Day Four report of PDC Winter Series: Wright prevails in final to add another title to 2020 collection

Day four of the PDC Winter Series took place on Friday. It was the penultimate day of a five day series which is taking place in the Ricoh Arena, Coventry from November 10-14. 128 players, seeded and non-seeded, will take part in the series every day until Saturday, with a knockout format, seeing one player crowned winner each day.

After shocks and upsets in these Pro Tours very much on the cards, Day one and two gave us a reminder that sometimes, the quality of some of the world’s best, prevails, as ‘Bully Boy’ Michael Smith bagged the winner’s crown on the first two days. Hitting back on day three, ‘The Iceman’ Gerwyn Price shrugged off his opponents as he bounced back to win his eighth title of the year.

Day four is set up for more unlikely names progressing towards the business end of the rounds but also presents a chance for many of the bigger names to get one back for their own personal pride, with many of them experiencing a sense of underperformance this week. It also saw world number one Michael Van Gerwen return to darts after he missed the first three days due to recovery from an injury which he suffered in the World Cup of Darts just a week ago.

Last 128

The first round was complete on the latest day of the PDC Winter Series with Adrian Lewis finally getting some luck on his side by defeating Simon Whitlock in a 6-3 win.

‘Jackpot’ has passed the first round just once this week and has been unfortunate by throwing some very good darts but somehow not finding a way to progress further.

Lewis hasn't been getting the best draws as of late but averaged 98 in seeing off the in-form Wizard in what he hopes will be a catalyst for the rest of the day.

While there were also impressive displays to round out the first round from Joe Murnan with a 101 average to defeat Niels Zonneveld 6-0, Ryan Searle with a 101 average to see off Andy Hamilton 6-3 and also Daryl Gurney who averaged 103 in seeing off Boris Krcmar 6-2.

One of the stars of the week, Gabriel Clemens, couldn’t repeat his form in his game with Ritchie Edhouse, losing 6-5 to find himself out in the first round for the first time in the Winter Series. Whilst there was also no luck for Rob Cross, who exited at the hands of Lisa Ashton, losing 6-5 in their opener.

There is also the matter in the next round of Michael van Gerwen's first match being against the livewire Prince of Wales, Richie Burnett, which will give a good idea on how well ‘The Green Machine‘ has recovered in just under a week since picking up his injury.

Last 64

Van Gerwen’s Order of Merit means he was awarded a bye into the round of 64. Eager to see what the world number one had to offer was Richie Burnett, who took the ‘Green Machine’ to the wire, and MVG narrowly passed him, winning 6-5. Van Gerwen was poor on the doubles as he was taken to a deciding leg by Burnett, the former Lakeside World Champion.

‘Snakebite’ Peter Wright also had a bye into the second round on day four, he’s played from the first round all week, but was handed a bye due to day three winner, Gerwyn Price, dropping out. Wright had no trouble in advancing to the last 32, beating Robert Thornton 6-1 in his first game of the day.

Adrian Lewis carried his first round form into the last 64, as he saw off Mickey Mansell, 6-5. Narrow wins are still wins for ‘Jackpot’ and hopefully he can kick on from these wins and get back to the Adey we know and love for the rest of the Winter Series.

There were also impressive wins for yesterday’s finalist Damon Heta, who whitewashed Ron Meulenkamp 6-0, Nathan Aspinall was looking as if he’d found some more consistency to his game, progressing into the last 32 with ease against Keegan Brown and Benito van de Pas, who despite being the underdog, beat Danny Noppert 6-5 in round two.

No luck however for a number of players who you’d pin as top contenders such as, Krzysztof Ratajski, Dave Chisnall and Devon Petersen whose day four runs ended in the last 64. Giant killer, Ross Smith, who managed to knock out Michael Smith on day three when ‘Bully Boy’ was on for a hat-trick, also fell short, losing 6-5 against Jeffrey De Zwaan.

Last 32

It wasn’t the picture perfect return that world number one Michael Van Gerwen dreamt of. If anyone was going to bring out the bit of consistency that ‘Jackpot’ Adrian Lewis had been lacking this week, it was MVG.

Lewis was determined, consistent on doubles and ruthless against Van Gerwen and if he can take anything away from the Winter Series, his 6-4 win over ‘The Green Machine’ is certainly worthy. It was Lewis’ first win over Van Gerwen since 2017.

