Vinny breaks his duck

Grease Lightning celebrates three years in PDC by winning in Germany

Last updated: 7th March 2010   Subscribe to RSS Feed

Vinny breaks his duck

van der Voort: First victory

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Dutchman Vincent van der Voort celebrated his maiden title victory in the PDC by claiming the German Darts Classic Players Championship in Gladbeck on Saturday.

The rapid-fire Dutchman defeated Wolverhampton's Wayne Jones 6-2 in the final to claim a first tournament success as he celebrated three years in the PDC.

It was a fourth final for van der Voort who had lost his previous three, two of them on the PDC ProTour and the 2007 UK Open final.

The Dutchman showed some fine form in Gladbeck, Germany, to win through to the final, whitewashing Steven Marckowiak in his opening game before seeing off Dennis Smith, Andy Smith and Mark Walsh to reach the quarter-finals - missing double 12 for a nine-darter against the latter.

He overcame Mark Dudbridge 6-3 in the last eight before edging out Kevin Painter 6-5 in a thrilling semi-final.

Fast start

In the final, it was van der Voort who began well to lead 2-0, breaking Jones' throw in the opening leg and landing double six in the second, and the pair traded double eight finishes to leave the Dutch star 3-1 up.

Jones hit a 12-darter, featuring a 180 and a 102 finish, to pull back to 3-2, but van der Voort replied in 14 darts, hit a 180 and double top to lead 5-2 and sealed the win in the next on double eight.

The defeat was Jones' third in a PDC ProTour final inside a year and once more saw him denied a maiden PDC title.

His run to the final included narrow 6-5 wins over John Michael and Colin Lloyd as well as a victory over Wes Newton, before he overcame Jamie Caven 6-3 in the semis, having trailed 2-0 to the Derby man before a brace of double 18 finishes saw him level.

Caven led 3-2, but Jones punished a miss from his opponent to win the next, hit a 13-darter to lead for the first time and then won the next two without reply to move into the final.