Bedlinog dart player Barrie Bates won his first tournament since 2006 with a narrow 6-5 defeat of Denis Ovens in Saturday’s Players Championship final.
The Welshman picked up three titles and reached the UK Open four years ago in his most successful period of form and, having overcome his foot problems, enjoyed his best run since to claim the £6,000 title at the K2 Centre in Crawley.
He overcame some leading names in the process, defeating seeded players Co Stompe and Jamie Caven to reach the last 16, where he overcame his fellow countryman Richie Burnett 6-3.
In-form Mark Walsh was defeated 6-2 in the quarter-finals and Essex’s Steve Maish fell in the semis, before he came from behind to win the final.
Ovens made a fine start with two breaks of throw in the opening three legs to lead 3-0, including an 11-dart finish, before Bates landed double 16 to get off the mark and double 12 to reduce the gap to one.
Ovens edged two of the next three to move a leg away from victory at 5-3, but missed two darts for the match in leg nine and a further one dart for victory in the tenth as Bates forced a decider.
Three ton-plus scores from the Welshman put him ahead in the final leg, and he took out double six for a 14-darter to claim victory.
“It’s great and I’m delighted,” said Bates. “It’s been a long time since my last win but I’m feeling good and playing well.
“I’ve been practising my finishing a lot and that was probably the difference throughout the day, I took my chances and am thrilled.”
The defeat denied Ovens a second PDC ProTour win of the year, although he made a superb fightback from 5-2 down to defeat world number three James Wade in the semi-finals.
He had also been a narrow 6-5 winner against Vincent van der Voort and Rick Lowther in the latter stages, having also seen off Whyte & Mackay Premier League Darts stars Mervyn King and Simon Whitlock on the day.
Maish’s run to the semi-finals was his best performance since October 2008, and included a remarkable comeback from 5-2 down against Mark Dudbridge in the last eight, hitting finishes of 141, 121 and 110 in taking the win.
Dudbridge’s run saw him reach a third successive PDC ProTour quarter-final, although he rode his luck in the last 16 as Mark Webster came from 5-2 down to level before missing double top for a 160 finish in the decider, allowing the Bristol man to check out 120 to progress.
Tony Eccles reached the quarter-finals for the first time in 12 months before losing to Wade, while Vincent van der Voort – a Players Championship winner two weeks ago – also reached the last eight.
World number two Raymond van Barneveld went down 6-3 to Adrian Lewis in the second round in his first outing of the year on the PDC ProTour.