PDC Players Championship- 9

ADRIAN LEWIS produced a superb comeback from 3-0 down to win the Players Championship 9 final against Brendan Dolan 6-4 at the Citywest Hotel on Saturday.
The world number three won his first PDC ProTour event for just over a year as he picked up the £10,000 title in Dublin - and importantly drew first blood against Dolan ahead of their partypoker.com World Grand Prix first round game on Tuesday night.

Lewis, who has also won the European Championship this year, began the day by defeating Jelle Klaasen 6-1, before defeating Darren Webster, Kim Huybrechts and Richie Burnett to reach the quarter-finals.

There, he came from 5-3 down to win 6-5 against Joe Cullen with a 106 average, and he averaged 103 in the semis against Justin Pipe as he booked his place in the decider.

Dolan kicked off the final in stunning fashion, hitting a 180 and a 121 finish on the bull for a 12-darter in the opening leg, double 16 to move 2-0 up and hitting a 180 and double 16 to win the third with another break.

Lewis finished a sensational 160 as he got off the mark, and then hit tops again to pull back to 3-2 - only for Dolan to hit a 180 and another 121 finish for a 12-dart leg as he moved 4-2 up.

Lewis then hit 180s and finished double top and double 18, for a 13-darter, as he won the next two to level, and double 14 kept up a flawless run of doubling as he moved 5-4 up.

Lewis added another maximum in the tenth, and when Dolan missed five doubles to force a decider, the Stoke ace stepped in to land double five to seal victory.


The defeat will be doubly agonising for Dolan, who was appearing in his sixth ranking final but missed out once again on a maiden ranking victory.

The Northern Irish ace - a former World Grand Prix finalist at the Citywest Hotel - had dropped only three legs in his early wins over John Scott and Andy Jenkins before defeating Ian White and Raymond van Barneveld with 6-5 scorelines.

He then picked up a 6-4 win over world number five James Wade in the quarter-finals, and overcame Mark Dudbridge 6-3 as he won through to the decider, ending the day with £5,000 prize money.

Dudbridge's run to the semi-finals was his best run on the PDC ProTour since March 2010, as he defeated Arron Monk, Jimmy Murray, Steve Beaton, Keegan Brown and Dave Chisnall to reach the last four.

The £2,500 prize money improves his hopes of qualifying for the World Championship, as well as aiding his chances of retaining a PDC Tour Card by remaining in the world's top 64 at the end of the year.

Pipe reached his first semi-final since May in a fine run of form, enjoying wins over Connie Finnan, Tomas Seyler, Mervyn King, Wes Newton and Michael van Gerwen before missing out to Lewis.

World number two van Gerwen was joined in the quarter-finals by in-form pair Dave Chisnall and James Wade as well as youngster Joe Cullen, who picked up wins over former World Champion John Part and experienced star Terry Jenkins.

Emerging Isle of Wight ace Brown enjoyed a memorable day as he overcame World Champion Phil Taylor 6-1 in the second round, before going on to reach the Last 16 in Dublin.

Gary Anderson, Richie Burnett, Kevin Painter, Wayne Jones and Raymond van Barneveld also reached that stage on the day, in the first of two Players Championships this weekend which will lead into the start of the partypoker.com World Grand Prix on Monday night at the Citywest Hotel.

Players Championship 9
Citywest Hotel, Dublin, Saturday October 5
Preliminary Round
Keith Rooney 6-2 Paul Anthony
Joe Cullen 6-1 Barrie Bates
Darren Webster 6-2 Michael Barnard
Joe Byrne 6-1 Jake Patchett
Kevin Dowling 6-3 Darren Johnson
Andy Jenkins 6-2 Andrew Howarth

