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

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.

Players Championship Eight results

• Peter Wright 6-3 Wayne Jones
• Raymond van Barneveld 6-1 James Richardson
• Steve West 6-3 Joe Murnan
• Simon Preston 6-3 Jeffrey de Graaf
• Steve Lennon 6-5 Jonny Clayton
• Zoran Lerchbacher 6-4 Tony Newell
• Kyle Anderson 6-5 Robert Owen
• Mark Webster 6-1 Terry Jenkins
• Simon Whitlock 6-4 Jason Cullen
• Darren Johnson 6-4 Jarred Cole
• Vincent van der Voort 6-0 John Davey
• Michael Barnard 6-1 John Goldie
• Alan Tabern 6-5 Mervyn King
• Aden Kirk 6-2 Mark Dudbridge
• Benito van de Pas 6-4 Steve Hine
• Ryan Joyce 6-5 Ross Smith
• Dave Chisnall 6-1 Jan Dekker
• Mario Robbe 6-3 Mick McGowan
• Cristo Reyes 6-4 Bradley Brooks
• Devon Petersen 6-4 Ronny Huybrechts
• Robert Marijanovic 6-3 Darren Webster
• Kirk Shepherd 6-4 Dennis Nilsson
• James Wilson 6-2 Nathan Aspinall
• Dawson Murschell 6-2 Jamie Bain
• Joe Cullen 6-0 Terry Temple
• Dimitri Van den Bergh 6-1 Maik Langendorf
• Keegan Brown 6-5 Ted Evetts
• Jimmy Hendriks 6-3 Paul Rowley
• Stephen Bunting 6-0 Ron Meulenkamp
• Luke Humphries 6-2 George Killington
• Adrian Lewis 6-2 Jeffrey de Zwaan
• Gabriel Clemens 6-5 Ross Twell
• Michael Smith 6-1 Vincent Kamphuis
• Jamie Lewis 6-3 Ronnie Baxter
• Madars Razma 6-5 Chris Dobey
• Chris Quantock 6-4 John Part
• James Wade 6-2 Eddie Dootson
• Danny Noppert 6-2 Simon Stevenson
• Gerwyn Price 6-1 Luke Woodhouse
• Prakash Jiwa 6-4 Jose Justicia
• Gary Anderson 6-2 Rowby-John Rodriguez
• Robbie Green 6-5 Dirk van Duijvenbode
• Robert Thornton 6-0 Kevin Painter
• Kevin Burness 6-3 Ryan Harrington
• Mickey Mansell 6-0 Kim Huybrechts
• Gary Eastwood 6-5 Scott Taylor
• Alan Norris 6-4 Sven Groen
• Tytus Kanik 6-4 Scott Darbyshire
• Ian White 6-4 Paul Nicholson
• Max Hopp 6-5 Brendan Dolan
• Justin Pipe 6-3 Arron Monk
• Matthew Edgar 6-4 Stephen Burton
• Andrew Gilding 6-3 John Henderson
• Martin Atkins (Wigan) 6-4 Adam Huckvale
• Martin Schindler 6-4 Richard North
• Josh Payne 6-3 Jamie Caven
• Daryl Gurney 6-3 Mark Wilson
• Toni Alcinas 6-5 Ryan Searle
• Ritchie Edhouse 6-5 Jermaine Wattimena
• Adam Hunt 6-3 Peter Jacques
• Christian Kist 6-4 Jelle Klaasen
• Ricky Evans 6-2 Diogo Portela
• Steve Beaton 6-2 Jim Brown
• Peter Hudson 6-2 Ryan Meikle

