STEVE BEATON claimed his first tournament win since 2001 with a 6-1 defeat of Wes Newton in Saturday’s Players Championship in Nuland.

 

The former Embassy Champion’s last title came at the JR & Vauxhall Open in Great Yarmouth in 2001, but he continued his renaissance with a fine showing in Holland.

 

Having reached a Players Championship final in Austria last month, losing to Jamie Caven, he went one better this time around to claim the £6,000 Players Championship title.

 

Beaton began Saturday’s event with a 6-4 win over Wayne Mardle, hitting a 170 finish to claim victory, and then whitewashed Dennis Smith before seeing off Denis Ovens and Steve Hine.

 

He was a 6-4 victor against Kevin Painter in the quarter-finals, and produced an impressive display to see off Vincent van der Voort 6-1 in the semis.

 

The 45-year-old then came from a leg down to defeat Wes Newton in the decider.

 

Newton took advantage of four missed doubles to win the opening leg, but could do little as the next two went to Beaton on double 16.

 

Misses from Newton were punished as Beaton took a 3-1 lead, before he landed 180s in taking the next two legs, and then sealed victory on double 16.

 

“It’s brilliant,” said Beaton. “It’s been a long time coming for me but I’ve been desperate to win an event and come close a few times recently.

 

“I know I can still do it and it’s about putting it together on the day and performing, and I did that today.

 

“We always say there are no easy games but to draw Wayne Mardle in the first round, when he’s scrapping to stay in the top 16, was massive and that was a big win.

 

“I had tough games throughout the day against top players and that’s another bonus.”

 

In-form Newton reached his third PDC Pro Tour final inside three months with his run, which included a 6-4 win over Adrian Lewis in the semi-finals.

 

He also overcame York’s Chris Thompson 6-5 in the last eight, and defeated Toon Greebe, Jyhan Artut, Roland Scholten and Colin Monk in the event.

 

Gary Anderson inflicted a 6-2 win on world number two Raymond van Barneveld in his run to the quarter-finals, while world number three James Wade was defeated in a deciding leg by Gibraltar’s Dylan Duo.

 

Players Championship (Nuland)

Preliminary Round

Michael Rosenauer 6-0 Tony Blundell

Tony Ayres 6-4 Adrian Gray

Remco van Eijden 6-1 Neil Dickson

 

First Round

Colin Osborne (1) 6-0 Gerard Klijn

Willem Kralt 6-3 Chris Loudon

Peter Wright (32) 6-1 Louis Blundell

John Part 6-4 Michael Rosenauer

Brendan Dolan 6-3 Andy Smith (16)

Christian van Overdijk 6-1 Ingo Vogt

Vincent van der Voort (17) 6-0 Michael Kinzelbach

Justin Pipe 6-2 Richard van Zijtveld

Jamie Caven (8) 6-2 Nandor Bezzeg

Kirk Shepherd 6-3 Mark Carter

Tony Eccles (25) 6-1 Daniel de Boer

Bryan de Hoog 6-2 Andreas Krockel

Alan Tabern (9) 6-4 Rocco Maes

Andree Welge 6-2 Achmed Ahmaddi

Mario Masurka 6-4 Peter Manley (24)

Arron Monk 6-1 Simon Craven

Terry Jenkins (5) 6-3 Jan van der Rassel

Steve Brown 6-1 Par Riihonen

Steve Hine (28) 6-4 Mensur Suljovic

Andreas Sterk 6-1 Erwin Extercatte

Steve Beaton (12) 6-4 Wayne Mardle

Dennis Smith 6-1 Wilchard Vissers

Denis Ovens (21) 6-4 Johnny Okken

Richie Burnett 6-3 Michael Barnard

Robert Thornton (4) 6-4 Wim Mink

Jordy Terburg 6-4 Didier de Vuyst

Matt Clark (29) 6-2 Hermie van Orsouw

Braulio Roncero 6-5 Robin Ferdinandus

Andy Hamilton (13) 6-3 Eimardo van Engelen

Steve Maish 6-2 Colin Rice

Kevin Painter (20) 6-1 Dave Ladley

Andy Fordham 6-0 Harold Wieleman

Mark Walsh (2) 6-3 Hannes Schnier

Leon de Geus 6-4 John Quantock

Barrie Bates (31) 6-4 Ken Dobson

Toon Greebe 6-3 Tony Ayres

Wes Newton (15) 6-2 Colin Monk

Roland Scholten 6-2 Gino Vos

Michael van Gerwen (18) 6-5 Mark Stephenson

Jyhan Artut 6-1 Maik Langendorf

James Wade (7) 6-5 Nick Fullwell

Mark Webster 6-1 Rolf Kaiser

Carlos Rodriguez (26) 6-5 Mark Frost

Dylan Duo 6-2 Karsten Kornath

Wayne Jones (10) 6-1 Jean-Paul van Acker

James Barton 6-5 Stephen Hardy

Martyn Turner 6-5 Jelle Klaasen (23)

Chris Thompson 6-3 Alex Roy

Gary Anderson (6) 6-1 Barry Zander

Rick Lowther 6-4 Steve Grubb

Co Stompe (27) 6-2 Marko Puls

Erwin Renkema 6-0 Gabriela Gobel

Karsten Koch 6-4 Mervyn King (11)

