JOHN PART won his first Players Championship since 2007 with a brilliant whitewash win against Mark Walsh in Derby on Sunday.
The Canadian, who has drifted out to 32nd in the PDC Order of Merit over the past two years, began his fightback to move back up the rankings with a fine showing at the Moorways Centre.
Having missed double 12 for a nine-dart finish during Saturday's Players Championship, Part continued the excellent form throughout Sunday's £35,000 event.
After overcoming Darren Johnson, Mark Dudbridge and Denis Ovens in the early rounds, he whitewashed Richie Burnett in the last 16 and then defeated in-form pair Jamie Caven and Wes Newton to reach his first PDC ProTour final since last April.
That appearance, in a UK Open Qualifier, had seen him lose 6-3 to Walsh but the three-time World Champion made amends with a superb performance, averaging 104.86 in a whitewash of the world number nine.
Part hit a 180 in taking the opening leg and added a second maximum in a 12-darter to break Walsh's throw, before hitting finishes of 14 and 13 darts to lead 4-0.
Walsh missed two darts to get off the mark in the fifth, as Part followed up another maximum with double 18 to lead 5-0, before punishing three misses at double 12 from his opponent to seal the win on double 15.
"It's a great feeling," said Part. "It wasn't too much much about revenge against Mark for the defeat in the final last year but it was in my mind that the week after that he also beat me in Derby 6-5, which kindof rubbed my nose in the dirt!
"It does feel good but it's nothing serious, I'm more happy just to have beaten him and won because I was really steady all day.
"Maybe I got a bit lucky against Denis Ovens because I was 5-2 down and not scoring too well compared to my other games but I hung in there and won it, and I followed through to get to the final."
He added: "I always feel pressure coming into an event but once I got past the first round I didn't feel any pressure when I got the run going,
"The standard's so high now but I've got nothing to lose. I've been there and done it, but am not up there at the moment, so nobody's expecting me to win and I can enjoy it and play well."
Walsh was denied a PDC ProTour victory in Derby for the third successive year by the defeat, but had shown his class with a narrow 6-5 semi-final win over Mervyn King - who missed three match darts in a tight encounter.
Walsh also edged out Andy Smith and Nick Fullwell 6-5 in the event, as well as defeating Northern Ireland's Brendan Dolan 6-1 in the quarter-finals.
Fleetwood's in-form Wes Newton reached his second semi-final of the weekend, while St Helens' Dave Chisnall continued his introduction to the PDC circuit with back-to-back quarter-finals in Derby.
Chisnall, who also hit a nine-darter in German recently, had knocked out world number three James Wade 6-5 and defeated Ronnie Baxter before losing out to Newton.
Coventry's Scott Rand reached his first quarter-final on the PDC ProTour, including Steve Farmer, Peter Wright and Sweden's Magnus Caris amongst his victims before losing to King.
Saturday's Players Championship winner Jamie Caven also reached the last eight before going down to Part, while Northern Ireland's Michael Mansell was amongst the last 16.
World Champion Adrian Lewis withdrew through illness, while Phil Taylor had previously withdrawn from the weekend's events to leave a field of 125 players.
Reece Robinson also missed out after receiving a one-month ban following the first PDC Unicorn Youth Tour event on Saturday night, in line with the DRA instruction about dangerous and reckless throwing of darts.
Players Championship 4 (Derby, Sunday)
First Round
Simon Whitlock (1) Bye
Wayne Mardle 6-1 Mike Nott
Dennis Smith (32) 6-3 Matt Jackson
Michael Mansell 6-1 Andy Jenkins
Co Stompe (16) 6-3 Alex Roy
Geoff Whitworth 6-5 Devon Petersen
Mervyn King (17) 6-0 Tom Martin
Martyn Turner 6-5 Jason Crawley
Vincent van der Voort (8) 6-1 Adrian Gray
Peter Wright 6-4 Nicky Bache
Steve Farmer (25) 6-5 Andy Hutchings
Scott Rand 6-4 Simon Jones
Magnus Caris 6-3 Mark Webster (9)
Dave Smith 6-4 Andy Brown
Barrie Bates (24) 6-4 Mark Frost
Wayne Atwood 6-1 Mark Jones
Mark Walsh (5) 6-5 Nick Fullwell
