THIRD TIME LUCKY FOR NEWTON!
WES NEWTON won through to the Championship League Darts Winners Group at the third time of asking as he defeated Dave Chisnall 6-4 in Thursday's Group Three final of the internet-streamed event.
The Fleetwood ace had been a semi-finalist in Tuesday's Group One of the £200,000 tournament before finishing sixth in the Group Two table, but went all the way in Group Three to seal a place in October's big-money Winners Group.
Newton won four of his seven league games to finish in third place in the eight-player league table, but produced some superb finishing to defeat Kim Huybrechts 6-3 in their semi-final - hitting finishes of 150 and 126 at key moments in winning four straight legs from 3-2 down.
He then proved the stronger in the final against Chisnall, who had also competed in the previous two days of action at Crondon Park GC in Essex.
Chisnall actually led in the final, winning the opening leg on tops, but Newton hit the same bed to level and then finished 83 to punish misses from the St Helens ace to move 2-1 up.
Chisnall landed double 16 to level at two-all, but Newton - like in his semi-final - produced a killer blow as he finished 121 on the bull and tops to move 4-2 up.
The world number seven again replied, finishing 103 and double five to level, but Newton hit tops to move back in front and sealed victory by landing double six for a 14-darter.
"It was a tough final," said Newton. "It's been a tough three days - I'm playing against the best players in the world day-in, day-out for three days on the trot, and I'm over the moon to get through, it means a lot to me. Survival is an achievement [in the early days] but I knew I was playing really well in the group stages and that I had to keep it going. It's really tiring but I dug deep and kept going. I was very tired this morning and I think it's an achievement for both myself and Dave to get to the final having been in from Group One. In the semi-final against Kim, he was scoring better than me and I managed to take my chances. I took a 150 out and a 126 out two legs on the trot, when he was on a double both times, but it was a killer for Kim. I'm happy to be through to the Winners Group for the second year in a row. This is a really tough tournament - the toughest I've been in - but there's a lot of money to be won and I want to go one step further now and try to win it. I was in the Winners Group and I've been there before, so it's time to kick in and draw on my experience. Every tournament I go in, I want to win it, and it's there to be won."
Chisnall will now return to compete in Group Four after next month's partypoker.com World Grand Prix, having produced a brilliant second half of the day to reach the Play-Offs.
He had lost his opening four matches, but only dropped four legs in his final three games as he snatched fourth place ahead of Mervyn King and Kevin Painter.
Chisnall then came from 4-2 down to win 6-4 against Michael van Gerwen in his semi-final, claiming victory with a 112 finish as he punished the Dutchman for a string of missed doubles.
Van Gerwen had topped the Group Three league table with six wins from his seven games, including an outstanding 113 average in a 6-1 win over Chisnall during the league stage.
The world number two also hit a 110 average in his only league defeat as he went down to Huybrechts, who hit six 180s and a 107 average in a 6-4 triumph during a superb Championship League Darts debut.
The Belgian won his opening four games in impressive style and also won six of his seven league games, but his semi-final defeat means that he returns for Group Four next month.
King's 6-3 win over Newton in the final round of league games saw him avoid elimination at the expense of Brendan Dolan, who played some fine darts on the day but was knocked out along with Adrian Lewis.
World number three Lewis had been the runner-up in Group One, but picked up just one victory on Thursday as he was knocked out, although he claimed 5,900 pound prize money for his three days in the event.
The tournament will resume following the partypoker.com World Grand Prix with Group Four on Tuesday October 15, as Terry Jenkins, Peter Wright and Gary Anderson join Thursday's five survivors, with Group Five and Group Six following in the next three days of the event.
Group Seven will be held on Tuesday October 22, with Group Eight on Wednesday October 23 before the big-money Winners Group is held on Thursday October 24.
There will be one change for Group Eight, with Colin Osborne, the 2009 Championship League Darts winner, coming in to replace Vincent van der Voort, who has withdrawn from the event due to a potential clash of the Winners Group with the Host Nation Qualifier for the Dutch Darts Masters European Tour event should he have progressed through his group.