Brendan Dolan defeated Gerwyn Price to reach the quarter-finals of the 2021 Ladbrokes Players Championship Finals in Minehead on Saturday.
Dolan is into the quarter-finals of a TV ranking event for the first time in almost three years, while Peter Wright, Michael van Gerwen and Jonny Clayton were also among the players to progress to the last eight.
Four sessions of action were played across two stages on another hectic day at Butlin’s Minehead Resort with the second round taking place in the afternoon, and the winners returning for the last 16 in the evening session.
Having defeated Ritchie Edhouse 6-3 in the second round, Dolan recorded one of his biggest wins in recent years to make it through to Finals Day.
“Gezzy was nowhere near his best tonight, I’m no fool,” Dolan admitted.
“But when it came down to it at the end of the match I held my nerve so I have to be happy with that.
“I want to thank my wife, she’s my biggest supporter. In my darkest times she’s put me back on the right path.”
The Northern Irishman will now look forward to a meeting with Jose de Sousa as the quarter-finals take place on Sunday afternoon.
De Sousa came through a last-leg decider with Darius Labanauskas in round two, before defeating William O’Connor 10-7 to reach the last eight for the first time.
The pick of the quarter-final ties will see six-time champion Michael van Gerwen face world number two Peter Wright.
Van Gerwen recorded victories over two icons of the sport, Raymond van Barneveld and Gary Anderson, while Wright came back to win a feisty affair with Adrian Lewis, before battling past Damon Heta.
Jonny Clayton continued his quest for a fifth TV title of the year, edging out Luke Humphries 10-9 in a high-quality last 16 tie, having earlier whitewashed Scott Mitchell 6-0.
The last Welshman still in the tournament will now face Vincent van der Voort, who won a last-leg shoot-out against Andy Boulton before defeating fellow Dutchman Danny Noppert.
Daryl Gurney continued his resurgence by posting a 104.3 average in his 10-7 win over James Wade, having earlier survived ten match darts in a 6-5 win over Michael Smith.
A potential semi-final clash with Northern Irish World Cup teammate Dolan could await for Gurney, should he get past Ryan Searle, who came back from 5-1 down to beat Ryan Joyce before getting the better of Rob Cross.
Sunday afternoon’s winners will return for the evening session, when the semi-finals and final will take place.
Sunday will also see the PDC Unicorn World Youth Championship take place, with the 32-player event being played down to the semi-finals in Reds from 1100 GMT. The final will be held on the Main Stage before the final of the Players Championship Finals.
The action will be broadcast live on ITV4 in the UK, on PDCTV (excluding fans in UK and Netherlands) and through the PDC’s worldwide broadcast partners including DAZN and RTL7.
2021 Ladbrokes Players Championship Finals
Schedule of Play
Saturday November 27
Afternoon Session
Main Stage
James Wade 6-5 Callan Rydz
Rob Cross 6-4 Nathan Aspinall
Gary Anderson 6-2 Ryan Meikle
Peter Wright 6-5 Adrian Lewis
Michael van Gerwen 6-3 Raymond van Barneveld
Gerwyn Price 6-1 Martin Schindler
Jonny Clayton 6-0 Scott Mitchell
Danny Noppert 6-2 Dimitri Van den Bergh
Stage Two
Vincent van der Voort 6-5 Andy Boulton
Ryan Searle 6-5 Ryan Joyce
Daryl Gurney 6-5 Michael Smith
Brendan Dolan 6-3 Ritchie Edhouse
Damon Heta 6-2 Gabriel Clemens
Luke Humphries 6-5 Ross Smith
William O’Connor 6-4 Krzysztof Ratajski
Jose de Sousa 6-5 Darius Labanauskas
Evening Session
Third Round
Main Stage
Peter Wright 10-8 Damon Heta
Michael van Gerwen 10-6 Gary Anderson
Brendan Dolan 10-8 Gerwyn Price
Jonny Clayton 10-9 Luke Humphries
Stage Two
Ryan Searle 10-7 Rob Cross
Daryl Gurney 10-7 James Wade
Jose de Sousa 10-7 William O’Connor
Vincent van der Voort 10-7 Danny Noppert
Sunday November 28
Afternoon Session (1245 GMT)
Main Stage
Quarter-Finals
Jose de Sousa v Brendan Dolan
Daryl Gurney v Ryan Searle
Peter Wright v Michael van Gerwen
Jonny Clayton v Vincent van der Voort
Evening Session (1900 GMT)
Main Stage
Semi-Finals
De Sousa/Dolan v Gurney/Searle
Wright/Van Gerwen v Clayton/Van der Voort
Final
De Sousa/Dolan/Gurney/Searle v Wright/Van Gerwen/Clayton/Van der Voort
Plus PDC Unicorn World Youth Championship final (played between second semi-final and final)
Format
First Round – Best of 11 legs
Second Round – Best of 11 legs
Third Round – Best of 19 legs
Quarter-Finals – Best of 19 legs
Semi-Finals – Best of 21 legs
Final – Best of 21 legs
Prize Fund
Winner – £100,000
Runner-Up – £50,000
Semi-Finalists – £25,000
Quarter-Finalists – £15,000
Third Round Losers – £10,000
Second Round Losers – £5,000
First Round Losers – £2,500
Total – £500,000
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