Results Day One - PDC Winter Series: Smith takes opening day title with victory over Wattimena (Live Blog closed)
PDC
The 19th Players Championship event of the season will be played during the first day of the PDC Winter Series. All results can be followed in our live blog.
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The PDC Winter Series consists of five Players Championship tournaments from November 10-14. All results during this five-day event count towards the PDC Winter Series Order of Merit.
Update 20:00 - Smith takes opening day title with victory over Wattimena
Michael Smith is the winner on the opening day of the PDC Winter Series defeating Jermaine Wattimena in the final. Read about it below.
Thanks for joining us for the opener in Coventry, back at 2pm tomorrow!
Update 19:25 - Wattimena hits 112 average in superb win over Dolan, will face Smith in final
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The final is confirmed on the opening day of the PDC Winter Series with Jermaine Wattimena who will look for his first PDC ranking title set to face Michael Smith.
Wattimena produced a sensational display to defeat Brendan Dolan. 'Machine Gun' lived up to his moniker with a rapid fire performance which saw him averaging upwards of 120 for most of the tie.
This included multiple 12-darters in a row and an 11-darter and was capped off with a 130 checkout to claim the 7-3 win with a 112.2 average.
While for Smith, it wasn't as straight forward for the St Helens ace as he edged past Jose de Sousa in a 7-5 victory. He hit a 98.3 average but had to survive a comeback from 6-4 up against 'The Special One'.
As the latter missed a chance at a 41 in the penultimate leg, Smith cleaned up pinning double 20 with the relief etched on his face.
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Semi-Finals
Jermaine Wattimena (112.2) 7 | 3 (96.8) Brendan Dolan
Jose de Sousa (96.1) 5 | 7 (98.3) Michael Smith
Final
Jermaine Wattimena - | - Michael Smith
Update 18:45 - Delightful De Sousa dispels Wright, set for semi-final clash with Smith
The semi-final line-up at Players Championship 19 in the first day of the Winter Series has been confirmed with Jose de Sousa set to face Michael Smith in a quality clash.
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This is after De Sousa defeated Peter Wright in a superb win for the 'Special One' who hit a 107.6 average in a 6-3 win over the World Champion.
He will now aim for a first Players Championship title of the year after claiming a European Tour triumph for the first time and it is 'Bully Boy' who awaits him.
Smith hasn't had much luck on the Players Championship series this year with early exits mostly to Boris Krcmar being the route but now he got past him early on, he has played well all day.
A 90 average saw him over the line 6-2 against Conan 'The Barbarian' Whitehead who has had another good run.
In the other half, it is another good day for Brendan Dolan. 'The History Maker' returned to form and the winners' circle with two titles on the ProTour last year and he will aim to do the same again.
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He breezed past Damon Heta 6-0 with a 101 average but will now play 'Machine Gun' Jermaine Wattimena who produced a 104 average in defeating his compatriot Vincent van der Voort. Who will take glory in Coventry?
Quarter-Finals
Jermaine Wattimena (104.5) 6 | 3 (95.6) Vincent van der Voort
Brendan Dolan (101.3) 6 | 0 (93.4) Damon Heta
Peter Wright (100.8) 3 | 6 (107.6) Jose De Sousa
Michael Smith (90.4) 6 | 2 (79.2) Conan Whitehead
Semi-Finals
Jermaine Wattimena - | - Brendan Dolan
Jose de Sousa - | - Michael Smith
Update 18:15 - Wright v De Sousa and Dolan v Heta among Quarter-Finals
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The Quarter-Final line-up has been confirmed on the opening day of the PDC Winter Series with Peter Wright v Jose de Sousa and Brendan Dolan against Damon Heta among the ties.
Wright averaged 104 as he saw off Dimitri van den Bergh in a 6-4 victory. He will now take on 'The Special One' who defeated Danny Noppert 6-3.
