Nathan Aspinall claimed the \u00a310,000 top prize at Players Championship 7 in Barnsley on Saturday, beating Brendan Dolan 8-4 in the final to pick up his second title of 2020.<\/p>\n
The Premier League star recovered from 4-2 down to seal the win, ending the final with an average of 94 as he reeled off six successive legs – five of which were between 12 and 14 darts.<\/p>\n
The former UK Open champion first saw off Alan Tabern before going on to secure wins over Geert Nentjes, Chris Dobey and Vincent van der Voort.<\/p>\n
The last eight is where Aspinall produced his standout victory, beating world number one Michael van Gerwen 6-1 to progress to the semi-finals.<\/p>\n
Another Dutchman – Danny Noppert – was Aspinall’s next victim as the US Darts Masters champion brushed his opponent aside in a 7-3 win to move in to the final.<\/p>\n
Dolan took the early initiative in the decider, moving in to a 4-2 lead before Aspinall fought back superbly to win the title.<\/p>\n
“I played steady at times and not so well at others but I’m really happy,” said Aspinall. “I’m full of confidence and was determined to have a good run this weekend.<\/p>\n
“I know what I can produce and I know how good I am and there is no reason why I can’t win more titles.”<\/p>\n
Aspinall is currently planning his wedding to partner Kirsty-Louise, and after pocking a second \u00a310,000 cheque of the year added: “The other half is booking our wedding soon so I need the money!”<\/p>\n
It was also a good day for finalist Brendan Dolan, who moved through the field with some impressive wins.<\/p>\n
The Northern Ireland World Cup star began his day with a 6-4 win over Adrian Gray, before going on to defeat Niels Zonneveld, Ciaran Teehan and Dave Chisnall.<\/p>\n
A quarter-final win over Derk Telnekes secured a semi-final clash with multiple title winner James Wade, where Dolan was far too good for his English opponent, coming through with a 7-1 win.<\/p>\n
Despite a good start in the final Dolan wasn’t able to overcome Aspinall and secure a third title within a year – but the the 46-year-old will be pleased with his day’s work.<\/p>\n
Wade enjoyed his best run of 2020 so far as he reached the semi-finals alongside Noppert, while Telnekes overcame World Champion Peter Wright as he reached his first quarter-final on the PDC ProTour.<\/p>\n
The PDC ProTour weekend in Barnsley concludes on Sunday with Players Championship 8, where 128 players will be hoping to claim the title. <\/p>\n
Players Championship Eight<\/strong> Quarter-Finals Semi-Finals Final Nathan Aspinall claimed the \u00a310,000 top prize at Players Championship 7 in Barnsley on Saturday, beating Brendan Dolan 8-4 in…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":1489,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[943,124],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1491","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","category-results"],"yoast_head":"\n
\nSaturday March 14, Barnsley Metrodome
\nLast 16
\nMichael van Gerwen 6-3 Jermaine Wattimena
\nNathan Aspinall 6-2 Vincent van der Voort
\nKrzysztof Ratajski 6-5 Luke Humphries
\nDanny Noppert 6-0 Daryl Gurney
\nIan White 6-1 Kai Fan Leung
\nJames Wade 6-2 Glen Durrant
\nDerk Telnekes 6-1 Peter Wright
\nBrendan Dolan 6-2 Dave Chisnall<\/p>\n
\nNathan Aspinall 6-1 Michael van Gerwen
\nDanny Noppert 6-2 Krzysztof Ratajski
\nJames Wade 6-5 Ian White
\nBrendan Dolan 6-5 Derk Telnekes<\/p>\n
\nNathan Aspinall 7-3 Danny Noppert
\nBrendan Dolan 7-1 James Wade<\/p>\n
\nNathan Aspinall 8-4 Brendan Dolan<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"