Players Championship Eight: Mickey Mansell beats Adrian Lewis in the final

12:11 · MON April 09, 2018

Mickey Mansell claimed his maiden PDC title with a 6-4 win over Adrian Lewis in the final of Players Championship Eight at the Barnsley Metrodome on Sunday.

The Northern Irishman dropped only 10 legs throughout a quite incredible run to the title and claimed the £10,000 prize by beating Adrian Lewis, who was a beaten finalist in Players Championship Seven the day before.

Mansell’s victory may come as a surprise to some after the 44-year-old had lost in the first round the day before. However, there seemed to be no hangover from that result as Mansell won his opening two matches 6-0 against Kim Huybrechts and then Gary Eastwood.

A 6-1 win against Alan Norris followed before Mansell went on to seal yet another whitewash win, this time against Robert Thornton to progress in to the last eight.

Gerwyn Price awaited in the quarter-finals but once again the former World Cup semi-finalist was too strong, running out a 6-3 winner.

Josh Payne, a former winner on the Pro Tour was the man from Clonoe’s opponent in the last four but a 94 average was enough to see Mansell over the line and reach his first PDC ranking final.

The decider saw Mansell clash with two-time World Champion Adrian Lewis who backed up his run to the final of Players Championship Seven by repeating the feat on Sunday, as his return to form continues.

Sunday’s final was a tense affair with both players trading holds of throw but a crucial moment came in the third leg where Mansell left 100 but strayed in to the treble one with his first dart, the Northern Irishman then pinned the treble 19 and with Lewis waiting to pounce for a break, found tops with his final dart to hold.

Further holds of throw followed but with the score at 5-4 and Lewis sat on 18 having missed darts to hold Mickey Mansell found tops to claim the title.

"I know I can play well but the problem is consistency, everyone here can beat everyone else but it’s consistency that separates the top guys from the rest," said Mansell.

"For Adrian to make the final today after doing it yesterday is amazing and it shows what champions are made of.

"Believe it or not but I think the best game I played was the first one against Kim, it set me up for the rest of the day, I put him under pressure and thought that was the best I played all day,” added the eventual winner.

Mansell, who had not made a Players Championship semi-final since 2010 also discussed how experience played a part in his victory.

"I've had some great results against the top players before so I’ve got the experience and I've got that mentality that I know I can beat them.

"I’ve been struggling, theres no point saying anything different but it would have been great to say I made the final but to win it over all the amazing players is incredible," concluded the man who became the 70th individual winner of a Pro Tour title.

The second final defeat in the space of 24 hours denied Adrian Lewis his first PDC title since 2017 but his run pushes him closer to a return to the world’s top 16.

Wins by scorelines of 6-2 against Jeffrey de Zwaan and then Gabriel Clemens got the day under way for the 33-year-old before beating Luke Humphries and Keegan Brown to reach the quarter-finals.

James Wilson was no match for Lewis in the last eight, losing 6-2 to the former UK Open Champion.

The semi-final saw perhaps Lewis’ most impressive performance as he averaged 105 in his 6-1 win over Simon Whitlock.

Lewis' victory moved him in to the final but it was to be Mickey Mansell’s day in the end.