Damon Heta won his maiden PDC title on the last lot of PDC ProTours and he will aim for another one as a tie with Brendan Dolan awaits who cruised past Toni Alcinas 6-1.
There is also an all Dutch encounter as Vincent van der Voort ended a superb debut for Jim Williams with a 6-5 win while Jermaine Wattimena eased past Simon Stevenson. There is also the matter of Michael Smith against Conan Whitehead.
Last 16
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Vincent van der Voort 6 | 5 Jim Williams
Jermaine Wattimena 6 | 1 Simon Stevenson
Brendan Dolan 6 | 1 Toni Alcinas
Damon Heta 6 | 1 Ron Meulenkamp
Peter Wright 6 | 4 Dimitri Van den Bergh
Jose De Sousa 6 | 3 Danny Noppert
Conan Whitehead 6 | 2 William Borland
Michael Smith 6 | 4 Joe Cullen
Quarter-Finals
Vincent van der Voort - | - Jermaine Wattimena
Brendan Dolan - | - Damon Heta
Peter Wright - | - Jose de Sousa
Conan Whitehead - | - Michael Smith
Update 17:40 - Wright, Smith and De Sousa among players through to Last 16
The Last 16 line-up has been confirmed on the opening day of the PDC Winter Series with the likes of Peter Wright, Jose de Sousa and Michael Smith all still involved in Coventry.
Wright continues to show his status as potentially the player to beat today with a 6-2 victory over Adam Hunt with a 106.8 average. A tie against Dimitri van den Bergh awaits 'Snakebite'.
De Sousa averaged 100 and defied a 104 average from Andy Boulton to win through 6-3. While Smith hit 105.8 in easing past Ryan Murray 6-2.
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There were also impressive wins for Damon Heta who averaged 104 in seeing off Krzysztof Ratajski 6-5, Toni Alcinas with a surprise 103 average in defeating James Wade 6-2 and Jermaine Wattimena hitting 102 in a 6-5 win over Luke Humphries.
While Jim Williams continued an impressive ProTour debut with a 6-2 win against Gabriel Clemens, a tie against Vincent van der Voort awaits with the winner taking on Simon Stevenson/Jermaine Wattimena, a big chance could await the Welshman.
Last 32
Vincent van der Voort 6 | 0 Martin Schindler
Jim Williams 6 | 2 Gabriel Clemens
Simon Stevenson 6 | 4 Scott Waites
Jermaine Wattimena 6 | 5 Luke Humphries
Toni Alcinas 6 | 2 James Wade
Brendan Dolan 6 | 2 Rob Cross
Krzysztof Ratajski 5 | 6 Damon Heta
Ron Meulenkamp 6 | 5 Jonny Clayton
Peter Wright 6 | 2 Adam Hunt
Dimitri Van den Bergh 6 | 1 Gavin Carlin
Jose De Sousa 6 | 3 Andy Boulton
Danny Noppert 6 | 4 Dirk van Duijvenbode
William Borland 6 | 5 Scott Taylor
Conan Whitehead 6 | 5 Keane Barry
Joe Cullen 6 | 5 James Wilson
Michael Smith 6 | 2 Ryan Murray
Last 16
Vincent van der Voort - | - Jim Williams
Simon Stevenson - | - Jermaine Wattimena
Toni Alcinas - | - Brendan Dolan
Damon Heta - | - Ron Meulenkamp
Peter Wright - | - Dimitri Van den Bergh
Jose De Sousa - | - Danny Noppert
William Borland - | - Conan Whitehead
Joe Cullen - | - Michael Smith
Update 17:00 - Van den Bergh, Waites and Clayton hit incredible averages as second round concludes
The second round is all but complete on the opening day of the PDC Winter Series and despite it being the first day back on the ProTour, the insane standard is already on show.
In particular from the World Matchplay champion, Dimitri van den Bergh who smashed in a 111 average to defeat Daryl Gurney 6-1.
