It’s all White on the night
Ian ends drought by lifting first title in almost two years
IAN WHITE last night insisted he’ll keep being his own man again after ending a drought of almost two years on the PDC circuit.
The Stoke slinger won the eighth Players Championship of the term to grab a first ranking title since June 2018.
White hammered James Wade 8-3 in the Final in Barnsley to get the monkey off his back.
The 49-year-old savoured the win and is adamant he’ll stay on his new path having collected a £10,000 winner’s cheque.
White said: “I found out the other week that it was nearly two years since I won. I’ve had a few finals and I’ve been playing good darts and just not getting the luck or bumping into the wrong person at the wrong time.
“I do listen to what people say but I’ve got to do my own thing and my head’s on this year. I want another good year, I want to get in that top 10.
“I’m coming into form and we might not be stopping, it’s all going well for me.
“The other week Peter Wright was hitting loads of 100-odd averages and I thought we have got to keep up with him.
“I’ve been doing a lot of practice with Michael Smith. I’ve changed some personal things with my diet. It’s working for me.
“Every person goes on about not ever making a TV Final but I’ve played good darts on stage. I’ll have a 100-odd average and it’s not gone for me.”
White was on fire in Barnsley as he sliced through the field. William Borland, Diogo Portela, John Henderson, Stephen Bunting and Dave Chisnall were ousted before an epic semi-final win over Kim Huybrechts set up the chance to defeat Wade.
White said: “Maybe I had a bit of luck in the semis. It was a battle and we were fighting.”
White’s win came on a day of shocks at the event with world No.1 Michael van Gerwen knocked out in the first round by Maik Kuivenhoven and Nathan Aspinall losing at the same stage to Madars Razma.
Meanwhile, PDC chief Matt Porter says the body will heed government advice.
The Barnsley weekend was behind closed doors but Night Seven of the Thursday event is scheduled for a 9000 sell-out.
Porter said: “We’ll wait and see what the advice is over the next few days.”