Adrian Lewis ends three-year title drought at Players Championship 20
Adrian Lewis ended a three-year wait for a PDC ranking title at Players Championship 20 in Barnsley, defeating Boris Koltsov 8-4 in the final.
Lewis has endured a turbulent spell since his last Players Championship success in March 2019, dropping out of the world’s top 32 and failing to qualify for a number of TV majors.
However, the two-time World Champion showed his class as he continued his recent resurgence with seven wins to pick up the £12,000 title on Sunday.
The win assures Lewis of a place in the Betfred World Matchplay, which begins in Blackpool next Saturday, with the 2013 runner-up set to return for an 18th appearance after missing out last year for the first time since his debut in 2004.
“I’ve worked hard for this, so I’m really happy,” said Lewis. “It’s been amazing – I made a semi on the first day and that gave me the confidence to turn it on today.
“It’s more important, because I thought I might not make the Matchplay – it was hard. After the first day when I got to the semis, it takes a bit of pressure off.
“I played alright yesterday and lost to Matt Campbell, and then today I thought ‘right, come on, just give it what you’ve got’.
“I always believe in myself. If everything clicks, I’ve got a great chance – I can lose to anybody and I can beat anybody!”
Lewis was forced to battle hard in the day’s early rounds, surviving two match darts in defeating Shaun Wilkinson 6-5 before seeing off Martijn Kleermaker and Nick Fullwell by 6-4 scorelines.
He then averaged 102 in defeating Pete Burgoyne, and produced a ton average in seeing off World Grand Prix champion Jonny Clayton 6-4 in the Quarter-Finals.
Lewis proved too strong for Nathan Aspinall in the Semi-Finals as he powered to a 7-2 success, before brushing aside Koltsov in the final.
Koltsov took the opening leg and also levelled at two-all after Lewis fired in legs of 11 and 13 darts, and three consecutive legs for the Stoke star moved him into a 5-2 advantage.
Russia’s Koltsov hit back to 6-4 behind, but another 13-darter restored Lewis’ breathing space before he duly sealed the deal.
Koltsov secured his place in a first ProTour final with wins over Steve West, Jose Justicia, Kevin Burness, Kevin Doets, Krzysztof Kciuk and Martin Schindler in his best display since securing a Tour Card.
German ace Schindler continued his impressive season with a run to a third Players Championship Semi-Final, while Aspinall also reached the Last Four in his bid to claim a second ProTour title of the year.
The day also featured a nine-dart finish from Nathan Rafferty, although the former World Youth Championship runner-up went on to lose his First Round tie to Dave Chisnall 6-4.
The series of four Players Championship events conclude on Monday with Event 21, which is the final tournament before the cut-off for World Matchplay qualification.
Four ProTour qualification places remain up for grabs, with Chris Dobey, Madars Razma, Brendan Dolan and Rowby-John Rodriguez currently occupying the provisional spots.
Ross Smith goes into Players Championship 21 trailing Rodriguez by £3,000, while Simon Whitlock and Ricky Evans require a run to at least the Semi-Finals if they are to gate-crash the Winter Gardens.
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Players Championship 20 Results
Sunday July 10
First Round
Luke Humphries 6-5 Scott Waites
William O’Connor 6-5 Mensur Suljovic
Vincent van der Voort 6-3 Scott Mitchell
Alan Soutar 6-3 Brian Raman
Daryl Gurney 6-4 Cameron Menzies
Krzysztof Kciuk 6-3 Ted Evetts
Gabriel Clemens 6-4 Steve Lennon
Luke Woodhouse 6-2 William Borland
Ryan Joyce 6-5 Joe Cullen
Kevin Burness 6-4 John Brown
Jose Justicia 6-3 Brendan Dolan
Boris Koltsov 6-2 Steve West
Kevin Doets 6-1 Danny Noppert
Karel Sedlacek 6-1 Maik Kuivenhoven
Madars Razma 6-3 Darren Webster
Ian White 6-4 Boris Krcmar