Jamie Atkins 6-3 Paul Rowley
Paul Nicholson (28) 6-4 Steve Hine
Shaun Griffiths 6-0 Paul Schofield
Andy Hamilton (12) 6-5 Arron Monk
Chris Aubrey 6-5 Mark Stephenson
Andy Smith (21) 6-0 Jon Archer
Shane O'Connor 6-4 John O'Shea
Brendan Dolan 6-5 Gary Anderson (4)
John MaGowan 6-3 Matthew Edgar
Steve Brown (29) 6-3 Ryan Harrington
Ken Dobson 6-1 Steve Grubb
Dennis Priestley (13) 6-5 William O'Connor
Aodhagan O'Neill 6-0 Ashley Holgate
Steve Beaton (20) 6-0 Adam Smith-Neale
Roland Scholten 6-1 Nigel Birch
Wes Newton (2) Bye
Mark Lawrence 6-0 Mike Roberts
Tony Eccles (31) 6-4 Joe Cullen
Antonio Alcinas 6-3 Darren Whittingham
Wayne Jones (15) 6-0 Colin Monk
Kevin McDine 6-5 Dyson Parody
Kevin Painter (18) 6-2 Chris Thompson
Nigel Heydon 6-1 Andy Pearson
Ronnie Baxter (7) 6-1 Ryan Herrington
Michael Rosenauer 6-2 Peter Hudson
Justin Pipe (26) 6-2 Dave Honey
Dave Chisnall 6-1 Stacy Bromberg
James Wade (10) 6-5 Peter Manley
Matt Padgett 6-4 Gary Eastwood
Terry Jenkins (23) 6-3 Michael van Gerwen
Tony Ayres 6-2 Ian Jopling
Steve Maish 6-3 Colin Lloyd (6)
Gary Welding 6-4 Kirk Shepherd
Richie Burnett (27) 6-0 Dave Ladley
Mark Hylton 6-3 Steve Evans
Denis Ovens (11) 6-3 Terry Temple
Dylan Duo 6-3 Nick Malkin
Mark Dudbridge (22) 6-2 Steven Pearson
John Part 6-4 Darren Johnson
Jamie Caven (3) Bye
Louis Blundell 6-3 James Richardson
John Henderson 6-1 Jelle Klaasen (30)
Prakash Jiwa 6-5 Mick Todd
Alan Tabern (14) 6-1 Gary Mawson
Kevin Dowling 6-3 Robert Thornton
Colin Osborne (19) 6-4 Ian White
Brian Woods 6-2 Mick McGowan
Second Round
Simon Whitlock 6-3 Wayne Mardle
Michael Mansell 6-3 Dennis Smith
Co Stompe 6-5 Geoff Whitworth
Mervyn King 6-1 Martyn Turner
Peter Wright 6-2 Vincent van der Voort
Scott Rand 6-1 Steve Farmer
Magnus Caris 6-4 Dave Smith
Barrie Bates 6-4 Wayne Atwood
Mark Walsh 6-2 Jamie Atkins
Shaun Griffiths 6-5 Paul Nicholson
Andy Hamilton 6-5 Chris Aubrey
Andy Smith 6-2 Shane O'Connor
Brendan Dolan 6-3 John MaGowan
Steve Brown 6-3 Ken Dobson
Dennis Priestley 6-1 Aodhagan O'Neill
Roland Scholten 6-5 Steve Beaton
Wes Newton 6-1 Mark Lawrence
Tony Eccles 6-4 Antonio Alcinas
Kevin McDine 6-3 Wayne Jones
Nigel Heydon 6-2 Kevin Painter
Ronnie Baxter 6-4 Michael Rosenauer
Dave Chisnall 6-3 Justin Pipe
James Wade 6-4 Matt Padgett
Tony Ayres 6-3 Terry Jenkins
Gary Welding 6-4 Steve Maish
Richie Burnett 6-3 Mark Hylton
Denis Ovens 6-2 Dylan Duo
John Part 6-1 Mark Dudbridge
Jamie Caven 6-2 Louis Blundell
Prakash Jiwa 6-2 John Henderson
Alan Tabern 6-3 Kevin Dowling
Colin Osborne 6-4 Brian Woods
Losers £200
Third Round
Michael Mansell 6-1 Simon Whitlock
Mervyn King 6-4 Co Stompe
Scott Rand 6-5 Peter Wright
Magnus Caris 6-1 Barrie Bates
Mark Walsh 6-3 Shaun Griffiths
Andy Smith 6-4 Andy Hamilton
Brendan Dolan 6-4 Steve Brown
Dennis Priestley 6-3 Roland Scholten
Wes Newton 6-4 Tony Eccles
Kevin McDine 6-4 Nigel Heydon
Dave Chisnall 6-1 Ronnie Baxter
James Wade 6-3 Tony Ayres
Richie Burnett 6-1 Gary Welding
John Part 6-5 Denis Ovens
Jamie Caven 6-0 Prakash Jiwa
Alan Tabern 6-3 Colin Osborne
Losers £400
Fourth Round
Mervyn King 6-0 Michael Mansell
Scott Rand 6-4 Magnus Caris
Mark Walsh 6-5 Andy Smith
Brendan Dolan 6-3 Dennis Priestley
Wes Newton 6-4 Kevin McDine
Dave Chisnall 6-4 James Wade
John Part 6-0 Richie Burnett
Jamie Caven 6-4 Alan Tabern
Losers £600
Quarter-Finals
Mervyn King 6-3 Scott Rand
Mark Walsh 6-1 Brendan Dolan
Wes Newton 6-4 Dave Chisnall
John Part 6-2 Jamie Caven
Losers £1,000
Semi-Finals
Mark Walsh 6-5 Mervyn King
John Part 6-2 Wes Newton
Losers £2,000
Final
John Part 6-0 Mark Walsh
Winner £6,000
Runner-Up £3,000
Final - leg by leg
0-1 - Part lands a 180 and double top to take the lead in 14 darts
0-2 - Part breaks with a fine 12-darter, including another maximum and double seven to complete an 86 finish
0-3 - Part finishes 62 in two darts to move three legs clear
0-4 - Part breaks again with a 13-dart finish, featuring two 140s and double 18
0-5 - Walsh misses with two darts to break back and get off the mark, and Part steps in, following an earlier 180 with double 18
0-6 - Part misses double 15 for a 150 finish, but Walsh is unable to capitalise with three misses at double 12 and the Canadian hits double 15 for a 14-darter and the win