Nathan Aspinall leapfrogged Jose De Sousa by winning their shootout for Group Seven, earning a semi-final berth in the PDC Home Tour.
Both men had won their first two matches, in almost identically convincing scorelines, to co-author the most simple equation in sport: the winner takes it all.
And it was Aspinall who came out on top, finding more after De Sousa took back-to-back legs to draw level at 4-4, and going on to win 6-4.
ASPINALL WINS THE GROUP!
— PDC Darts (@OfficialPDC) June 1, 2020
Nathan Aspinall beats Jose De Sousa 6-4 to book his place in the Semi-Finals of the @low6bet Home Tour Play-Offs!
Three straight wins for The Asp.#Low6Playoffs pic.twitter.com/5DuKRC0SDc
This was far away from the bright lights and big noise of Alexandra Palace, but his experience of pressure matches there surely helped as he took what proved to be the final two legs of a tense match.
It was hard on De Sousa, who earlier in the evening had rattled off six legs in succession to beat Jamie Hughes 6-1, and then condemned Jesús Noguera to another 6-4 defeat after he'd already lost by that scoreline to Aspinall.
Aspinall was a 6-2 winner against Hughes to set up a thrilling climax which went right to the wire before the higher-ranked player showed just why he's considered one of the toughest opponents on the circuit - at home, or away.
PDC Home Tour Darts: Monday results and Tuesday fixtures
Group Seven - Monday June 1
- Nathan Aspinall 6-4 Jesús Noguera
- Jamie Hughes 1-6 Jose De Sousa
- Jesús Noguera 4-6 Jose De Sousa
- Nathan Aspinall 6-2 Jamie Hughes
- Jamie Hughes 6-4 Jesús Noguera
- Jose De Sousa 4-6 Nathan Aspinall
GROUP STANDINGS
- Nathan Aspinall P 3 W 3 L 0 Leg Diff +8 Pts 6
- Jose De Sousa P 3 W 2 L 1 Leg Diff +5 Pts 4
- Jamie Hughes P 3 W 1 L 2 Leg Diff -7 Pts 2
- Jesús Noguera P 3 W 0 L 3 Leg Diff -6 Pts 0
ASPINALL WINS THE GROUP!🏆
— PDC Darts (@OfficialPDC) June 1, 2020
Nathan Aspinall has won Group Seven of the @low6bet Home Tour Play-Offs!
The former UK Open champ defeated Jose De Sousa 6-4 in the group decider in the last game of the night. pic.twitter.com/1FdQWCp2UZ
Group Eight - Tuesday June 2
- Jonny Clayton v Scott Waites
- Max Hopp v Carl Wilkinson
- Scott Waites v Carl Wilkinson
- Jonny Clayton v Max Hopp
- Max Hopp v Scott Waites
- Carl Wilkinson v Jonny Clayton
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