Is there no stopping him!? Phil Taylor powered his way to a 3rd consecutive PDPA Players Championship victory – this time sweeping the board in Ireland. Taylor dropped just two sets in the entire tournament and pocketed another £5,000 for his day’s work, as he continued what is turning out to be the perfect build-up to the defence of his SkyBet World Grand Prix crown. He beat Denis Ovens in the final at The City West Hotel, after earlier dispatching Jason Clark, Alan Caves, Alex Roy, Chris Mason, Roland Scholten and Andy Jenkins. Unicorn stablemate James Wade reached yet another semi-final but yet again stumbled – failing to win a set against Ovens. Wade had earlier beaten John Part in the 3rd Round, Unicorn’s World No.1 Colin Lloyd in round four, and Kevin Painter in the quarter-finals. Painter will be happy with his form recently but will be the first to admit that he is still lacking the knock-out blow when it gets to the latter stages of tournaments. Adrian Lewis reached the last 16, losing to Wade…..Andy Hamilton was beaten in the 3rd Round by Andy Jenkins…..Peter Manley fell at the same stage to Steve Beaton, while American Ray Carver lost to Wayne Mardle in round two. There was disappointment for the other Team Unicorn members….West Newton and Michael Barnard were beaten in the 1st round by Alan Green and Chris Hook respectively. Raymond Van Barneveld enjoyed a good run to the quarter-finals, before losing a close match to Ovens, while elsewhere the race is really hotting up for those prized places in the 2007 Premier League. Andy Jenkins collected 12 ranking points with his run to the semi’s…..Roland Scholten reached the last eight, while Terry Jenkins and Dennis Priestley were beaten in the last 16. Colin Lloyd and Phil Taylor are already guaranteed their spots but the battle for the other four automatic places will not be settled until after the World Grand Prix. PDPA Players Championship (Ireland) results: Round Three: Colin Lloyd 3-1 Wayne Jones James Wade 3-1 John Part Adrian Lewis 3-0 Alan Tabern Kevin Painter 3-2 Tom Wilson Steve Beaton 3-2 Peter Manley Raymond Van Barneveld 3-0 Mark Dudbridge Dennis Priestley 3-2 Dennis Smith Denis Ovens 3-2 Lionel Sams Phil Taylor 3-0 Alex Roy Chris Mason 3-1 Alan Warriner Roland Scholten 3-1 Andy Callaby Terry Jenkins 3-0 Barrie Bates Matt Clark 3-1 Wayne Mardle Andy Jenkins 3-0 Andy Hamilton Gary Spedding 3-1 Ronnie Baxter Mick McGowan 3-1 Andy Smith Losers £150 + 6 ranking points Round Four: James Wade 3-2 Colin Lloyd Kevin Painter 3-1 Adrian Lewis Raymond Van Barneveld 3-1 Steve Beaton Denis Ovens 3-2 Dennis Priestley Phil Taylor 3-1 Chris Mason Roland Scholten 3-2 Terry Jenkins Andy Jenkins 3-2 Matt Clark Mick McGowan 3-1 Gary Spedding Losers £300 + 8 ranking points Quarter-Finals: James Wade 3-0 Kevin Painter Denis Ovens 3-2 Raymond Van Barneveld Phil Taylor 3-1 Roland Scholten Andy Jenkins 3-0 Mick McGowan Losers £600 + 10 ranking points Semi-finals: Denis Ovens 3-0 James Wade Phil Taylor 3-0 Andy Jenkins Losers £1,250 + 12 ranking points Final: Phil Taylor 3-0 Denis Ovens Winner £5,000 + 20 ranking points Runner-up £2,500 + 16 ranking points BY STUART PYKE
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