There has also been brilliance from Scott Waites who saw off the in-form Devon Petersen 6-2 with a 106.7 average. Jonny Clayton went even higher with the World Cup of Darts champion defeating Derk Telnekes 6-1 with a 108 average.
Brendan Dolan is also in on the act with a 104.5 average in seeing off Kirk Shepherd 6-1. In terms of those also out alongside Gerwyn Price (below), Nathan Aspinall was defeated 6-3 by Scott Taylor only averaging 80.
But for Peter Wright, he is still in contention with a 6-1 win over Niels Zonneveld and will be one of the favourites to top the Winter Series Order of Merit at the end of today.
Last 64
Martin Schindler 6 | 2 Gerwyn Price
Vincent van der Voort 6 | 3 Alan Tabern
Gabriel Clemens 6 | 5 Kevin Doets
Jim Williams 6 | 4 Steve Beaton
Scott Waites 6 | 2 Devon Petersen
Simon Stevenson 6 | 5 Mickey Mansell
Jermaine Wattimena 6 | 3 Jelle Klaasen
Luke Humphries 6 | 5 Andy Hamilton
James Wade 6 | 5 Krzysztof Kciuk
Toni Alcinas 6 | 4 Simon Whitlock
Rob Cross 6 | 4 Jason Lowe
Brendan Dolan 6 | 1 Kirk Shepherd
Krzysztof Ratajski 6 | 2 John Henderson
Damon Heta 6 | 3 Luke Woodhouse
Ron Meulenkamp 6 | 4 Jan Dekker
Jonny Clayton 6 | 1 Derk Telnekes
Peter Wright 6 | 1 Niels Zonneveld
Adam Hunt 6 | 4 Chris Dobey
Gavin Carlin 6 | 4 Ricky Evans
Dimitri Van den Bergh 6 | 1 Daryl Gurney
Jose De Sousa 6 | 3 Keegan Brown
Andy Boulton 6 | 5 Ross Smith
Danny Noppert 6 | 5 Steve Lennon
Dirk van Duijvenbode 6 | 5 Christian Bunse
Scott Taylor 6 | 3 Nathan Aspinall
William Borland 6 | 5 William O'Connor
Keane Barry 6 | 5 Ritchie Edhouse
Conan Whitehead 6 | 4 Mervyn King
Joe Cullen 6 | 0 Mark McGeeney
James Wilson 6 | 3 Madars Razma
Michael Smith 6 | 2 Boris Krcmar
Ryan Murray 6 | 5 Stephen Bunting
Update 16:05 - Price dumped out by Schindler as second round begins
Just as the last darts were being thrown in the first round, Gerwyn Price was heading out of proceedings in Coventry. The World Number Three who was imperious at the Autumn Series in terms of the ProTour lost out to Martin Schindler who has been showing signs he is getting back towards his best as of late.
'The Wall' blocked the path of 'The Iceman' as he hit a 103.5 average in winning through 6-2 with Price down at 94.6.
Other early results include Keane Barry averaging 101.2 to defeat Ritchie Edhouse 6-5 in a battle of the secondary tour's best. While Michael Smith also avenged multiple defeats to the impressive Boris Krcmar defeating the Croatian 6-2.
Update 16:00 - Bunting and Whitlock impress as first round concludes
The first round has concluded on the first day of action at the PDC Winter Series with some standout wins to finish proceedings from the likes of Simon Whitlock and Stephen Bunting.
Whitlock has come off the back of a brilliant few months since the return of PDC action and saw off a familiar adversary in Richard North defeating him with a 98 average.
While Bunting faced off against another player very familiar to him just from the sheer amount of times he has faced him first round on the Players Championship series this year in Jeff Smith in despite a 102.9 average from the Canadian, it was 104 from the St Helens ace who won through 6-3.
