Stevenson maintains good Order of Merit placing

THE Mirrorman returned to the Arena MK in Milton Keynes yesterday to contest Players Championship Six and came up with another polished performance to earn good ranking points which puts him in joint 12th place of the Players Championship Order of Merit table.

His first opponent of the day was the former BDO World Champion Richie Burnett and the Plymouth marksman wasted no time getting into his stride when going 3-0 up in 19, 15 and 14.

The Welshman pulled one back when he finished an 18-darter with a checkout of 121 and then moved to within one, with victory in 15, but that was the last success he was going to enjoy.

Stevenson went 4-2 in front with a win in 15 and after hitting a brace of maximums in the penultimate and final leg, he won in 10 and 12 respectively for a 6-2 victory with an excellent 100.50 average.

Diogo Portela, a player Stevenson had met and defeated, only once before in the PDC Challenge Tour back in 2015, was his next opponent in the last 64 and he went the same way as Burnett.

Despite the Brazilian taking a poor opening leg, Stevenson responded by moving 3-1 up in 17, 15 and 18.

He then finished a 12-darter with a checkout of 100 and made it 5-1 with another win in 15.

The South American from Rio de Janeiro pulled one back when winning the seventh in 13 only for Stevenson to clinch the last and progress into the last 32.

Stevenson’s next opponent was 29-year-old Ricky Evans, one of the quickest throwers on the circuit and after the Mirrorman had won the opener in 16, the Kettering thrower showed his skills.

He levelled in 17 with an outshot of 117 and opened up a two-leg lead when winning in 18 and 14.

That scoreline was pushed out to 4-1 when Evans checked out in 12 from 106 before Stevenson pulled it back to within one when claiming legs in 18 and 13.

Evans kicked on again and won the eighth in 17, Stevenson responded with a win in 18, before the marksman from Kettering emerged a 6-4 winner when taking the last in 13.

But for Stevenson it was another good day at “The Office” and more ranking points gained over a successful weekend.

He finished Players Championship Six with an overall average of 95.2, having hit 10 maximums in his three matches.