PIPE EDGES ANDERSON FOR PLAYERS CHAMPIONSHIP DOUBLE
JUSTIN PIPE won his second successive Players Championship by edging out Gary Anderson in the John McEvoy Gold Dart Classic final in Killarney.
The 39-year-old from Taunton had won his first professional title at a Players Championship in Dublin a fortnight ago, defeating Phil Taylor in the final.
He added a second £6,000 first prize to his collection with a battling win over another of the world’s top four players, Gary Anderson, to take the John McEvoy Gold Dart Classic Players Championship title from the Scot.
Having overcome local aces Jason Byrne and Kieran Keho and South Africa’s Devon Petersen in the early stages, he was pushed all the way to a deciding leg by John Henderson and Paul Nicholson and had defeated Scott Rand 6-3 in the quarter-finals.
In the final, Pipe’s regular practice partner Anderson edged into early 2-1 and 4-2 leads, and a 120 finish from the Scot put him a leg away from victory at 5-3.
However, Pipe hit back to level and then took the decider by hitting double top for a 58 finish with his third dart. The defeat denied Anderson a tenth tournament victory of 2011, but the world number four picked up a further £3,000 prize money at the venue where he had emerged victorious a year ago.
Anderson began his day with a whitewash of John Bracken, and defeated Matt Padgett in round two before picking up a narrow 6-5 victory against fellow Scot Robert Thornton.
He then defeated Steve Beaton, Andy Hamilton and Mark Hylton to reach the final, only to fall a leg short of glory.
Hylton followed up last week’s run to the quarter-finals of the PartyPoker.com World Grand Prix by reaching the semi-finals alongside Nicholson.
Hamilton reached the quarter-finals of a Players Championship for the first time in five months, while Wayne Jones was appearing in the last eight for the first time since June.
Coventry’s Scott Rand reached the last eight for the sixth time on the PDC ProTour this year as he continues his emergence as a contender at the top level, with Simon Whitlock also amongst the quarter-finalists following his Championship League Darts Group Six success on Thursday.
Ian White, Matthew Edgar and Under-21 World Champion Arron Monk took a further step towards qualifying for the Ladbrokes World Darts Championship via the Players Championship Order of Merit by reaching the last 16.
The John McEvoy Gold Dart Classic Players Championship formed part of the Killarney Darts Festival, which was held at the Killarney Events Centre.
Holland’s Michael van Gerwen had won Saturday’s PDC Unicorn Youth Tour event, while Mark Walsh won the non-ranked Ladbrokes Irish Masters.
John McEvoy Gold Dart Classic Players Championship
(PC23, Killarney, Sunday October 16)
Preliminary Round
Mike Byrne 6-5 Noel Redmond
Tom O’Reilly 6-1 Tom Wiley
Pat Molyneux 6-3 Campbell Jackson
Luke Nolan 6-1 Damien Harrington
Laurence Collins 6-4 PJ Byrne
Dermot Kelliher 6-5 Ross O’Brien
Robert Kelly 6-4 Gerry O’Hara
Kevin McDonnell 6-2 David Murphy (Limerick)
Sean Marshall 6-0 Aiden Campbell
John-Paul Dowdall 6-3 Ali Powell
Arthur Power 6-5 Robert Bracken
Ritchie Walsh 6-2 Karl Smith
Jason Kavanagh 6-5 William Bowes
Mark Hurley 6-0 Daniel O’Connor
Michael Meaney 6-1 Kieran O’Neill
Stephen Holland 6-3 Paul Wade
Ollie Thompson 6-1 Darren Wade
Stephen Byrne 6-1 Michael Kehoe
David Murphy (Wexford) 6-1 Mark Towler
Kieran Kehoe 6-3 Myles O’Neill
Connie Finnan 6-1 Des Byrne
Dylan Rutledge 6-1 Jason Millner
John Herlihy 6-0 Noel McCarthy
Martin Devers 6-1 James Doherty
Joe Byrne 6-0 David Stark
Peter Quinn 6-2 Andrew Davenport
Mark Willis 6-2 Stephen Butler
Stephen Lennon 6-0 Donagh McCarthy
Stefanie Luck 6-1 Jimmy Newport
Jamie Kelliher 6-1 Jimmy Leahy
Noel Kelly 6-5 Dennis Corr
First Round
Gary Anderson (1) 6-0 Johnny Bracken
Matt Padgett 6-1 Shane O’Connor
Robert Thornton (32) 6-2 Steve Maish
Tom O’Reilly 6-1 Mike Byrne
Steve Beaton (16) 6-1 Noel Canning
Reece Robinson 6-3 William O’Connor
Colin Osborne (17) 6-4 Mick Egan
Pat Molyneux 6-4 Luke Nolan
