WORLD No 3 JAMES WADE WINS HIS FIRST PLAYERS CHAMPIONSHIP EVENT FOR OVER A YEAR and denies Justin Pipe his third consequtive win on the tour with a 6-3 win in the Gladbeck Players Championships in Germany today.
The world number three claimed his first ranking win since the Speedy Hire UK Open in June, and his first Players Championship title since September 2010, with the triumph at Gladbeck’s Van Der Valk Hotel.
Wade enjoyed a fine day in Germany in picking up the £6,000 first prize, defeating Yorkshire pair Reece Robinson and Dave Smith, world number six Wes Newton, Dave Chisnall and John Henderson to reach the semis.
There, he edged past Mervyn King 6-5 in a high-quality encounter, hitting a 180 to set up double top for a 13-dart finish in the deciding leg after King had hit back from 4-1 down to level.
After sharing the opening four legs of the final with in-form Pipe, Wade took out 104 to win the fifth leg, broke in 14 darts and then hit a 180 and a 96 finish to move 5-2 up.
Pipe replied with a 96 finish to win his third leg, but his hopes of winning a third successive Players Championship were ended in the next leg when he missed two darts to stay in the game and Wade finished double eight for victory.
Pipe had recently won his first Players Championships in back-to-back events in Dublin and Killarney, and impressed once more with his run to the final, where he picked up £3,000.
He failed to lose more than two legs in a game during his run to the final, whitewashing Gerhard Kremer and Steve Hine before also defeating Michael Rosenauer, Roland Scholten, Simon Whitlock and Jyhan Artut with 6-2 scorelines.
Artut won through to his first-ever Players Championship semi-final – and became the third German to reach a ProTour semi alongside Michael Rosenauer and Andree Welge – with his run as he claimed £2,000 prize money.
He claimed notable wins over Co Stompe, Mark Webster, Steve Brown and Mark Hylton before losing out to Pipe in the last four.
King followed up his success in reaching the semi-finals of Championship League Darts on Thursday by winning through to the last four in his second Players Championship this month.
John Henderson, Colin Lloyd, Mark Hylton and Simon Whitlock all reached the quarter-finals, while Roland Scholten improved his chances of qualifying for the Ladbrokes World Darts Championship by reaching the last 16.
Sunday sees a second Players Championship held at Gladbeck’s Van Der Valk Hotel.
German Darts Classic Players Championship
(PC24, Saturday October 22, Gladbeck)
Preliminary Round
Wilhelm Schwingenschlogel 6-1 Ralf Schubert
Milos Bedy 6-4 Maximillian Thamm
Maik Langendorf 6-3 Meszaros Zsolt
Hendrik Dame 6-1 Wolfgang Hoffmann
Alexander Smyk 6-2 Joost Derksen
Dirk van Duijvenbode 6-1 Frank Kouze
Ufuk Uzuner 6-2 Marco Sieg
Karsten Koch 6-1 Heiko Menkes
Johnny Okken 6-0 Simon Priest
Ralf Sagenschneider 6-3 Lucio Rave
Jorg Mitterlehner 6-5 Marko Jovanovic
Jerry Hendriks 6-4 Oliver Gotze
Martino Tagliapietra 6-1 Florian Menzel
Detlef Barchanovitz 6-2 Mattheus Ziolkowski
Olaf Tupuschis 6-2 Frank Lommel
Steffen Siepmann 6-2 Michael Kiebel
Gino Vos 6-0 Jorg Aufmhoff
Stefen Mehl 6-0 Raphael Schoning
Marvin Esser 6-3 Michael Hurtz
Christian Kallinger 6-2 Daniel Bauerlein
First Round
Wes Newton (1) 6-0 Klaus Roger Kraske
Devon Petersen 6-4 Brian Woods
James Wade (32) 6-1 Reece Robinson
Dave Smith 6-2 Wilhelm Schwingenschlogel
Dave Chisnall (16) 6-0 Ralf Wagener
Shaun Griffiths 6-1 Nigel Birch
Terry Jenkins (17) 6-3 Reinhard Timmermann
Maik Langendorf 6-0 Milos Bedy
Jamie Caven (8) 6-5 Eduardo Sales Lopes
Antonio Alcinas 6-5 Dylan Duo
John Henderson (25) 6-5 Kevin McDine
William O’Connor 6-2 Hendrik Dame
Kevin Painter (9) 6-1 Mick Hasse
Mark Frost 6-0 Barrie Bates
Andy Hamilton (24) 6-1 James Richardson
Arron Monk 6-1 Alexander Smyk
Ronnie Baxter (5) 6-1 Pieter Romkes
Kim Huybrechts 6-1 Andree Welge
Michael Smith 6-5 Nigel Heydon (28)
Dirk van Duijvenbode 6-2 Adam Smith-Neale
Mervyn King (12) 6-1 Kevin Munch
Steve Evans 6-3 Rocco Maes
Colin Osborne (21) 6-0 Frank Bauske
Joe Cullen 6-3 Ufuk Uzuner
Mark Walsh (4) 6-0 Frank Liebeton
