StanJames.com Players Championship James Wades into the lead
WORLD NUMBER THREE James Wade picked up his first title of 2008 with a 3-1 win over Denis Ovens in the final of the StanJames.com Players Championship in Gibraltar on Sunday.
The PDC Player of the Year won three non-televised tournaments in 2007, and bounced back in style from a first-game loss in Saturday's Players Championship to take the £5,000 winner's cheque 24 hours later.
He never looked in trouble after taking a 2-0 lead against Ovens in the final, and though he lost the third set without reply won the fourth 2-1, thanks in part to two maximums and a 177 score which left his opponent trailing.
Wade had sailed close to the wind in his semi-final against Mervyn King, who pushed him all the way after Alex Roy had earlier been dispatched in straight legs in the quarter-finals.
Ovens, the runner-up in last weekend's Blue Square UK Open North-East Regional Final, continued his good start to the year by seeing off McDine in another close semi-final.
McDine led the deciding set of their game before Ovens took out 121 on the bullseye to level and then 105 on double 16 for the win.
He had also been pushed all the way by John Ferrell in the last eight, and also overcame Steve Cusick, Dennis Smith, Andy Smith and Terry Jenkins.
King produced some superb form during his run to the last four, coming from 2-1 down against Jamie Caven in the last 32 and also becoming the first player for almost two months to defeat new World Champion John Part.
King also saw off Kevin Painter with a ten-darter in the final leg of their game, one of four he landed during the day.
Steve Beaton reached a second successive quarter-final, and was joined in the last eight by John Ferrell, who also made the last eight a week ago in Gateshead.
The PDC Player of the Year won three non-televised tournaments in 2007, and bounced back in style from a first-game loss in Saturday's Players Championship to take the £5,000 winner's cheque 24 hours later.
He never looked in trouble after taking a 2-0 lead against Ovens in the final, and though he lost the third set without reply won the fourth 2-1, thanks in part to two maximums and a 177 score which left his opponent trailing.
Wade had sailed close to the wind in his semi-final against Mervyn King, who pushed him all the way after Alex Roy had earlier been dispatched in straight legs in the quarter-finals.
Ovens, the runner-up in last weekend's Blue Square UK Open North-East Regional Final, continued his good start to the year by seeing off McDine in another close semi-final.
McDine led the deciding set of their game before Ovens took out 121 on the bullseye to level and then 105 on double 16 for the win.
He had also been pushed all the way by John Ferrell in the last eight, and also overcame Steve Cusick, Dennis Smith, Andy Smith and Terry Jenkins.
King produced some superb form during his run to the last four, coming from 2-1 down against Jamie Caven in the last 32 and also becoming the first player for almost two months to defeat new World Champion John Part.
King also saw off Kevin Painter with a ten-darter in the final leg of their game, one of four he landed during the day.
Steve Beaton reached a second successive quarter-final, and was joined in the last eight by John Ferrell, who also made the last eight a week ago in Gateshead.
StanJames.com Players Championship Results
| Final James Wade 3-1 Denis Ovens (2-1, 2-0, 0-2, 2-1) Winner £5,000 Runner-Up £2,500
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| Semi-Finals Denis Ovens 3-2 Kevin McDine James Wade 3-2 Mervyn King Losers £1,250
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| Quarter-Finals Kevin McDine 3-0 Steve Beaton Denis Ovens 3-2 John Ferrell James Wade 3-0 Alex Roy Mervyn King 3-2 Kevin Painter Losers £600
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| Round Four Kevin McDine 3-0 Chris Mason Steve Beaton 3-0 Gary Mawson John Ferrell 3-1 Adrian Lewis Denis Ovens 3-1 Terry Jenkins James Wade 3-1 Mark Dudbridge Alex Roy 3-2 Wayne Mardle Kevin Painter 3-0 Adrian Gray Mervyn King 3-2 John Part Losers £300 |
| Round Three Kevin McDine 3-0 Andy Hamilton Chris Mason 3-1 John MaGowan Steve Beaton 3-1 Colin Lloyd Gary Mawson 3-0 Mick McGowan Adrian Lewis 3-1 Bob Anderson John Ferrell 3-2 Alan Tabern Terry Jenkins 3-1 Steve Hine Denis Ovens 3-1 Andy Smith James Wade 3-1 Mark Lawrence Mark Dudbridge 3-0 Kirk Shepherd Wayne Mardle 3-0 Mark Walsh Alex Roy 3-2 Matt Clark Adrian Gray 3-2 Alan Green Kevin Painter 3-1 Wes Newton John Part 3-2 Alan Warriner-Little Mervyn King 3-2 Jamie Caven Losers £150
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Round Two
Kevin Painter 3-0 George Federico
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| Round One Ian Jopling 3-1 Nigel Peden Dave Askew 3-2 Wayne Atwood Kevin McDine 3-2 Dave Smith Chris Mason 3-1 Dave Honey Robert Watson-Lang 3-0 Ian Eames John MaGowan 3-1 Colin Osborne Colin Monk 3-2 Danny King John Quantock 3-0 Dave Ladley Steve Beaton 3-1 Ricky Williams Jim Leighton 3-0 Antonio Munoz Ramos Gary Mawson 3-1 Raul Rodriguez Mick McGowan 3-1 Darren Johnson Kevin Dowling 3-0 Graeme Stoddart Simon Craven 3-1 Dylan Duo Bob Anderson 3-0 Tom Wilson Paul Knighton 3-0 Justin Broton Alan Tabern 3-0 Ken Dobson Owen Caffrey 3-0 Glen Camerson Vincent van der Voort 3-0 Bob Crawley John Ferrell 3-0 Rico Vonck Darren Latham 3-0 Eric Segui Wayne Jones 3-0 Paul Wills Steve Hine 3-0 Israel Priego Denis Ovens 3-0 Steve Cusick Dennis Smith 3-0 Ian Branks Andy Smith 3-0 Jason Crawley Chris Thompson 3-0 Kevin Hill Darrell Thorpe 3-1 Chris Sargeant Steve Maish 3-0 Stefan Federico Mark Lawrence 3-2 Dyson Parody Mark Dudbridge 3-0 Mario Aguis Shane Passey 3-2 Lee White Kirk Shepherd 3-0 Kevin Fletcher Steve Smith 3-1 Andy Mason Alan Caves 3-1 Jon Archer Mark Walsh 3-1 Jonathan Overton Alan Kimberley 3-0 Henry Zapata Peter Manley 3-0 Steve Grubb Matt Clark 3-2 Julio Balbaro Alex Roy Bye (Jose Alcantara) Steve Brown 3-1 Daniel Sare Alan Green 3-1 Ben Burton Adrian Gray 3-2 Tony Ayres Nick Fulwell Bye (Juan Perea) Kevin Painter 3-2 Lionel Sams George Federico 3-0 Nick Chadwick Wes Newton 3-2 Carlos Rodriguez Kevin Harris 3-0 Michael van Gerwen Tony Eccles 3-1 Martyn Turner Alan Warriner-Little Bye (Gary Welding Withdrawn) Jason Barry 3-0 Danny Peach Jamie Caven 3-1 Andy Jenkins Martin Burchell 3-2 Sean Palfrey Mervyn King 3-0 Ruben Santiago Jelle Klaasen 3-0 Mark Layton |