Wright claims Players Championship 13 title to top Summer Series standings
Peter Wright secured the Players Championship 13 title with an 8-2 rout of Gerwyn Price to finish top of the PDC Summer Series Order of Merit in Milton Keynes on Sunday.
The reigning World Champion went one better than his runner-up spot on Wednesday as he clinched the £10,000 title at the Marshall Arena, sweeping aside his fellow Premier League star in the final.
Wright’s success saw him leapfrog Michael van Gerwen to finish top of the PDC Summer Series Order of Merit, which was comprised of prize money won in the five events across the week.
“I’m pleased to win and it’s great for me,” said Wright. “It could have been two wins, but I wanted to be top of the Summer Series Order of Merit and I knew I had to win today, so I’ve done that.
“It’s ideal preparation for the World Matchplay and it’s good to be back playing.
“Just the last two weeks they [eyes] have started to go bad and I thought the best time to try [wearing glasses] was in the floor tournaments – it didn’t work out too badly!”
Wright began his charge to glory with a 6-4 victory over Jelle Klaasen in Round One before recording a second successive 98 average in defeating Darren Webster 6-2.
Webster had begun his day with a nine-darter in a 6-1 win over Kim Huybrects in the opening round.
Wright then averaged 102.6 in a 6-1 rout of Brendan Dolan, before edging out Nathan Aspinall in a tense last-leg decider in the Quarter-Finals.
The world number two then registered his highest average of the day (109) en route to a 7-2 mauling of Wayne Jones in the Semi-Finals.
After sharing the final’s opening two legs, Wright took four in a row to open up a 5-1 advantage, and through Price hit back briefly, it was the World Champion who closed out a commanding win with a 99.3 average.
Price was in sensational form as he enjoyed his best run of the week, averaging above 100 in wins over William O’Connor, Darius Labanauskas, Jose De Sousa, James Wade and Devon Petersen.
That included a blistering 113 average against Labanauskas as well as his dramatic 7-6 Semi-Final win over Petersen.
Petersen fell agonisingly short of gatecrashing the World Matchplay qualification places; the South African had to win Sunday’s event to force his way into the World Matchplay field.
He defeated world number one Michael van Gerwen in a last-leg decider, as well as Lisa Ashton, Christian Bunse, Daryl Gurney and John Henderson to reach the Semi-Finals for the second time this year.
Petersen landed a 170 checkout in an epic against Price but missed one dart at double 16 for victory as his hopes of glory on the day were shattered.
Jones also won through to the Semi-Finals in his best run on the ProTour since May 2016, seeing off current Unibet Premier League leader Glen Durrant as well as Adrian Gray, Robbie Collins, Mike De Decker and Scott Baker.
Scottish ace Henderson was a quarter-finalist as he also saw a late bid to qualify for the World Matchplay fall narrowly short, with Petersen winning their shoot-out in the last eight.
Saturday’s winner James Wade and former UK Open champion Nathan Aspinall also reached the quarter-finals alongside Scott Baker, who enjoyed his best run for over a year.
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Players Championship 13 Results
Sunday July 12
First Round
William O’Connor 6-2 Nathan Rafferty
Darius Labanauskas 6-5 Stephen Bunting
Steve Lennon 6-5 Ciaran Teehan
Jose De Sousa 6-3 Jan Dekker
Joe Murnan 6-1 Graham Usher
Danny Noppert 6-5 Jason Lowe
Matthew Dennant 6-1 Scott Waites
James Wade 6-5 Reece Robinson
Scott Mitchell 6-2 Ryan Murray
Karel Sedlacek 6-4 Dimitri Van den Bergh
Alan Tabern 6-2 Mike van Duivenbode
Ross Smith 6-4 Joe Cullen
Chris Dobey 6-4 Jeff Smith
Gary Anderson 6-5 James Wilson
