Nathan Aspinall cruised into the next round of the PDC's Home Tour after winning all three games in his group despite suffering from an ankle injury.
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The world number seven was aiming to avoid the same fate as Peter Wright, Gerwyn Price and Michael Smith, who all crashed out across the opening nine days of the online tournament, but wasn't in the best shape after suffering an ankle ligament strain while out for a run last week.
Ultimately, though, Aspinall was too strong for his group rivals in all three matches, beating both Steve Brown and Ryan Joyce 5-2 with averages in the 90s while a mark of 85 was easily enough to brush aside a struggling Simon Stevenson 5-1 to seal his 100% record.
The 2019 UK Open and US Darts Masters champion said: "I hadn't thrown a dart since Tuesday and was worried about how I'd play but overall I'm happy with three wins out of three."
ASPINALL WINS THE GROUP! 🏆
— PDC Darts (@OfficialPDC) April 26, 2020
Nathan Aspinall seals a perfect night with a 5-1 win over Simon Stevenson, making it three wins from three to take the Group Ten title! pic.twitter.com/Kb3Ai2AzEw
Aspinall kicked off the night in style with a 148 checkout in the opening leg of the match and never let his advantage slip but his best overall performance came against Joyce, who had just seen off Stevenson 5-2.
The Stockport ace averaged almost 99 and threw three maximums during the triumph which meant he only needed two legs - despite hardly being able to walk on two - in his final match guarantee top spot.
He did that without hardly breaking sweat, with Stevenson averaging just 66 to cap a disappointing night in which he was also beaten 5-1 by Brown, who finished runner-up.
Brown, who entertained fans on social media earlier in the day by recording a walk-on in his own home, found himself 3-0 down against Joyce only to stage a stunning comeback by winning five legs on the trot.
BIG WALK ON #Dattsathome @OfficialPDC @DanDartsDawson 🤠 pic.twitter.com/6q75nGLEgT
— Steve Brown (@steve180brown) April 26, 2020
- Each night’s action begins at 1930 BST, and will include webcam footage of each player and their dart board, live score graphics and commentary from Dan Dawson. All PDC Home Tour action will be broadcast live on PDCTV for FREE to ALL registered PDCTV users, regardless of whether you have a paid or free membership
PDC Home Tour Darts: Sunday results and Monday Fixtures
Play begins at 1930 BST each night
Best of nine legs
Click here for Sky Bet odds
Group 10 Results - Sunday April 26
- Nathan Aspinall 5-2 Steve Brown
- Ryan Joyce 5-2 Simon Stevenson
- Steve Brown 5-1 Simon Stevenson
- Nathan Aspinall 5-2 Ryan Joyce
- Ryan Joyce 3-5 Steve Brown
- Simon Stevenson 1-5 Nathan Aspinall
GROUP STANDINGS
- Nathan Aspinall P 3 W 3 L 0 Leg Diff +10 Pts 6
- Steve Brown P 3 W 2 L 1 Leg Diff +3 Pts 4
- Ryan Joyce P 3 W 1 L 2 Leg Diff -2 Pts 2
- Simon Stevenson P 3 W 0 L 3 Leg Diff -11 Pts 0
Group 11 Fixtures - Monday April 27
- Simon Whitlock v Mike van Duivenbode
- Kirk Shepherd v Alan Tabern
- Mike van Duivenbode v Alan Tabern
- Simon Whitlock v Kirk Shepherd
- Kirk Shepherd v Mike van Duivenbode
- Alan Tabern v Simon Whitlock
GROUP STANDINGS
- Simon Whitlock P 0 W 0 L 0 Leg Diff +0 Pts 0
- Mike van Duivenbode P 0 W 0 L 0 Leg Diff +0 Pts 0
- Kirk Shepherd P 0 W 0 L 0 Leg Diff +0 Pts 0
- Alan Tabern P 0 W 0 L 0 Leg Diff +0 Pts 0
