By Alex Moss
16 MAY 2017 • 9:56AM
Nathan Aspinall, Robert Rickwood, Peter Jacques and Luke Humphries shared the victories on the PDC Unicorn Challenge Tour in Milton Keynes at the weekend.
The year’s third weekend on the PDC’s second-tier tour began with two £10,000 tournaments at Arena MK on Saturday, with former World Youth Championship finalist Aspinall enjoying his first Challenge Tour victory in Event 9.
Aspinall defeated Kevin Edwards, Danny Key, Andy Smith, Mark Frost, Bradley Brooks, Wayne Jones and Mark Dudbridge in a tough route to the final.
In the final he overcame Polish-born Radoslaw Szaganski to pick up the £2,000 top prize and his maiden Challenge Tour win, adding to a Development Tour win two years ago.
Burnley’s Rickwood enjoyed his best day in his maiden year on the PDC circuit with victory in Event 10.
The 45-year-old saw off Jason Wilson 5-3 in the final, and had earlier reached the quarter-finals in the day’s opening event.
Rickwood defeated Richard Baillie, Ryan Murray, Scott Dale, Joe Davis, Peter Hudson and Alex Roy on his way to the final, before picking up the £2,000 first prize.
Jacques and Humphries claimed their maiden Challenge Tour titles with victories in Events 11 and 12 on Sunday.
The first event of the day saw Huddersfield ace Jacques, who reached a Players Championship final in February, follow up two previous Challenge Tour quarter-finals by going all the way to the £2,000 top prize in Event 11.
The 44-year-old defeated Scott Rollings, Matthew Edgar, Tony Lincoln and Aspinall to reach the last eight, where he whitewashed Peter Mitchell.
Jacques then saw off former World Youth champion James Hubbard 5-2 in the semi-finals before sealing the title in a dramatic deciding leg against Jones.
After racing into a 4-0 lead, Jacques squandered seven darts to seal a whitewash victory, with Jones hitting back to level only to miss five darts to claim the title in the decider.
Humphries then bagged himself a £2,000 winner’s prize as he defeated Smith 5-4 in the final of Event 12 to conclude the year’s third Challenge Tour weekend.
A winner of two Development Tour titles in 2017, Humphries had been knocked out in the first round of Event 11 before going all the way just a few hours later.
Humphries began the afternoon with victories over Adam Whieldon, Mark Carter and Mark Wilson to secure his place in the last 16, where he defeated Hubbard 5-1.
The quarter-finals saw another 5-1 win for Humphries as he overcame Aaron Dyer, before then securing a spot in the final with yet another 5-1 victory over Joshua Richardson.
The final against Smith was a tense encounter as Humphries needed a deciding leg to seal his first Challenge Tour title and continue his impressive emergence this year.
PDC Unicorn Challenge Tour
Event Nine
Saturday May 13, Arena MK, Milton Keynes
Quarter-Finals
Kevin Dowling 5-4 Justin Smith
Radoslaw Szaganski 5-0 Dan Read
Nathan Aspinall 5-3 Wayne Jones
Mark Dudbridge 5-1 Robert Rickwood
Semi-Finals
Radoslaw Szaganski 5-3 Kevin Dowling
Nathan Aspinall 5-3 Mark Dudbrige
Final
Nathan Aspinall 5-1 Radoslaw Szaganski
Event 10
Quarter-Finals
Robert Rickwood 5-1 Peter Hudson
Alex Roy 5-3 Craig Gilchrist
Dan Read 5-2 Jack Todd
Jason Wilson 5-1 Nigel Birch
Semi-Finals
Robert Rickwood 5-4 Alex Roy
Jason Wilson 5-1 Dan Read
Final
Robert Rickwood 5-3 Jason Wilson
Event 11
Sunday May 14
Quarter-Finals
James Hubbard 5-1 Martin Thomas
Peter Jacques 5-0 Peter Mitchell
Ian Jones 5-2 Paul Harvey
Wayne Jones 5-1 Nigel Heydon
Semi-Finals
Peter Jacques 5-2 James Hubbard
Wayne Jones 5-2 Ian Jones
Final
Peter Jacques 5-4 Wayne Jones
Event 12
Quarter-Finals
Joshua Richardson 5-4 Brett Claydon
Luke Humphries 5-1 Aaron Dyer
Nick Fullwell 5-2 Warrick Scheffer
Andy Smith 5-2 Peter Jacques
Semi-Finals
Luke Humphries 5-1 Joshua Richardson
Andy Smith 5-1 Nick Fullwell
Final
Luke Humphries 5-4 Andy Smith
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