Matthew Edgar 6-5 Kai Fan Leung
Mensur Suljovic 6-2 Steve Brown
Callan Rydz 6-4 Martin Atkins
John Henderson 6-4 Ricky Evans
Matt Clark 6-2 Simon Stevenson
William Borland 6-3 Rob Cross
Maik Kuivenhoven 6-2 Jitse Van der Wal
Mickey Mansell 6-2 Jonny Clayton
Simon Whitlock 6-3 Nick Kenny
Michael van Gerwen 6-5 Ryan Meikle
Devon Petersen 6-3 Lisa Ashton
Steve Beaton 6-3 Mark McGeeney
Christian Bunse 6-2 Michael Barnard
Daryl Gurney 6-2 Ted Evetts
Harry Ward 6-5 Andrew Gilding
Jamie Hughes (BYE) v Luke Humphries
Bradley Brooks 6-2 Conan Whitehead
Jelle Klaasen 6-3 Adam Hunt
Darren Webster 6-1 Kim Huybrechts*Webster hits a nine-darter*
Andy Boulton (BYE) v Jamie Lewis
Brendan Dolan 6-3 Josh Payne
Gavin Carlin 6-4 Steve West
Jermaine Wattimena 6-4 Barrie Bates
Arjan Konterman 6-3 David Pallett
Nathan Aspinall 6-3 Rowby-John Rodriguez
Ron Meulenkamp 6-4 Andy Hamilton
Richard North 6-5 Vincent van der Voort
Robert Thornton 6-4 Max Hopp
Boris Krcmar 6-3 Dave Chisnall
Martijn Kleermaker 6-2 Cameron Menzies
Ryan Joyce 6-2 Vincent Van der Meer
Dirk van Duijvenbode 6-5 Kirk Shepherd
Krzysztof Ratajski 6-1 Gary Blades
Krzysztof Kciuk 6-2 Nathan Derry
Geert Nentjes 6-0 Ryan Searle
Madars Razma 6-1 Mervyn King
Michael Smith 6-1 Benito van de Pas
Luke Woodhouse 6-3 Darren Penhall
Carl Wilkinson 6-5 Gabriel Clemens
Scott Baker 6-5 Harald Leitinger
Ian White 6-3 Niels Zonneveld
Peter Jacques 6-3 Martin Schindler
Keegan Brown 6-1 James Hubbard
Mike De Decker 6-3 Jonathan Worsley
Glen Durrant 6-1 Derk Telnekes
Wayne Jones 6-3 Adrian Gray
Jeffrey De Zwaan 6-5 Ryan Hogarth
Robert Collins 6-5 Aaron Beeney
Second Round
Gerwyn Price 6-0 William O’Connor
Darius Labanauskas 6-4 Steve Lennon
Jose De Sousa 6-2 Joe Murnan
Danny Noppert 6-4 Matthew Dennant
James Wade 6-4 Scott Mitchell
Alan Tabern 6-5 Karel Sedlacek
Chris Dobey 6-5 Ross Smith
Matthew Edgar 6-4 Gary Anderson
Mensur Suljovic 6-4 Callan Rydz
John Henderson 6-4 Matt Clark
William Borland 6-1 Maik Kuivenhoven
Mickey Mansell 6-5 Simon Whitlock
Devon Petersen 6-5 Michael van Gerwen
Christian Bunse 6-2 Steve Beaton
Daryl Gurney 6-1 Harry Ward
Jamie Hughes 6-4 Bradley Brooks
Peter Wright 6-4 Jelle Klaasen
Darren Webster 6-2 Andy Boulton
Brendan Dolan 6-5 Gavin Carlin
Jermaine Wattimena 6-5 Arjan Konterman
Nathan Aspinall 6-0 Ron Meulenkamp
Robert Thornton 6-3 Richard North
Martijn Kleermaker 6-3 Boris Krcmar
Dirk van Duijvenbode 6-4 Ryan Joyce
Krzysztof Ratajski 6-2 Krzysztof Kciuk
Madars Razma 6-3 Geert Nentjes
Michael Smith 6-5 Luke Woodhouse
Scott Baker 6-5 Carl Wilkinson
Peter Jacques 6-4 Ian White
Mike De Decker 6-5 Keegan Brown
Wayne Jones 6-4 Glen Durrant
Robert Collins 6-4 Jeffrey De Zwaan
Losers: £500
Last 32
Gerwyn Price 6-1 Darius Labanauskas
Jose De Sousa 6-1 Danny Noppert
James Wade 6-4 Alan Tabern
Chris Dobey 6-1 Matthew Edgar
John Henderson 6-5 Mensur Suljovic
Mickey Mansell 6-4 William Borland
Devon Petersen 6-1 Christian Bunse
Daryl Gurney 6-2 Jamie Hughes
Peter Wright 6-2 Darren Webster
Brendan Dolan 6-1 Jermaine Wattimena
Nathan Aspinall 6-4 Robert Thornton
Dirk van Duijvenbode 6-3 Martijn Kleermaker
Madars Razma 6-4 Krzysztof Ratajski
Scott Baker 6-3 Michael Smith
Mike De Decker 6-5 Peter Jacques
Wayne Jones 6-3 Robert Collins
Losers: £10,000
Last 16
Gerwyn Price 6-5 Jose De Sousa
James Wade 6-3 Chris Dobey
John Henderson 6-5 Mickey Mansell
Devon Petersen 6-3 Daryl Gurney
Peter Wright 6-1 Brendan Dolan
Nathan Aspinall 6-3 Dirk van Duijvenbode
Scott Baker 6-0 Madars Razma
Wayne Jones 6-4 Mike De Decker
Losers: £1,500
Quarter-Finals
Gerwyn Price 6-1 James Wade
Devon Petersen 6-3 John Henderson
Peter Wright 6-5 Nathan Aspinall
Wayne Jones 6-0 Scott Baker
Losers: £2,250
Semi-Finals
Gerwyn Price 7-6 Devon Petersen
Peter Wright 7-2 Wayne Jones
Losers: £3,000
Final
Peter Wright 8-2 Gerwyn Price
Winner: £10,000
Runner-up: £6,000