Ross Smith also continued his brilliant form as of late by hitting a 100.5 average to defeat Darren Webster 6-2. While there was also victories for the likes of Daryl Gurney (6-5 vs. Steve West), Damon Heta (6-2 vs. Justin Pipe) and Luke Woodhouse (6-0 vs. Steve Brown).
Last 128
Gerwyn Price 6 | 1 Harald Leitinger
Martin Schindler 6 | 5 David Pallett
Vincent van der Voort 6 | 2 Maikel Verberk
Alan Tabern 6 | 1 Yordi Meeuwisse
Gabriel Clemens 6 | 5 Adrian Lewis
Kevin Doets 6 | 1 Martin Atkins (Wigan)
Steve Beaton 6 | 2 Ryan Searle
Jim Williams 6 | 3 Josh Payne
Devon Petersen 6 | 3 Mike De Decker
Scott Waites 6 | 4 Darius Labanauskas
Simon Stevenson 6 | 3 Martijn Kleermaker
Mickey Mansell 6 | 1 Gary Blades
Jermaine Wattimena 6 | 5 Ian White
Jelle Klaasen 6 | 5 Matthew Edgar
Andy Hamilton 6 | 5 Gary Anderson
Luke Humphries 6 | 1 Darren Penhall
James Wade 6 | 3 Karel Sedlacek
Krzysztof Kciuk 6 | 1 Jonathan Worsley
Toni Alcinas 6 | 3 Maik Kuivenhoven
Simon Whitlock 6 | 3 Richard North
Rob Cross 6 | 5 Nick Kenny
Jason Lowe 6 | 1 Matt Clark
Brendan Dolan 6 | 3 Reece Robinson
Kirk Shepherd 6 | 0 Lisa Ashton
Krzysztof Ratajski 6 | 5 Bradley Brooks
John Henderson 6 | 0 Barrie Bates
Damon Heta 6 | 2 Justin Pipe
Luke Woodhouse 6 | 0 Steve Brown
Jan Dekker 6 | 5 Glen Durrant
Ron Meulenkamp 6 | 4 Rowby-John Rodriguez
Jonny Clayton 6 | 3 Max Hopp
Derk Telnekes 6 | 2 David Evans
Peter Wright 6 | 2 Jeffrey De Zwaan
Niels Zonneveld 6 | 3 Kim Huybrechts
Chris Dobey 6 | 3 Ryan Meikle
Adam Hunt 6 | 4 Scott Mitchell
Ricky Evans 6 | 5 Jamie Hughes
Gavin Carlin 6 | 5 Daniel Larsson
Daryl Gurney 6 | 5 Steve West
Dimitri Van den Bergh 6 | 2 Aaron Beeney
Jose De Sousa 6 | 2 Jitse Van der Wal
Keegan Brown 6 | 3 Marko Kantele
Ross Smith 6 | 2 Darren Webster
Andy Boulton 6 | 3 Adrian Gray
Danny Noppert 6 | 4 Robert Thornton
Steve Lennon 6 | 4 Jesus Noguera
Dirk van Duijvenbode 6 | 5 Kai Fan Leung
Ted Evetts 6 | 3 Christian Bunse
Nathan Aspinall 6 | 2 Ciaran Teehan
Scott Taylor 6 | 3 Robert Collins
William O'Connor 6 | 0 Ryan Joyce
William Borland 6 | 5 Wayne Jones
Ritchie Edhouse 6 | 3 Dave Chisnall
Keane Barry 6 | 1 Scott Baker
Mervyn King 6 | 3 Richie Burnett
Conan Whitehead 6 | 1 Michael Barnard
Joe Cullen 6 | 5 Joe Murnan
Mark McGeeney 6 | 1 Peter Jacques
Madars Razma 6 | 3 Matthew Dennant
James Wilson 6 | 2 John Michael
Michael Smith 6 | 3 Callan Rydz
Boris Krcmar 6 | 4 Carl Wilkinson
Stephen Bunting 6 | 3 Jeff Smith
Ryan Murray 6 | 2 Benito van de Pas
Update 14:35 - Price and Wright ease through, Durrant and White out
The seeded players were the first to action on Day One of the PDC Winter Series and already we have had big names through but also out of proceedings.
