ANDY SMITH picked up his first victory of 2011 with a 6-2 defeat of Dave Chisnall in Sunday's Bobby Bourn Memorial Players Championship.
The Studley ace continued a trend of winning Players Championships in June with a summer victory for the third successive year, as he took the £6,000 first prize for the sixth PDC ProTour win of his career.
Smith, who turns 44 on June 22, edged 6-5 wins over Wayne Atwood and James Richardson in his opening two matches, but turned on the style with defeats of Alan Tabern, Andy Hamilton, Gary Anderson and James Wade to reach the final.
Chisnall edged an early 2-1 lead, but Smith levelled with a 13-darter and broke throw with a third 180 of the final in leg five, which he took in 12 darts.
Both players hit 180s in the sixth, which Smith took in 14 darts, before a missed double top from Chisnall in the next allowed his opponent in to finish 76 on double four to lead 5-2.
Smith then hit four scores of 100 or better to be first to a finish, and he took out double top for a 13-darter in claiming victory, averaging 106.71 in the process
"I'm chuffed to bits," said Smith, who moves up to 20th in the PDC Order of Merit after the victory.
"People don't realise how much pressure is on players like myself who are fighting to qualify for events like the World Matchplay. We all need to do well and the pressure is immense, which is showing in how well players are playing.
"Wayne Atwood had three darts at double top to beat me, James Richardson was 5-1 up and I came back to beat him 6-5, but against Gary, James and Andy Hamilton I played really well.
"I felt I had the tougher side of the draw, but it shows I'm playing well. When I get to a final, I usually win it and that happened again, and I'm so pleased it's got me into Blackpool."
Chisnall's run followed a semi-final appearance on Saturday and was also his second PDC ProTour final in Barnsley as his impressive debut year in the PDC continues.
The St Helens ace whitewashed Michael Rosenauer in his opening game, and then defeated Mervyn King, Co Stompe, picked up a 6-0 win over Simon Whitlock and also overcame Wayne Jones.
In the semi-finals, he punished three missed match darts in the deciding leg against Mark Hylton to win through to the decider, with the £5,000 prize money for the weekend guaranteeing his qualifying place in next month's World Matchplay.
Hylton had edged out Steve Beaton 6-5 in the quarter-finals as he reached the last four for the second time in a month, having impressed with whitewashes of Michael van Gerwen and Ronnie Baxter during the event.
Wade followed up last week's victory in the Speedy Hire UK Open with his best PDC ProTour run of the year as he won through to the semis, defeating three-time World Champion John Part and rising star Shaun Griffiths along the way.
Part, a two-time Players Championship winner already this year, was amongst the quarter-finalists, alongside Gary Anderson, Beaton and Jones.
The day also included a nine-dart finish from Simon Whitlock, who took out a perfect leg in his third round defeat of Devon Petersen, hitting 180, 177 and finishing 144 with two treble 18s and double 18 to claim a £2,800 bonus.
World Champion Adrian Lewis allowed a 5-1 lead to slip as he was defeated 6-5 in the second round by Dave Smith, while Saturday's Eddie Cox Memorial Players Championship winner Paul Nicholson lost 6-2 to Beaton in the last 32.
Sunday's event was named in memory of Bobby Bourn, the former PDC official who passed away in 2002.
Bobby Bourn Memorial Players Championship
First Round
Simon Whitlock (1) Bye
Nigel Heydon 6-1 John Walton
Tony Eccles (32) 6-1 Ian Jopling
Devon Petersen 6-2 Brian Woods
Co Stompe (16) Bye
Magnus Caris 6-5 Peter Manley
Mervyn King (17) 6-5 Steve Grubb
Dave Chisnall 6-0 Michael Rosenauer
Colin Lloyd (8) Bye
Shane O'Connor 6-4 John Henderson
Wayne Jones (25) 6-2 Matt Padgett
Michael Mansell 6-3 Dave Ladley
Mark Webster (9) Bye
Adam Hunt 6-5 Steve Maish
Colin Osborne (24) 6-3 Nicky Bache
Peter Hudson 6-2 Mark Dudbridge
Paul Nicholson (5) Bye
Steve Hine 6-2 Martyn Turner
Steve Beaton (28) 6-5 Steve Evans
Louis Blundell 6-3 Kevin Dowling
Adrian Lewis (12) Bye
Dave Smith 6-2 Andy Hutchings
Roland Scholten 6-4 Steve Farmer (21)
Matt Clark 6-1 Andy Pearson
Ronnie Baxter (4) Bye
Gary Welding 6-4 Kevin McDine
Mark Hylton (29) 6-2 Dylan Duo