Last 64

• Raymond van Barneveld 6-4 Peter Wright
• Steve West 6-4 Simon Preston
• Zoran Lerchbacher 6-4 Steve Lennon
• Mark Webster 6-4 Kyle Anderson
• Simon Whitlock 6-3 Darren Johnson
• Michael Barnard 6-4 Vincent van der Voort
• Alan Tabern 6-3 Aden Kirk
• Ryan Joyce 6-1 Benito van de Pas
• Mario Robbe 6-3 Dave Chisnall
• Devon Petersen 6-4 Cristo Reyes
• Kirk Shepherd 6-5 Robert Marijanovic
• James Wilson 6-5 Dawson Murschell
• Joe Cullen 6-4 Dimitri Van den Bergh
• Keegan Brown 6-5 Jimmy Hendriks
• Luke Humphries 6-3 Stephen Bunting
• Adrian Lewis 6-2 Gabriel Clemens
• Jamie Lewis 6-2 Michael Smith
• Madars Razma 6-4 Chris Quantock
• Danny Noppert 6-4 James Wade
• Gerwyn Price 6-1 Prakash Jiwa
• Gary Anderson 6-1 Robbie Green
• Robert Thornton 6-1 Kevin Burness
• Mickey Mansell 6-0 Gary Eastwood
• Alan Norris 6-1 Tytus Kanik
• Max Hopp 6-4 Ian White
• Justin Pipe 6-3 Matthew Edgar
• Andrew Gilding 6-4 Martin Atkins (Wigan)
• Josh Payne 6-3 Martin Schindler
• Toni Alcinas 6-4 Daryl Gurney
• Adam Hunt 6-1 Ritchie Edhouse
• Ricky Evans 6-3 Christian Kist
• Steve Beaton 6-3 Peter Hudson

Last 32

• Raymond van Barneveld 6-5 Steve West
• Mark Webster 6-1 Zoran Lerchbacher
• Simon Whitlock 6-2 Michael Barnard
• Ryan Joyce 6-5 Alan Tabern
• Mario Robbe 6-5 Devon Petersen
• James Wilson 6-1 Kirk Shepherd
• Keegan Brown 6-3 Joe Cullen
• Adrian Lewis 6-3 Luke Humphries
• Jamie Lewis 6-1 Madars Razma
• Gerwyn Price 6-1 Danny Noppert
• Robert Thornton 6-5 Gary Anderson
• Mickey Mansell 6-1 Alan Norris
• Max Hopp 6-4 Justin Pipe
• Josh Payne 6-3 Andrew Gilding
• Toni Alcinas 6-5 Adam Hunt
• Ricky Evans 6-2 Steve Beaton

Last 16

• Mark Webster 6-3 Raymond van Barneveld
• Simon Whitlock 6-3 Ryan Joyce
• James Wilson 6-5 Mario Robbe
• Adrian Lewis 6-4 Keegan Brown
• Gerwyn Price 6-4 Jamie Lewis
• Mickey Mansell 6-0 Robert Thornton
• Josh Payne 6-3 Max Hopp
• Toni Alcinas 6-2 Ricky Evans

Last Eight

• Simon Whitlock 6-3 Mark Webster
• Adrian Lewis 6-2 James Wilson
• Mickey Mansell 6-3 Gerwyn Price
• Josh Payne 6-5 Toni Alcinas

Last Four

• Adrian Lewis 6-1 Simon Whitlock
• Mickey Mansell 6-3 Josh Payne

Final

• Mickey Mansell 6-4 Adrian Lewis

Related Darts Content

• Sporting Life Darts Podcast: Episode 10
• Sporting Life Darts Podcast: Episode Nine
• Sporting Life Darts Podcast: Episode Eight
• Sporting Life Darts Podcast: Episode Seven
• Sporting Life Darts Podcast: Episode Six
• Sporting Life Darts Podcast: Episode Five
• Sporting Life Darts Podcast: Episode Four
• Sporting Life Darts Podcast: Episode Three
• Sporting Life Darts Podcast: Episode Two
• Sporting Life Darts Podcast: Episode One
• 2018 Premier League darts fixtures
• 2018 PDC event calendar & results
• Sky Bet's darts odds
• 2017 PDC season results