Damon Heta 6-3 Gary Anderson
Damian Mol 6-5 Lewy Williams
Ricky Evans 6-3 Ron Meulenkamp
Geert De Vos 6-1 Ritchie Edhouse
Martin Schindler 6-3 Adam Hunt
Danny van Trijp 6- 5 Jason Heaver
Ricardo Pietreczko 6-1 Martin Lukeman
Ross Montgomery 6-3 Danny Jansen
Ryan Searle 6-3 Rusty Rodriguez
John Henderson 6-1 Florian Hempel
Ross Smith 6-3 Mike De Decker
Steve Beaton 6-5 Brett Claydon
Krzysztof Ratajski 6-5 Peter Hudson
Scott Williams 6-5 Bradley Brooks
Andrew Gilding 6-2 Keegan Brown
Luc Peters 6-5 Jules van Dongen
Michael Smith 6-5 Jeff Smith
Steve Haggerty 6-4 Gordon Mathers
Mario Vandenbogaerde 6-5 Keane Barry
James Wilson 6-5 Vladimir Andersen
Jonny Clayton 6-0 Stu Wilson
Josh Rock 6-4 Connor Scutt
Geert Nentjes 6-2 James Wade
Tony Martinez 6-1 Jon Worsley
Peter Wright 6-0 Adam Gawlas
Nick Fullwell 6-3 Max Hopp
Adrian Lewis 6-5 Shaun Wilkinson
Martijn Kleermaker 6-3 Mervyn King
Dimitri Van den Bergh 6-2 Mickey Mansell
Radek Szaganski 6-5 Stephen Burton
Chris Dobey 6-4 Jack Main
Pete Burgoyne 6-4 Matthew Edgar
Raymond van Barneveld 6-2 Rob Cross
Jermaine Wattimena 6-1 Berry van Peer
Simon Whitlock 6-2 Richie Burnett
Ryan Meikle 6-1 Jeffrey De Zwaan
Dave Chisnall 6-4 Nathan Rafferty – *Rafferty hits a nine-darter*
Matt Campbell 6-5 David Evans
Darius Labanauskas 6-4 Stephen Bunting
Jamie Hughes 6-4 George Killington
Nathan Aspinall 6-5 Niels Zonneveld
Jim Williams 6-5 Devon Petersen
Rowby Rodriguez 6-4 Eddie Lovely
John O’Shea 6-2 Jake Jones
Andy Boulton 6-5 Jose de Sousa
Danny Baggish 6-3 Joe Murnan
Kim Huybrechts 6-3 Jimmy Hendriks
Jamie Clark 6-4 Lee Evans
Second Round
Luke Humphries 6-0 William O’Connor
Alan Soutar 6-3 Vincent van der Voort
Krzysztof Kciuk 6-4 Daryl Gurney
Luke Woodhouse 6-1 Gabriel Clemens
Kevin Burness 6-5 Ryan Joyce
Boris Koltsov 6-4 Jose Justicia
Kevin Doets 6-1 Karel Sedlacek
Ian White 6-3 Madars Razma
Damon Heta 6-1 Damian Mol
Geert De Vos 6-4 Ricky Evans
Martin Schindler 6-2 Danny van Trijp
Ricardo Pietreczko 6-4 Ross Montgomery
John Henderson 6-3 Ryan Searle
Steve Beaton 6-3 Ross Smith
Krzysztof Ratajski 6-5 Scott Williams
Andrew Gilding 6-1 Luc Peters
Michael Smith 6-1 Steve Haggerty
James Wilson 6-5 Mario Vandenbogaerde
Jonny Clayton 6-5 Josh Rock
Tony Martinez 6-1 Geert Nentjes
Nick Fullwell 6-4 Peter Wright
Adrian Lewis 6-4 Martijn Kleermaker
Radek Szaganski 6-2 Dimitri Van den Bergh
Pete Burgoyne 6-2 Chris Dobey
Jermaine Wattimena 6-0 Raymond van Barneveld
Simon Whitlock 6-1 Ryan Meikle
Dave Chisnall 6-3 Matt Campbell
Jamie Hughes 6-3 Darius Labanauskas
Nathan Aspinall 6-4 Jim Williams
John O’Shea 6-1 Rowby Rodriguez
Andy Boulton 6-5 Danny Baggish
Jamie Clark 6-2 Kim Huybrechts
Losers: £750
Last 32
Luke Humphries 6-3 Alan Soutar
Krzysztof Kciuk 6-1 Luke Woodhouse
Boris Koltsov 6-4 Kevin Burness
Kevin Doets 6-5 Ian White
Damon Heta 6-1 Geert De Vos
Martin Schindler 6-2 Ricardo Pietreczko
Steve Beaton 6-2 John Henderson
Andrew Gilding 6-3 Krzysztof Ratajski
Michael Smith 6-1 James Wilson
Jonny Clayton 6-1 Tony Martinez
Adrian Lewis 6-4 Nick Fullwell
Pete Burgoyne 6-3 Radek Szaganski
Jermaine Wattimena 6-3 Simon Whitlock
Dave Chisnall 6-5 Jamie Hughes
Nathan Aspinall 6-3 John O’Shea
Andy Boulton 6-4 Jamie Clark
Losers: £1,250
Last 16
Krzysztof Kciuk 6-5 Luke Humphries
Boris Koltsov 6-3 Kevin Doets
Martin Schindler 6-4 Damon Heta
Steve Beaton 6-5 Andrew Gilding
Jonny Clayton 6-5 Michael Smith
Adrian Lewis 6-2 Pete Burgoyne
Jermaine Wattimena 6-5 Dave Chisnall
Nathan Aspinall 6-3 Andy Boulton
Losers: £2,000
Quarter-Finals
Boris Koltsov 6-4 Krzysztof Kciuk
Martin Schindler 6-2 Steve Beaton
Adrian Lewis 6-4 Jonny Clayton
Nathan Aspinall 6-5 Jermaine Wattimena
Losers: £3,000
Semi-Finals
Boris Koltsov 7-3 Martin Schindler
Adrian Lewis 7-2 Nathan Aspinall
Losers: £4,000
Final
Adrian Lewis 8-4 Boris Koltsov
Winner: £12,000
Runner-up: £8,000
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