Dave Chisnall's wait for a Masters title continues
Dave Chisnall’s hopes of improving on last year’s PDC Cazoo Masters runners-up spot were dashed in the last 16 of this year’s competition.
Chisnall was knocked out by Peter Wright in their second round meeting on Saturday evening, losing 10-7 to the former world champion at Milton Keynes’ Marshall Arena.
Wright, a winner at the Nordic Darts Masters a week earlier, had stormed 4-0 ahead with legs of 14, 13, 15 and 12 darts.
A clinical 113 finish in leg 11 then catapulted him to the brink of a comprehensive win.
However, Chisnall won four successive legs from 9-3 adrift to threaten a famous fightback.
Trailing 9-7, he missed double 18 for a 150 outshot which allowed Wright to wrap up victory with a 101 average.
Chisnall had kicked off this year’s tournament 24 hours earlier with a 6-5 victory against Ryan Searle.
The two-time runner-up, beaten in the final by Joe Cullen 12 months ago, had trailed 3-0, 4-1 and 5-3 against Searle, who missed five match darts for a 6-3 success in leg nine.
Chisnall duly capitalised to level at 5-5 before a 161 finish set up his meeting against Wright.
Wright, the 2020 Masters winner, was eventually beaten at the semi-final stage, where he lost a dramatic match against Rob Cross.
Having seen off Jonny Clayton 10-6 in the last eight, Wright went down 11-10 after squandering three match darts in the deciding leg.
Cross was unable to claim a sixth TV title though, losing 11-7 in the final to Chris Dobey who had previously beaten Cullen, fifth seed Luke Humphries and world champion Michael Smith.