Jose De Sousa went through to another round of 16 after beating Adam Hunt 6-2. Whilst Peter Wright saw off Steve Lennon 6-1. A chance now for World Champion ‘Snakebite’ to kick on and take on any opponents coming his way in the remainder of the day as he will certainly be a favourite for the final.

Double winner this week, Michael Smith, progressed to the last 16 after a comfortable 6-1 victory over James Wilson, ‘Bully Boy’ adds to the big names through on day four and will be the target for any underdogs in the later stages on day four.

There were also stress-free wins for Krzysztof Kciuk, Jermaine Wattimena and Joe Cullen, who all found themselves raring to go in the last 16, not for the first time in the Winter Series.

Last 16

Back-to-back winner one day one and two of the Winter Series, Michael Smith was denied a spot in day four’s quarter-finals by Welshman Jonny Clayton. Like Gerwyn Price, Clayton is fresh off the back of a World Cup win representing Wales and has made his first major statement of the Winter Series, beating Smith 6-4.

Peter ‘Snakebite’ Wright continued to press on, on day four. The Scot with a comfortable 6-1 thrashing over Ricky Evans and his quarter-final tie with Jermaine Wattimena is set to be the game of the day.

Adrian Lewis made sure he ploughed on to the quarter-finals with a 6-3 win over Ryan Searle. ‘Jackpot’ has been one of the star performers on day four, knocking out Simon Whitlock and Michael Van Gerwen and will be preparing to advance to the final four in his quarter-final tie against Ryan Murray.

Jose De Sousa didn’t find any time to stop his brilliant displays at the Winter Series in his 6-3 win over Brendan Dolan. Whilst Damon Heta knocked out Nathan Aspinall and Joe Cullen progressed for a second consecutive day with a 6-5 win over Simon Stevenson.

Quarter-Finals

Adrian Lewis, Jose De Sousa, Joe Cullen and Peter Wright reached the semi-finals after progressing past the last 8 on day four.

‘Jackpot’ finally looked like the classic Adrian Lewis we know and love. His perseverance to bounce back after a tough starting few days in this week’s Winter Series, has to be admired. We always knew this Lewis was in there, it just maybe took a win over world number one, Michael Van Gerwen to bring him out. He progressed to the semi-final for the first time in a ProTour event since February, winning 6-3 against Ryan Murray.

The likelihood of another English winner, to match ‘Bully Boy’ Michael Smith’s triumph in the first two days of the Winter Series, grew when Joe Cullen prevailed in his encounter with Damon Heta, winning 6-2 against the Australian, who before the day started was third in the Order of Merit table for the Winter Series so far.

In the other two ties, Peter Wright and Jose De Sousa continued their solid Winter Series runs by progressing against Jermaine Wattimena and Jonny Clayton respectively.

Semi-Finals

Adrian Lewis’ spectacular run to the last 4 on day four came to an end at the expense of Portuguese soft tip wonder, Jose De Sousa. De Sousa has arguably had one of the best Winter Series so far and progressed to his second final in three days, beating ‘Jackpot’ 7-5 in their matchup, with both players posting averages above the 100 mark. ‘The Special One’ will be looking to add to his European Tour triumph with his first Players Championship title as he faces Peter Wright in the final.

Peter Wright also reached the final with a 7-1 thrashing over Joe Cullen, knocking out any hope for an all-English final. Wright is looking to add another title to his marvellous collection in 2020 so far, as ‘Snakebite’ reached his first final of the Winter Series.

Final

After a gruelling matchup between Wright and De Sousa, It was ‘Snakebite’ who came out on top in the deciding leg, producing an eleven darter to finish, after the game was tied at 7-7. It was perfection personified for Wright who has blossomed into one of the world’s best in 2020, producing under the most pressurised of moments.

Wright had gone behind against De Sousa early on and his remedy for the comeback kick-start was actual changing his darts mid-final, something not many players can get away with. It was by far the closest final of the Winter Series so far with both players performing to the best of their ability. You have to say, for De Sousa, he’s come out unlucky in the Winter Series at times. ‘The Special One’, reached the final on day two but was beaten by Michael Smith and to make it all the way to another final and be greeted by the immense stopping power of ‘Snakebite’ must have been a tough challenge to go about. De Sousa can be proud but Wright again showed why he’s one of the best, nearing the final few Pro Tours of 2020, Wright can be immensely proud of his achievements in the past 12 months.