Matthew Edgar 6-4 John Michael
Adrian Gray 6-4 Dennis Smith (29)
Darren Whittingham 6-5 Karsten Koch
Colin Lloyd (13) 6-3 Kurt van de Rijk
Marko Kantele 6-3 Tony Eccles
Alan Tabern (20) 6-0 Markus Hoffmann
Johnny Okken 6-3 Ralf Sagenschneider
Paul Nicholson (2) 6-2 Michael Sievert
Jann Hoffmann 6-2 Andy Jenkins
Bernd Roith 6-4 Jelle Klaasen (31)
Veijo Viinikka 6-3 Jorg Mitterlehner
Wichard Knoops 6-5 Steve Beaton (15)
Mensur Suljovic 6-5 Mareno Michels
Mark Hylton (18) 6-1 Stefanie Luck
Jerry Hendriks 6-1 Martino Tagliapietra
Mark Webster (7) 6-4 Michael Rasztovits
Mick Todd 6-2 Dyson Parody
Co Stompe (26) 6-2 Peter Martin
Jyhan Artut 6-3 Detlef Barchanovitz
Andy Smith (10) 6-1 Karsten Kornath
Nick Fullwell 6-3 Matt Padgett
Steve Brown (23) 6-1 Nandor Bezzeg
Olaf Tupuschis 6-1 Jon Archer
Simon Whitlock (6) 6-0 Jorg Blomenkamp
Terry Temple 6-4 Kirk Shepherd
Michael van Gerwen (27) 6-4 Mark Dudbridge
Ken MacNeil 6-1 Steffen Siepmann
Peter Wright (11) 6-0 Dirk Schenk
Ian Jopling 6-4 Magnus Caris
Wayne Jones (22) 6-4 Steve Maish
Darren Johnson 6-4 Gino Vos
Justin Pipe (3) 6-0 Gerhard Kremer
Steve Hine 6-2 Per Laursen
Ian White 6-5 Steve Farmer (30)
Michael Rosenauer 6-0 Stefen Mehl
Denis Ovens (14) 6-1 Alexander Wagener
Roland Scholten 6-3 Chris Aubrey
Scott Rand (19) 6-0 Peter Pesta
Christian Kallinger 6-2 Marvin Esser
Second Round
Wes Newton 6-3 Devon Petersen
James Wade 6-3 Dave Smith
Dave Chisnall 6-2 Shaun Griffiths
Terry Jenkins 6-3 Maik Langendorf
Antonio Alcinas 6-3 Jamie Caven
John Henderson 6-3 William O’Connor
Kevin Painter 6-1 Mark Frost
Andy Hamilton 6-2 Arron Monk
Kim Huybrechts 6-5 Ronnie Baxter
Michael Smith 6-4 Dirk van Duijvenbode
Mervyn King 6-5 Steve Evans
Colin Osborne 6-2 Joe Cullen
Mark Walsh 6-5 Matthew Edgar
Adrian Gray 6-4 Darren Whittingham
Colin Lloyd 6-1 Marko Kantele
Alan Tabern 6-3 Johnny Okken
Paul Nicholson 6-3 Jann Hoffmann
Bernd Roith 6-2 Veijo Viinikka
Mensur Suljovic 6-0 Wichard Knoops
Mark Hylton 6-5 Jerry Hendriks
Mark Webster 6-2 Mick Todd
Jyhan Artut 6-3 Co Stompe
Nick Fullwell 6-4 Andy Smith
Steve Brown 6-2 Olaf Tupuschis
Simon Whitlock 6-3 Terry Temple
Ken MacNeil 6-4 Michael van Gerwen
Peter Wright 6-1 Ian Jopling
Wayne Jones 6-4 Darren Johnson
Justin Pipe 6-0 Steve Hine
Michael Rosenauer 6-3 Ian White
Roland Scholten 6-2 Denis Ovens
Scott Rand 6-3 Christian Kallinger
Losers £200
Third Round
James Wade 6-5 Wes Newton
Dave Chisnall 6-1 Terry Jenkins
John Henderson 6-3 Antonio Alcinas
Kevin Painter 6-5 Andy Hamilton
Michael Smith 6-3 Kim Huybrechts
Mervyn King 6-5 Colin Osborne
Mark Walsh 6-2 Adrian Gray
Colin Lloyd 6-2 Alan Tabern
Paul Nicholson 6-3 Bernd Roith
Mark Hylton 6-1 Mensur Suljovic
Jyhan Artut 6-4 Mark Webster
Steve Brown 6-1 Nick Fullwell
Simon Whitlock 6-3 Ken MacNeil
Wayne Jones 6-1 Peter Wright
Justin Pipe 6-2 Michael Rosenauer
Roland Scholten 6-1 Scott Rand
Losers £400
Fourth Round
James Wade 6-4 Dave Chisnall
John Henderson 6-0 Kevin Painter
Mervyn King 6-0 Michael Smith
Colin Lloyd 6-4 Mark Walsh
Mark Hylton 6-0 Paul Nicholson
Jyhan Artut 6-2 Steve Brown
Simon Whitlock 6-5 Wayne Jones
Justin Pipe 6-2 Roland Scholten
Losers £600
Quarter-Finals
James Wade 6-3 John Henderson
Mervyn King 6-3 Colin Lloyd
Jyhan Artut 6-5 Mark Hylton
Justin Pipe 6-2 Simon Whitlock
Losers £1,000
Semi-Finals
James Wade 6-5 Mervyn King
Justin Pipe 6-2 Jyhan Artut
Losers £2,000
Final
James Wade 6-3 Justin Pipe
Winner £6,000
Runner-Up £3,000
Final – Leg-by-leg
James Wade v Justin Pipe
1-0 – Wade hits tops to take the lead
1-1 – Pipe takes the second leg to level
2-1 – Wade lands double five to edge back ahead
2-2 – Double eight sees Pipe hold throw in the fourth leg
3-2 – Wade takes out 104 to regain the advantage
4-2 – Wade breaks for the first time, hitting tops for a 14-darter
5-2 – Wade kicks off with a 180 and finishes 96 for an 11-darter to move a leg away from his first Players Championship win in 13 months
5-3 – Pipe replies with a 96 finish of his own to keep the game alive
6-3 – Pipe opens with scores of 177 and 140 but misses darts at double eight and four to stay in the match and Wade takes out double eight for the win.