Mark Webster (8) 6-0 Phil Standing
Andy Jenkins 6-4 Adam Hunt
Michael van Gerwen (25) 6-0 Andy Reilly
Mark Stephenson 6-2 Laurence Collins
Vincent van der Voort (9) 6-1 Tim Ryan
Terry Temple 6-3 Barrie Bates
Andy Hamilton (24) 6-0 Declan O’Sullivan
Robert Kelly 6-5 Dermot Kelliher
Mark Walsh (5) 6-0 Benny Grace
Shaun Griffiths 6-1 Darren Johnson
Dyson Parody 6-5 Tony Eccles (28)
Kevin McDonnell 6-1 Sean Marshall
Kevin Painter (12) 6-0 Paul Davison
Brian Woods 6-1 Dave Smith
Wayne Jones (21) Bye (Terry McNulty timed out)
John-Paul Dowdall 6-2 Arthur Power
Ronnie Baxter (4) 6-5 Michael O’Sullivan
Michael Smith 6-3 Adam Smith-Neale
Ian White 6-1 Brendan Dolan (29)
Jason Kavanagh 6-2 Ritchie Walsh
Peter Wright (13) 6-4 Gerry Rice
Chris Aubrey 6-2 David Coyne
Mark Hylton (20) 6-1 Steve McDonnell
Mark Hurley 6-4 Michael Meaney
Darren Clifford 6-5 Wes Newton (2)
Aodhagan O’Neill 6-1 Mick McGowan
Matthew Edgar 6-5 Steve Hine (31)
Stephen Holland 6-1 Ollie Thompson
Denis Ovens (15) 6-0 Dwayne McEvoy
Kirk Shepherd 6-5 Ian Jopling
Scott Rand (18) 6-0 Barney Reddy
Stephen Byrne 6-0 David Murphy (Wexford)
Justin Pipe (7) 6-0 Jason Byrne
Devon Petersen 6-1 Mick Todd
Nigel Heydon (26) 6-3 Ian McFarlane
Kieran Kehoe 6-3 Connie Finnan
Jamie Caven (10) 6-0 John Nyhan
Joe Cullen 6-1 John O’Shea
John Henderson (23) 6-0 Damien O’Driscoll
John Herlihy 6-2 Dylan Rutledge
Simon Whitlock (6) 6-1 John O’Hara
Ryan Harrington 6-2 Nick Fullwell
James Richardson 6-2 Jelle Klaasen (27)
Joe Byrne 6-3 Martin Devers
Richie Burnett (11) 6-2 Martin Fleming
Arron Monk 6-0 Adrian Gray
Dennis Smith (22) 6-1 John Digan
Peter Quinn 6-1 Mark Willis
Paul Nicholson (3) 6-0 Paul Stapleton
Peter Manley 6-5 Kevin Dowling
Michael Mansell 6-1 Kevin McDine (30)
Stefanie Luck 6-5 Stephen Lennon
Colin Lloyd (14) 6-0 Liam Condron
Paddy Meaney 6-5 Mareno Michels
Steve Brown (19) 6-0 Griffith Smith
Jamie Kelliher 6-2 Noel Kelly
Second Round
Gary Anderson 6-2 Matt Padgett
Robert Thornton 6-3 Tom O’Reilly
Steve Beaton 6-4 Reece Robinson
Pat Molyneux 6-2 Colin Osborne
Mark Webster 6-0 Andy Jenkins
Michael van Gerwen 6-0 Mark Stephenson
Vincent van der Voort 6-3 Terry Temple
Andy Hamilton 6-2 Robert Kelly
Mark Walsh 6-3 Shaun Griffiths
Dyson Parody 6-3 Kevin McDonnell
Kevin Painter 6-2 Brian Woods
Wayne Jones 6-1 John-Paul Dowdall
Michael Smith 6-5 Ronnie Baxter
Ian White 6-1 Jason Kavanagh
Chris Aubrey 6-4 Peter Wright
Mark Hylton 6-1 Mark Hurley
Darren Clifford 6-1 Aodhagan O’Neill
Matthew Edgar 6-2 Stephen Holland
Denis Ovens 6-2 Kirk Shepherd
Scott Rand 6-2 Stephen Byrne
Justin Pipe 6-1 Devon Petersen
Kieran Kehoe 6-5 Nigel Heydon
Joe Cullen 6-5 Jamie Caven
John Henderson 6-0 John Herlihy
Simon Whitlock 6-1 Ryan Harrington
James Richardson 6-3 Joe Byrne
Arron Monk 6-4 Richie Burnett
Peter Quinn 6-3 Dennis Smith
Paul Nicholson 6-3 Peter Manley
Michael Mansell 6-1 Stefanie Luck
Colin Lloyd 6-5 Paddy Meaney
Jamie Kelliher 6-4 Steve Brown
Losers £200
Third Round
Gary Anderson 6-5 Robert Thornton
Steve Beaton 6-0 Pat Molyneux
Mark Webster 6-5 Michael van Gerwen
Andy Hamilton 6-2 Vincent van der Voort
Mark Walsh 6-3 Dyson Parody
Wayne Jones 6-4 Kevin Painter
Ian White 6-1 Michael Smith
Mark Hylton 6-1 Chris Aubrey
Matthew Edgar 6-3 Darren Clifford
Scott Rand 6-5 Denis Ovens
Justin Pipe 6-3 Kieran Kehoe
John Henderson 6-2 Joe Cullen
Simon Whitlock 6-3 James Richardson
Arron Monk 6-4 Peter Quinn
Paul Nicholson 6-3 Michael Mansell
Colin Lloyd 6-3 Jamie Kelliher
Losers £400
Fourth Round
Gary Anderson 6-2 Steve Beaton
Andy Hamilton 6-2 Mark Webster
Wayne Jones 6-5 Mark Walsh
Mark Hylton 6-2 Ian White
Scott Rand 6-2 Matthew Edgar
Justin Pipe 6-5 John Henderson
Simon Whitlock 6-2 Arron Monk
Paul Nicholson 6-5 Colin Lloyd
Losers £600
Quarter-Finals
Gary Anderson 6-1 Andy Hamilton
Mark Hylton 6-3 Wayne Jones
Justin Pipe 6-3 Scott Rand
Paul Nicholson 6-5 Simon Whitlock
Losers £1,000
Semi-Finals
Gary Anderson 6-3 Mark Hylton
Justin Pipe 6-5 Paul Nicholson
Losers £2,000
Final
Justin Pipe 6-5 Gary Anderson
Winner £6,000 – Runner-Up £3,000