Michael van Gerwen 6-0 Matt Jackson
Denis Ovens (13) Bye
Simon Burt 6-5 Wayne Mardle
Kevin Painter (20) 6-3 Michael Smith
Robert Thornton 6-2 Barrie Bates
Gary Anderson (2) Bye
Mareno Michels 6-4 Steven Pearson
Dennis Smith (31) 6-3 Reece Robinson
William O'Connor 6-3 Adrian Bolitho
Terry Jenkins (15) Bye
Peter Wright 6-4 Antonio Alcinas
Michael Barnard 6-3 Dennis Priestley (18)
Chris Thompson 6-5 Ken MacNeil
Vincent van der Voort (7) Bye
Adam Smith-Neale 6-4 Andy Brown
Andy Hamilton (26) 6-2 Darren Johnson
Nick Fullwell 6-3 Gary Eastwood
Alan Tabern (10) Bye
Chris Aubrey 6-4 Nigel Birch
Andy Smith (23) 6-5 Wayne Atwood
James Richardson 6-4 Kirk Shepherd
Mark Walsh (6) Bye
Scott Rand 6-0 Ashley Holgate
Richie Burnett (27) 6-2 Matthew Edgar
Mark Lawrence 6-5 Ian White
John Part (11) Bye
Joe Cullen 6-1 Gary Mawson
Steve Brown (22) 6-0 Jon Archer
Adrian Gray 6-2 Ryan Harrington
Jamie Caven (3) Bye
Shaun Griffiths 6-3 Prakash Jiwa
Jelle Klaasen (30) 6-2 Geoff Whitworth
Mark Jones 6-4 Tony Ayres
Justin Pipe (14) Bye
Brendan Dolan 6-1 Darren Whittingham
James Wade (19) 6-5 Mark Frost
Paul Rowley 6-3 Mick Todd
Second Round
Simon Whitlock 6-0 Nigel Heydon
Devon Petersen 6-2 Tony Eccles
Co Stompe 6-5 Magnus Caris
Dave Chisnall 6-4 Mervyn King
Colin Lloyd 6-5 Shane O'Connor
Wayne Jones 6-2 Michael Mansell
Mark Webster 6-0 Adam Hunt
Colin Osborne 6-1 Peter Hudson
Paul Nicholson 6-2 Steve Hine
Steve Beaton 6-2 Louis Blundell
Dave Smith 6-5 Adrian Lewis
Matt Clark 6-4 Roland Scholten
Ronnie Baxter 6-5 Gary Welding
Mark Hylton 6-0 Michael van Gerwen
Denis Ovens 6-3 Simon Burt
Kevin Painter 6-1 Robert Thornton
Gary Anderson 6-0 Mareno Michels
William O'Connor 6-1 Dennis Smith
Peter Wright 6-4 Terry Jenkins
Chris Thompson 6-4 Michael Barnard
Vincent van der Voort 6-1 Adam Smith-Neale
Andy Hamilton 6-3 Nick Fullwell
Alan Tabern 6-2 Chris Aubrey
Andy Smith 6-5 James Richardson
Scott Rand 6-2 Mark Walsh
Richie Burnett 6-1 Mark Lawrence
John Part 6-2 Joe Cullen
Adrian Gray 6-4 Steve Brown
Shaun Griffiths 6-5 Jamie Caven
Jelle Klaasen 6-5 Mark Jones
Justin Pipe 6-3 Brendan Dolan
James Wade 6-4 Paul Rowley
Losers £200
Third Round
Simon Whitlock 6-4 Devon Petersen - Simon Whitlock hits nine-dart finish
Dave Chisnall 6-2 Co Stompe
Wayne Jones 6-2 Colin Lloyd
Mark Webster 6-2 Colin Osborne
Steve Beaton 6-2 Paul Nicholson
Matt Clark 6-4 Dave Smith
Mark Hylton 6-0 Ronnie Baxter
Denis Ovens 6-4 Kevin Painter
Gary Anderson 6-4 William O'Connor
Peter Wright 6-0 Chris Thompson
Andy Hamilton 6-1 Vincent van der Voort
Andy Smith 6-3 Alan Tabern
Richie Burnett 6-2 Scott Rand
John Part 6-3 Adrian Gray
Shaun Griffiths 6-2 Jelle Klaasen
James Wade 6-4 Justin Pipe
Losers £400
Fourth Round
Dave Chisnall 6-0 Simon Whitlock
Wayne Jones 6-2 Mark Webster
Steve Beaton 6-4 Matt Clark
Mark Hylton 6-4 Denis Ovens
Gary Anderson 6-2 Peter Wright
Andy Smith 6-2 Andy Hamilton
John Part 6-2 Richie Burnett
James Wade 6-4 Shaun Griffiths
Losers £600
Quarter-Finals
Dave Chisnall 6-3 Wayne Jones
Mark Hylton 6-5 Steve Beaton
Andy Smith 6-1 Gary Anderson
James Wade 6-3 John Part
Losers £1,000
Semi-Finals
Dave Chisnall 6-5 Mark Hylton
Andy Smith 6-3 James Wade
Losers £2,000
Final
Andy Smith 6-2 Dave Chisnall
Winner £6,000
Runner-Up £3,000
Final - Leg-by-leg
Dave Chisnall v Andy Smith
0-0 - Dave Chisnall wins the bull and throws first
1-0 - Chisnall is first to a finish and lands double two to lead, having missed four earlier darts to win the leg.
1-1 - Smith hits scores of 135, 100 and 140 before finishing 68 for a 15-dart leg to level.
2-1 - Smith opens with a 180 but misses darts at double 12, six and three before Chisnall finishes 61 on double four to hold throw.
2-2 - Smith scores 140, 140 and 180 and finishes double 16 for a 13-darter.
2-3 - Smith kicks off against the throw with a 180, and adds further scores of 140 and 100 before finishing double top for a 12-darter and the first break.
2-4 - The Studley ace opens with scores of 140, 180 and 145, and although Chisnall replies with a 180 it is Smith who finishes double four for a 14-darter
2-5 - Chisnall is first to a double but misses tops for a 104 finish, and Smith picks off 76 on double four for a second break to move a leg away from the win.
2-6 - Smith hits four scores of 100 or better to leave 40 after 12 darts, and hits tops to seal victory in 13 darts.