TheOche.com

Claiming his second PDC Pro Tour win of the year, Dennis Priestley saw off Lionel Sams 3-1 in the Kitchener Open Player’s Championship.

PDC:

The veteran Yorkshireman won a Players Championship in Bristol, and his tremendous recent form continued in Canada as he claimed the £5,000 first prize.

He saw off Sams 3-1 in the final of the event, having overcome Robert Thornton in straight sets in the semis.

Travelling PDC stars Andy Jenkins and Dave Honey were also defeated, along with Steve Davies and Bruce Davey, earlier in the event as Priestley swept to victory.

Sams’s run saw him reach the final of a PDC Pro Tour event for the first time and was his best run since reaching the semi-finals at the 2006 Sheppey Classic.

He took full advantage of the defeat of World Champion John Part, the number one seed, to Jayson Barlow in round one to reach the decider.

Sams overcame north Americans Kory Nicholls, Dave Switzer, Martin Tremblay, John Verwey before seeing off Adrian Gray in straight sets in the quarter-finals, before a semi-final win over Denis Ovens.

Thornton followed up his win in last week’s Australian Open Players Championship by reaching the semi-finals in Canada.

The Scot included Wes Newton and Co Stompe among his victims before losing to Priestley.

Ovens, who reached the last 16 in Australia, was the other semi-final loser, going down 3-2 to Sams after earlier seeing off Kevin McDine and Ronnie Baxter.

America’s Bill Davis was another seed to fall at the first hurdle, losing to Quebec’s Martin Tremblay, while number two seed Terry Jenkins was a second round loser to Steve Cusick.

Manchester’s Cusick enjoyed his best-ever run in a PDC Pro Tour event, also defeating top Canadian Gerry Convery on his way to the quarter-finals, where he went down to Thornton.

Kitchener Open Players Championship
Preliminary Round
Jayson Barlow 3-1 Nick McCoy
John Verwey 3-0 Paul Cockings
Lionel Sams 3-0 Kory Nicholls
Dave Switzer 3-0 Brian Ross
Martin Tremblay 3-0 Peter Hallett
Sylvain Bourque 3-0 Graham Waite
Robert Melanson 3-0 Joanne Johnston
Adrian Gray 3-1 Dave Richardson
Stephane Rousseau 3-0 Tony Chippett
Mike Lapierre 3-0 Victor De Wilde
Wilf Lockyer 3-1 Yancy Patey
Marco Gonthier 3-0 Norm Wylie
Kevin McDine 3-0 Neil Stewart
Brenda Roush 3-1 Stuart Brown
Mark Neilsen 3-0 Dan English
Jeff Noble 3-0 Yvonne Martin-Cowig
Al Moskyn 3-2 Mike Demers
Gary Mawson 3-0 Aaron Talbot
Daniel Thibaudeau 3-0 Alex Stamper
Chris Greenwood 3-0 Dave Lapierre
Neil Quenon 3-0 Mark Almeroth
Gordon Mills 3-0 Sylvain Guerin
Gerry Convery 3-2 Gary Robinson
Andrew Wilson 3-0 Eric Ashton
Andre Carman Bye (Kilman Snow)
Doug Scanlon 3-2 Bill Nicoll
Rick Almost 3-2 Glenn Fraser
Wes Newton 3-0 Mark Cassel
Joe Slivan 3-0 William Penn
Bernie Miller 3-2 Ross Snook
Danny de Rosa 3-1 Chris Arsenault
Dave Paterak 3-1 Junior Mootrey
Matt Clark 3-0 Doorman Warford
Mike Mainville 3-2 Mark Metero
David Batterton 3-1 Chris Simmons
Bruce Davey 3-2 Bill Gooder
Steve Davies 3-0 Goby Logan
Steve Maish 3-1 Terry Hayhurst
James Graton 3-2 John Henderson
Brent Closs 3-2 Wayne Fick (Fick forfeited at 2-2)

First Round
Jayson Barlow 3-1 John Part
John Verwey 3-1 Lee White
Lionel Sams 3-0 Dave Switzer
Martin Tremblay 3-0 Bill Davis
Mark Walsh 3-0 Sylvain Bourque
Shawn Brenneman 3-1 Robert Melanson
Adrian Gray 3-0 Stephane Rousseau
Larry Butler 3-0 Mike Lapierre
Denis Ovens 3-0 Wilf Lockyer
Marco Gonthier 3-1 Paul Bolduc
Kevin McDine 3-0 Brenda Roush
Mark Neilsen 3-1 David Fatum
Ronnie Baxter 3-0 Jeff Noble
Jerry Hull 3-0 Al Moskyn
Gary Mawson 3-0 Daniel Thibaudeau
Darin Young 3-0 Chris Greenwood
Terry Jenkins 3-1 Neil Quenon
Steve Cusick 3-1 Gordon Mills
Gerry Convery 3-0 Andrew Wilson
John Kuczynski 3-2 Andre Carman
Barrie Bates 3-2 Doug Scanlon
Co Stompe 3-0 Rick Almost
Wes Newton 3-1 Joe Slivan
Robert Thornton 3-1 Bernie Miller
Andy Jenkins 3-0 Danny de Rosa
Isen Veljic 3-1 Dave Paterak
Matt Clark 3-0 Mike Mainville
Dan Olson 3-2 David Batterton
Dennis Priestley 3-0 Bruce Davey
Steve Davies 3-2 Pete Riehl
Steve Maish 3-1 James Graton
Dave Honey 3-0 Brent Closs
Losers £75

Second Round
John Verwey 3-1 Jayson Barlow
Lionel Sams 3-1 Martin Tremblay
Shawn Brenneman 3-2 Mark Walsh
Adrian Gray 3-0 Larry Butler
Denis Ovens 3-2 Marco Gonthier
Kevin McDine 3-0 Mark Neilsen
Ronnie Baxter 3-1 Jerry Hull
Darin Young 3-1 Gary Mawson
Steve Cusick 3-2 Terry Jenkins
Gerry Convery 3-2 John Kuczynski
Co Stompe 3-1 Barrie Bates
Robert Thornton 3-1 Wes Newton
Andy Jenkins 3-1 Isen Velic
Matt Clark 3-1 Dan Olson
Dennis Priestley 3-0 Steve Davies
Dave Honey 3-0 Steve Maish
Losers £150

Third Round
Lionel Sams 3-1 John Verwey
Adrian Gray 3-2 Shawn Brenneman
Denis Ovens 3-1 Kevin McDine
Ronnie Baxter 3-1 Darin Young
Steve Cusick 3-2 Gerry Convery
Robert Thornton 3-0 Co Stompe
Andy Jenkins 3-1 Matt Clark
Dennis Priestley 3-2 Dave Honey
Losers £300

Quarter-Finals
Lionel Sams 3-0 Adrian Gray
Denis Ovens 3-1 Ronnie Baxter
Robert Thornton 3-1 Steve Cusick
Dennis Priestley 3-1 Andy Jenkins
Losers £600

Semi-Finals
Lionel Sams 3-2 Denis Ovens
Dennis Priestley 3-0 Robert Thornton
Losers £1,250

Final
Dennis Priestley 3-1 Lionel Sams
Winner £5,000
Runner-Up £2,500