Raymond van Barneveld 6-2 Christoph Stehmann

Andy Jenkins (22) 6-5 Mick McGowan

Steve Evans 6-4 Rico Dera

Adrian Lewis (3) 6-4 Dick van Dijk

Bas Smits 6-4 Joe Cullen

Kevin McDine (30) 6-3 Markus Schonbein

Remco van Eijden 6-5 Danny Lanooij

Mark Dudbridge (14) 6-2 Darren Johnson

Pim van Veenendal 6-4 Andy Relf

Paul Nicholson (19) 6-0 Jurgen Lechtken

Patrick Bulen 6-4 Kevin Munch

 

Second Round

Willem Kralt 6-2 Colin Osborne

John Part 6-5 Peter Wright

Christian van Overdijk 6-5 Brendan Dolan

Vincent van der Voort 6-3 Justin Pipe

Jamie Caven 6-4 Kirk Shepherd

Tony Eccles 6-5 Bryan de Hoog

Alan Tabern 6-5 Andree Welge

Arron Monk 6-2 Mario Masurka

Terry Jenkins 6-4 Steve Brown

Steve Hine 6-2 Andreas Sterk

Steve Beaton 6-0 Dennis Smith

Denis Ovens 6-4 Richie Burnett

Robert Thornton 6-5 Jordy Terburg

Braulio Roncero 6-4 Matt Clark

Steve Maish 6-2 Andy Hamilton

Kevin Painter 6-2 Andy Fordham

Mark Walsh 6-2 Leon de Geus

Toon Greebe 6-2 Barrie Bates

Wes Newton 6-3 Roland Scholten

Jyhan Artut 6-3 Michael van Gerwen

James Wade 6-0 Mark Webster

Dylan Duo 6-4 Carlos Rodriguez

Wayne Jones 6-1 James Barton

Chris Thompson 6-1 Martyn Turner

Gary Anderson 6-3 Rick Lowther

Co Stompe 6-4 Erwin Renkema

Raymond van Barneveld 6-1 Karsten Koch

Andy Jenkins 6-1 Steve Evans

Adrian Lewis 6-2 Bas Smits

Remco van Eijden 6-3 Kevin McDine

Mark Dudbridge 6-4 Pim van Veenendal

Paul Nicholson 6-4 Patrick Bulen

Losers £200

 

Third Round

Willem Kralt 6-4 John Part

Vincent van der Voort 6-2 Christian van Overdijk

Jamie Caven 6-2 Tony Eccles

Alan Tabern 6-3 Arron Monk

Steve Hine 6-4 Terry Jenkins

Steve Beaton 6-4 Denis Ovens

Robert Thornton 6-5 Braulio Roncero

Kevin Painter 6-5 Steve Maish

Toon Greebe 6-1 Mark Walsh

Wes Newton 6-4 Jyhan Artut

Dylan Duo 6-5 James Wade

Chris Thompson 6-2 Wayne Jones

Gary Anderson 6-2 Co Stompe

Raymond van Barneveld 6-0 Andy Jenkins

Adrian Lewis 6-3 Remco van Eijden

Paul Nicholson 6-3 Mark Dudbridge

Losers £300

 

Fourth Round

Vincent van der Voort 6-3 Willem Kralt

Alan Tabern 6-4 Jamie Caven

Steve Beaton 6-1 Steve Hine

Kevin Painter 6-2 Robert Thornton

Wes Newton 6-5 Toon Greebe

Chris Thompson 6-0 Dylan Duo

Gary Anderson 6-2 Raymond van Barneveld

Adrian Lewis 6-1 Paul Nicholson

Losers £400

 

Quarter-Finals

Vincent van der Voort 6-5 Alan Tabern

Steve Beaton 6-4 Kevin Painter

Wes Newton 6-5 Chris Thompson

Adrian Lewis 6-3 Gary Anderson

Losers £800

 

Semi-Finals

Steve Beaton 6-2 Vincent van der Voort

Wes Newton 6-4 Adrian Lewis

Losers £1,500

 

Final

Steve Beaton 6-1 Wes Newton

Winner £6,000

Runner-Up £3,000

 

Match Reports

Semi-Finals

Steve Beaton defeated Vincent van der Voort 6-2 to reach his second Players Championship final inside two months. Beaton took out 122 on the bull to break throw in the opening leg before the Dutchman hit back in the second, hitting a 180 and double 16. Beaton took advantage of missed doubles to win the third on double two, hit the same bed to move 3-1 up and also won the next two legs to move four clear. Double eight kept van der Voort in the game, but he missed double top in the next and Beaton took out double four for the match.

Wes Newton’s run of form continued with a 6-4 win over Adrian Lewis – seeing him reach a third Players Championship final since the summer. Newton took the first two legs to lead, before Lewis posted a 180 and double eight to get off the mark. Newton missed doubles in the next to lead 4-1, with Lewis cutting the gap to 3-2 on double four. Lewis then missed the bull to level, as Newton took out double 16 to move 4-2 up. Lewis produced a fine 120 finish, with Newton waiting on 40 in the next, before double top saw him pull level at 4-4. Newton, however, took the ninth leg in 14 darts and punished three misses from Lewis to seal victory on double ten.

 

Final

Steve Beaton came from a leg down to defeat Wes Newton in the final and claim his first title since 2001. Newton took advantage of four missed doubles to win the opening leg, but could do little as the next two went to Beaton on double 16. Misses from Newton were punished as Beaton took a 3-1 lead, before he landed 180s in taking the next two legs, and then sealed victory on double 16.

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