NATHAN Aspinall came out on top at Players Championship 22 after beating Krzysztof Ratajski 8-3 to claim his second Pro Tour of 2022.
The Asp was formidable on double sixteen across the whole Final with an average of 97.18 despite many pauses to regrip his darts, he remained composed on the oche to fend off a late resurgence from The Polish Eagle.
The Stockport ace returned to competitive action after his epic with World Matchplay champion Michael van Gerwen at the Winter Gardens where he lost 16-14.
His run to the Quarter Finals last month returned him into the World’s top 16, and the form continued in Barnsley including a superb 6-4 victory over Dave Chisnall despite averaging over 8 points lower than the St Helens man.
The 31-year-old beat the likes of Stephen Bunting in the Quarter Finals 6-4 before staging a fantastic comeback against Ryan Searle, coming from 5-2 down to beat Heavy Metal 7-6 and secure his spot in another Players Championship Final.
Danny Noppert fresh off his first World Matchplay Semi-Final 11 days ago reached the same stage in Barnsley, falling to a 7-5 defeat by Krzysztof Ratajski despite averaging 99. The Freeze beat Michael Smith 6-4 in a repeat of the UK Open Final that saw the Winmau man win his first PDC televised major.
The Dutchman managed his best arrows in his opening First Round match after scoring 101.46 in a 6-5 victory over Radek Szaganski, his first match since his Semi Final defeat to World Number 1 Gerwyn Price at the World Matchplay.
Luke Humphries put a poor Blackpool outing behind him and again reached the later stages, the Quarter Finals, before losing a high-quality tungsten tussle with Ryan Searle as both players averaged nudged into triple figures.
Cool Hand averaged over 100 in three matches on Wednesday including a fantastic 106.79 in beating Josh Rock 6-2 in the Last 16.
An exceptional performance was likely to be needed against the young Northern Irishman after he’d produced the performance of the day in averaging 121.88 to knock out the most recent Pro Tour winner Brendan Dolan.
Jeff Smith showed a return to form in his match with Event 17 winner Scott Williams after winning 6-2 with an average of 105.73. The Silencer went out in the Third Round to Luke Humphries but can be pleased with his days effort having outscored the Euro Tour King across the eight legs played.
The triple header at the Barnsley Metrodome continues tomorrow with Players Championship 23 live on PDC TV from midday, as reigning World Champion Peter Wright looks for redemption having lost 6-4 to David Pallett despite averaging 107.67 in the First Round on Wednesday.
Players Championship 22 Results:
Last 16:
Luke Humphries 6-2 Josh Rock
Ryan Searle 6-3 Ricardo Pietreczko
Stephen Bunting 6-1 Martijn Kleermaker
Nathan Aspinall 6-4 Dave Chisnall
Michael Smith 6-5 Martin Schindler
Danny Noppert 6-2 David Pallett
Krzysztof Ratajski 6-3 Gerwyn Price
Dimitri van den Bergh 6-5 John O’Shea
Quarter Finals:
Ryan Searle 6-2 Luke Humphries
Nathan Aspinall 6-4 Stephen Bunting
Danny Noppert 6-4 Michael Smith
Krzysztof Ratajski 6-5 Dimitri van den Bergh
Semi Finals:
Nathan Aspinall 7-6 Ryan Searle
Krzysztof Ratajski 7-5 Danny Noppert
Final:
Nathan Aspinall 8-3 Krzysztof Ratajski
—–ENDS—–
Images; PDC
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