Leonard Gates completes title hat-trick at the World Seniors Matchplay
Leonard Gates completed a hat-trick of World Seniors titles with victory at the World Seniors Matchplay in York on Sunday.
Gates had picked up the Champion of Champions and World Seniors Masters titles earlier in the year and affirmed himself as the dominant force on the WSDT circuit by becoming the first player to win three televised events in a row.
The American star overcame debutant Jim McEwan 9-6 in the final at the York Barbican to scoop the £10,000 top prize.
“It’s a great feeling, just to be participating in an event like this and doing well, it’s awesome,” said Gates.
“Words can’t explain it.
“To pull off three in a row, I’ve definitely got a target on my back for the rest of the year and next year.
“They’ll have on their mind to beat this guy, they’ll be trying to stop me getting four in a row but I’m going to put up the best fight I can.”
Gates began his route to glory with a 9-7 victory over WSDT Order of Merit leader Colin McGarry in Saturday’s opening round.
He then created history by becoming the first player to register a ton-plus average in a televised World Seniors event as he edged out David Cameron 11-9 in the Quarter-Finals.
The 52-year-old averaged 101.28 as he held his nerve in a high quality tie break contest to deny Canadian ace Cameron.
Another impressive display saw ‘The Soulger’ narrowly defeat qualifier Paul Hogan 9-7 in Sunday evening’s Semi-Finals with a 95.6 average, landing a 121 checkout along the way.
Gates quickly stamped his authority on the final by racing into a 4-0 lead over Scottish veteran McEwan – who eventually got off the mark in style with a 117 checkout.
Gates, however, continued his dominance by stretching his lead to 7-2 and moving one away from glory at 8-3.
McEwan, though, dug deep to launch a late revival, firing in a maximum and a 93 checkout to reduce the deficit to 8-5 before taking the 14th leg to apply further pressure.
But any hopes of a comeback were swiftly halted by Gates as he converted tops to seal another memorable triumph.
McEwan, who came through the qualifiers to reach his first televised seniors event, enjoyed wins over Glen Durrant, Kevin Painter and Neil Duff en route to the final.
Hogan, who also progressed through July’s qualifiers, knocked out 16-time World Champion Phil Taylor to reach the Semi-Finals.
WDF World Champion Duff had ended Richie Howson’s hopes of reaching a fourth televised seniors final of the year as he prevailed 11-9 in a tense Quarter-Final tie.
World Seniors Matchplay 2023 Day Two Results
Sunday September 3
Quarter-Finals
Neil Duff 11-9 Richie Howson
Kevin Painter 7-9 Jim McEwan
Leonard Gates 11-9 David Cameron
Phil Taylor 6-8 Paul Hogan
Semi-Finals
Neil Duff 5-9 Jim McEwan
Leonard Gates 9-7 Paul Hogan
Final
Leonard Gates 9-6 Jim McEwan
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Leonard Gates seals World Seniors Masters glory
Leonard Gates made it back-to-back televised titles as he secured the World Seniors Masters crown in Yeovil on Sunday with a 6-2 victory over Richie Howson in the final.
Gates had defeated Howson in the final of the Champion of Champions in March, and the American ace repeated the feat to land a second Seniors major of the year.
The 52-year-old kicked off his campaign at Westlands in Yeovil with a 4-2 victory over Mark Dudbridge on Saturday before registering the highest winning average of the tournament (93.2) in edging out Chris Mason 4-3 in Sunday afternoon’s Quarter-Finals.
He then defied a 95.8 average from Robert Thornton to defeat the two-time World Seniors champion 5-2 in the Semi-Finals.
Gates made a commanding start to the final, racing to the opening four legs without reply to establish a two-set advantage.
Howson halved the deficit, but only for Gates to edge a crucial fourth set to make it 3-1, and the pair traded sets again with the American landing a 13-darter en route to a 4-2 lead.
Howson looked to have set seven in his grasp, but squandered a staggering 11 darts to seal it, gifting Gates an unexpected chance to stretch his lead to 5-2.
The doubles continued to evade ‘The Owl’ in the following set as he missed multiple chances in the deciding leg, and Gates eventually converted double four to clinch victory.
Howson had defeated Bob Anderson, Neil Duff and Dennis Harbour en route to his third televised Seniors final of the year, but was once again forced to settle for second prize.
Harbour enjoyed his best run in a Seniors event to date, defeating three-time World Champion Martin Adams and 16-time World Champion Phil Taylor 4-2 before bowing out to Howson in a hard-fought tussle.
World Seniors Masters 2023 Day Two Results
Sunday June 25
Afternoon Session
Quarter-Finals
Neil Duff 3-4 Richie Howson
Phil Taylor 2-4 Dennis Harbour
Robert Thornton 4-3 John Part
Leonard Gates 4-3 Chris Mason
Evening Session
Semi-Finals
Richie Howson 5-2 Dennis Harbour
Robert Thornton 2-5 Leonard Gates
Final
Leonard Gates 6-2 Richie Howson
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