First Round
Michael van Gerwen (1) 6-4 Andrew Gilding
Kevin McDine 6-5 Bernd Roith
Mark Walsh (32) 6-4 Gaz Cousins
Adrian Gray 6-2 Mick McGowan
Gary Anderson (16) 6-3 Ricky Evans
Joey Palfreyman 6-5 Steve Maish
Stuart Kellett (17) 6-5 Nick Fullwell
Dennis Smith 6-4 Keith Rooney
Wes Newton (8) 6-4 Campbell Jackson
Steve Brown 6-3 Mark Lawrence
Colin Lloyd (25) 6-3 Paul Amos
Darron Brown 6-5 Mark Hylton
Mervyn King (9) 6-0 Robbie Conlon
Johnny Haines 6-4 Ryan Harrington
Justin Pipe (24) 6-1 Connie Finnan
Tomas Seyler 6-4 Jyhan Artut
Robert Thornton (5) 6-3 Nigel Heydon
James Richardson 6-0 Pete Dyos
Terry Jenkins (28) 6-4 Chris Aubrey
Andy Pearce 6-4 Mick Todd
John Part (12) 6-2 Keith Stephen
Colin Osborne 6-3 Dave Ladley
Ronnie Baxter (21) 6-2 Alex Roy
Joe Cullen 6-4 Damien O'Connor
Peter Wright (4) 6-1 Ronny Huybrechts
Jamie Lewis 6-0 Paddy Meaney
Richie Burnett (29) 6-1 Terry Temple
Reece Robinson 6-0 Matthew Dicken
Kim Huybrechts (13) 6-2 Steve Grubb
Daryl Gurney 6-4 Dean Winstanley
Adrian Lewis (20) 6-1 Jelle Klaasen
Darren Webster 6-2 Stephen Hardy
Dave Chisnall (2) 6-2 Mark Frost
Steve West 6-5 Mark Cox
Mark Webster (31) 6-1 James Hubbard
Peter Hudson 6-1 Paul Barham
Sean Ryan 6-5 Andy Hamilton (15)
Steve Hine 6-3 Shaun Griffiths
Kevin Painter (18) 6-0 Mark Forman
Joe Byrne 6-2 Richie Howson
Steve Beaton (7) 6-2 Alan Tabern
Ian Moss 6-4 Colin Fowler
Mark Dudbridge 6-4 Arron Monk (26)
Jimmy Murray 6-3 William O'Connor
Phil Taylor (10) 6-2 Brian Woods
Keegan Brown 6-3 Marc Dewsbury
Andy Smith (23) 6-5 David Pallett
Josh Payne 6-5 Paul Rowley
Jamie Caven (6) 6-5 Michael Smith
Ross Smith 6-4 Roland Scholten
James Wade (27) 6-1 Paddy Burke
Scott Rand 6-1 Chris Skeates
Paul Nicholson (11) 6-2 Jamie Robinson
John Bowles 6-4 Mark Jones
Wayne Jones (22) 6-0 Andy Parsons
Kevin Dowling 6-4 Jani Haavisto
Simon Whitlock (3) 6-4 John Henderson
Vincent van der Voort 6-2 Jon Jukes
Raymond van Barneveld (30) 6-0 Sam Hill
Michael Mansell 6-0 Joe Murnan
Ian White (14) 6-0 Dan Russell
Jarkko Komula 6-0 Jim Walker
Brendan Dolan (19) 6-2 John Scott
Andy Jenkins 6-2 Matthew Edgar

Second Round
Michael van Gerwen 6-1 Kevin McDine
Mark Walsh 6-5 Adrian Gray
Gary Anderson 6-2 Joey Palfreyman
Stuart Kellett 6-3 Dennis Smith
Wes Newton 6-3 Steve Brown
Darron Brown 6-5 Colin Lloyd
Mervyn King 6-0 Johnny Haines
Justin Pipe 6-3 Tomas Seyler
Robert Thornton 6-2 James Richardson
Terry Jenkins 6-2 Andy Pearce
John Part 6-1 Colin Osborne
Joe Cullen 6-4 Ronnie Baxter
Peter Wright 6-2 Jamie Lewis
Richie Burnett 6-1 Reece Robinson
Kim Huybrechts 6-5 Daryl Gurney
Adrian Lewis 6-3 Darren Webster
Dave Chisnall 6-3 Steve West
Peter Hudson 6-5 Mark Webster
Steve Hine 6-0 Sean Ryan
Kevin Painter 6-1 Joe Byrne
Steve Beaton 6-2 Ian Moss
Mark Dudbridge 6-0 Jimmy Murray
Keegan Brown 6-1 Phil Taylor
Josh Payne 6-2 Andy Smith
Jamie Caven 6-0 Ross Smith
James Wade 6-2 Scott Rand
Paul Nicholson 6-3 John Bowles
Wayne Jones 6-3 Kevin Dowling
Simon Whitlock 6-2 Vincent van der Voort
Raymond van Barneveld 6-0 Michael Mansell
Ian White 6-4 Jarkko Komula
Brendan Dolan 6-1 Andy Jenkins
Losers £250

Third Round
Michael van Gerwen 6-4 Mark Walsh
Gary Anderson 6-3 Stuart Kellett
Wes Newton 6-0 Darron Brown
Justin Pipe 6-3 Mervyn King
Terry Jenkins 6-2 Robert Thornton
Joe Cullen 6-5 John Part
Richie Burnett 6-4 Peter Wright
Adrian Lewis 6-5 Kim Huybrechts
Dave Chisnall 6-4 Peter Hudson
Kevin Painter 6-1 Steve Hine
Mark Dudbridge 6-4 Steve Beaton
Keegan Brown 6-3 Josh Payne
James Wade 6-4 Jamie Caven
Wayne Jones 6-2 Paul Nicholson
Raymond van Barneveld 6-5 Simon Whitlock
Brendan Dolan 6-5 Ian White
Losers £500

Fourth Round
Michael van Gerwen 6-2 Gary Anderson
Justin Pipe 6-4 Wes Newton
Joe Cullen 6-1 Terry Jenkins
Adrian Lewis 6-3 Richie Burnett
Dave Chisnall 6-1 Kevin Painter
Mark Dudbridge 6-2 Keegan Brown
James Wade 6-4 Wayne Jones
Brendan Dolan 6-5 Raymond van Barneveld
Losers £1,000

Quarter-Finals
Justin Pipe 6-5 Michael van Gerwen
Adrian Lewis 6-5 Joe Cullen
Mark Dudbridge 6-1 Dave Chisnall
Brendan Dolan 6-4 James Wade
Losers £1,500

Semi-Finals
Adrian Lewis 6-4 Justin Pipe
Brendan Dolan 6-3 Mark Dudbridge
Losers £2,500

Final
Adrian Lewis 6-4 Brendan Dolan
Winner £10,000
Runner-Up £5,000