Peter Wright who has not played since his European Championship triumph due to bowing out of the World Cup of Darts returned with a 6-2 victory over Jeffrey de Zwaan with a 105 average.
The opposite for Gerwyn Price who has come straight from Austria after glory in the World Cup of Darts and for the Welshman, it was a 6-1 win with a 100 average over Harald Leitinger.
For Premier League Champion, Glen Durrant though who is making his return after a bout of COVID-19 which he described as the toughest period of his life went flying into a 3-0 lead but lost out in a decider to Jan Dekker.
Ian White is also out losing to Jermaine Wattimena 6-5 in his opener. While there was also tight victories for Gabriel Clemens over Adrian Lewis (6-5), Rob Cross against Nick Kenny by the same scoreline.
While Dave Chisnall is also out after losing to Ritchie Edhouse who will make his tour return as a Tour Card holder next year after finishing second on the Challenge Tour. Jose de Sousa is also at it again with a 104 average in thumping Jitse van der Wal 6-2.
Gerwyn Price (100.7) 6 | 1 (82.3) Harald Leitinger
Gabriel Clemens (97.5) 6 | 5 (96.9) Adrian Lewis
Devon Petersen (90.4) 6 | 3 (84.1) Mike De Decker
Ian White (94.8) 5 | 6 (92.5) Jermaine Wattimena
James Wade (95.7) 6 | 3 (93.3) Karel Sedlacek
Rob Cross (87.8) 6 | 5 (90.1) Nick Kenny
Krzysztof Ratajski (99.6) 6 | 5 (93.8) Bradley Brooks
Glen Durrant (89.8) 5 | 6 (88.9) Jan Dekker
Peter Wright (105.1) 6 | 2 (92.7) Jeffrey De Zwaan
Jamie Hughes (84.5) 5 | 6 (86.8) Ricky Evans
Jose De Sousa (104.8) 6 | 2 (86.0) Jitse Van der Wal
Danny Noppert (93.3) 6 | 4 (85.4) Robert Thornton
Nathan Aspinall (97.5) 6 | 2 (84.6) Ciaran Teehan
Dave Chisnall (93.3) 3 | 6 (94.3) Ritchie Edhouse
Joe Cullen (88.2) 6 | 5 (88.6) Joe Murnan
Michael Smith (103.5) 6 | 3 (96.1) Callan Rydz
Update 13:45 - Tournament to kick off shortly
The tournament will get underway shortly as the board seeds will enter the oche. Gerwyn Price and Peter Wright are among the players who will come into action in the first batch of matches.
Gerwyn Price - | - Harald Leitinger
Gabriel Clemens - | - Adrian Lewis
Devon Petersen - | - Mike De Decker
Ian White - | - Jermaine Wattimena
James Wade - | - Karel Sedlacek
Rob Cross - | - Nick Kenny
Krzysztof Ratajski - | - Bradley Brooks
Glen Durrant - | - Jan Dekker
Peter Wright - | - Jeffrey De Zwaan
Jamie Hughes - | - Ricky Evans
Jose De Sousa - | - Jitse Van der Wal
Danny Noppert - | - Robert Thornton
Nathan Aspinall - | - Ciaran Teehan
Dave Chisnall - | - Ritchie Edhouse
Joe Cullen - | - Joe Murnan
Michael Smith - | - Callan Rydz
Update 13:15 - Draw released
The draw has been released for Day One of the PDC Winter Series in Coventry. Among the top ties are Peter Wright versus Jeffrey de Zwaan and Gary Anderson against Andy Hamilton. Adrian Lewis meets Gabriel Clemens, while number one seed Gerwyn Price faces Harald Leitinger.
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