4 Paul Nicholson
Gerwyn Price 6-1 Mark Frost
Adrian Lewis 6-2 Robbie Green
Antonio Alcinas 6-5 Vincent Kamphuis
Christian Kist 6-3 Ryan Palmer
Raymond van Barneveld 6-1 Bryan De Hoog
Richard North 6-5 John Michael
Cristo Reyes 6-4 Jamie Bain
Kyle Anderson 6-3 Nathan Aspinall
Stephen Bunting 6-3 Dawson Muschell
Alan Norris 6-3 Ross Twell
Ian White 6-5 Mareno Michels
Jamie Caven 6-0 Jeffrey de Graaf
Chris Quantock 6-5 Jamie Lewis
Yordi Meeuwisse 6-5 Willy van de Wiel
Jonny Clayton 6-4 Michael Barndard
Kim Huybrechts 6-1 Stuart Kellett
James Wade 6-3 Rob Cross
Gary Anderson 6-3 David Pallett
Mick McGowan 6-1 Tony Newell
Ryan Meikle 6-2 Ryan Searle
Fourth Round
Peter Wright 6-1 Dirk van Duijvenbode
John Henderson 6-4 Simon Whitlock
Benito van de Pas 6-2 Robert Thornton
Steve Beaton 6-1 Vincent van der Voort
Joe Cullen 6-3 Michael Smith
Brendan Dolan 6-0 Mervyn King
Adrian Lewis 6-3 Gerwyn Price
Christian Kist 6-4 Antonio Alcinas
Raymond van Barneveld 6-3 Richard North
Kyle Anderson 6-3 Cristo Reyes
Alan Norris 6-3 Stephen Bunting
Ian White 6-5 Jamie Caven
Chris Quantock 6-2 Yordi Meeuwisse
Kim Huybrechts 6-2 Jonny Clayton
James Wade 6-5 Gary Anderson
Mick McGowan 6-4 Ryan Meikle
Fifth Round
Peter Wright 6-4 John Henderson
Steve Beaton 6-1 Benito van de Pas
Brendan Dolan 6-3 Joe Cullen
Adrian Lewis 6-1 Christian Kist
Kyle Anderson 6-3 Raymond van Barneveld
Alan Norris 6-4 Ian White
Kim Huybrechts 6-5 Chris Quantock
James Wade 6-0 Mick McGowan
Quarter-Finals
Peter Wright 6-2 Steve Beaton
Adrian Lewis 6-5 Brendan Dolan
Alan Norris 6-5 Kyle Anderson
James Wade 6-3 Kim Huybrechts
Semi-Finals
Peter Wright 6-5 Adrian Lewis
James Wade 6-1 Alan Norris
Final
Peter Wright 6-3 James Wade
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