Mike's Mighty Barnsley Win!

MICHAEL VAN GERWEN won his third PDC ProTour title of 2012 as he produced a sensational performance to defeat Ian White 6-1 in the final of Saturday's Players Championship at the Barnsley Metrodome.

The in-form Dutch star, who also hit a nine-darter during July's Betfair World Matchplay, was in brilliant form as he prepared for his challenge in next week's PartyPoker.net European Championship with the £6,000 title.

Van Gerwen dropped only two legs in early wins over William O'Connor and Mark Frost before defeating Darren Webster 6-4 to reach the quarter-finals, where he whitewashed Gary Anderson with a 102.48 average.

That was bettered in his semi-final against Andy Hamilton, but he saved his best performance for the decider with White, as he lost only one leg and ended a comprehensive 6-1 win with a 107.85 three-dart average.

Having opened with a 78 finish to win the first leg, van Gerwen was waiting on a double when White took out 148 to level - but that would be as good as it got for the Stoke ace, who was blitzed by the 23-year-old.

Van Gerwen hit a 171 to match a White 180 in the third, with a 13-darter giving the Dutchman the lead before another 78 finish moved him 3-1 up.

Van Gerwen then took out legs of 14 and 13 darts to move a leg away from the win, which he sealed on double eight.

"I'm very happy to win this and I've played very well all day," said van Gerwen. "I played my own game and made the tournament mine, which is pleasing.

"I know that as the longer a tournament goes on, the better I can play and that showed in my performance today, especially with a 107 average against Ian White in the final.

"If you can win a tournament like this then there's no reason I can't do it on TV now in the European Championship. I want to take this onto the stage and I'm looking forward to my game with Andy Smith in Germany."

White had reached the final of last week's German Darts Masters in Germany, where he lost to Adrian Lewis, and this defeat was his fourth in a ranking decider this year.

However, the Stoke ace claims £3,000 as runner-up following another superb day of darts, which began with defeats of Andy Jenkins, Barrie Bates and Andy Smith before he saw off Justin Pipe in the quarter-finals and whitewashed Terry Jenkins in the semis.

Jenkins had been outstanding in defeating James Wade and Simon Whitlock to reach the last four, before his bid for a second ProTour win of the year was ended by a fine White display.

Hamilton averaged 104 in an excellent quarter-final defeat of Mervyn King, and he also edged out world number five Wes Newton and defeated Alex Roy, Daniel Day and Adrian Gray in the event before coming up against van Gerwen.

Scottish ace Anderson missed double 12 for a nine-darter during his win over James Richardson, settling instead for a ten-darter in the winning leg of a 6-4 triumph, and he also averaged 106.81 in seeing off Wayne Atwood in a strong display of form.

King was also in fine fettle as he won through to the last eight, averaging almost 105 in seeing off Paul Nicholson, while Pipe and Whitlock joined him in the last eight as they continued their consistent ProTour form.

Sunday sees another £35,000 Players Championship held at the Barnsley Metrodome, with 120 players set to take part in the final PDC ProTour event before next weekend's European Championship.

Sunday's event will also be the last ProTour event to count towards qualification for next month's PartyPoker.com World Grand Prix in Dublin.

Players Championship 11
Barnsley Metrodome, Saturday September 15
First Round
Justin Pipe (1) Bye
Matt Clark 6-5 Mick Todd
Wayne Jones (32) 6-5 Gino Vos
Chris Thompson 6-2 Steve Maish
Andrew Gilding 6-3 Mark Webster (16)
John Part 6-1 Steve Farmer
Vincent van der Voort (17) Bye (Les Wallace timed out)
Mark Forman 6-5 Martin Perring
Ian White (8) Bye
Andy Jenkins 6-2 James Hubbard
Barrie Bates 6-4 Kevin Painter (25)
Steven Pearson 6-2 John Walton
Ronnie Baxter (9) Bye
Devon Petersen 6-5 John Scott
Andy Smith (24) 6-3 Keegan Brown
Mark Lawrence 6-5 Scott Coleman
Simon Whitlock (5) Bye
Dennis Smith 6-4 Dennis Priestley
Robert Thornton (28) 6-2 Jim Walker
John Bowles 6-2 John Henderson
Kim Huybrechts (12) 6-1 Richie Howson
Joe Murnan 6-4 Reece Robinson
Mark Walsh (21) 6-1 Tony Littleton
Sam Hill 6-3 Andy Relf
James Wade (4) Bye
Steve Hine 6-1 Nick Fullwell
Scott Rand (29) 6-2 Peter Hudson
Brian Woods 6-2 Paul Rowley
Terry Jenkins (13) 6-3 Prakash Jiwa
Magnus Caris 6-4 Steve Grubb
Bernd Roith 6-1 Brendan Dolan (20)
Dave Ladley 6-2 Darren Johnson
Dave Chisnall (2) Bye
Mark Dudbridge 6-5 Adam Smith-Neale
James Richardson (31) 6-4 Jamie Lewis
Alan Tabern 6-2 Kevin McDine
Gary Anderson (15) 6-2 Paul Barham
Keith Stephen 6-3 Stephen Hardy
Shaun Griffiths 6-5 Steve Beaton (18)
Wayne Atwood 6-4 Simon Burt
Michael van Gerwen (7) Bye
William O'Connor 6-3 Michael Barnard
Peter Wright (26) 6-0 Mareno Michels
Mark Frost 6-1 Adrian Bolitho
Colin Lloyd (10) 6-3 Tony West
Roland Scholten 6-4 Ross Smith
Terry Temple 6-2 Michael Smith (23)
Darren Webster 6-2 Chris Aubrey
Mervyn King (6) Bye
Arron Monk 6-5 Ted Hankey
Michael Mansell 6-4 Jamie Caven (27)
Denis Ovens 6-1 Andy Firth
Stuart Kellett 6-5 Richie Burnett (11)
Nigel Heydon 6-2 Johnny Haines
Paul Nicholson (22) 6-5 Gareth Pass
Kevin Dowling 6-2 Damien Sherwood
Wes Newton (3) Bye
Steve Brown 6-3 Matthew Edgar
Joe Cullen (30) 6-5 Gaz Cousins
Dean Winstanley 6-2 Mark Jones
Darren Whittingham 6-1 Colin Osborne (14)
Adrian Gray 6-3 Liam Kelly
Andy Hamilton (19) 6-2 Alex Roy
Daniel Day 6-3 Ian Moss

Second Round
Justin Pipe 6-4 Matt Clark
Wayne Jones 6-1 Chris Thompson
John Part 6-2 Andrew Gilding
Vincent van der Voort 6-1 Mark Forman
Ian White 6-5 Andy Jenkins
Barrie Bates 6-4 Steven Pearson
Ronnie Baxter 6-0 Devon Petersen
Andy Smith 6-3 Mark Lawrence
Simon Whitlock 6-1 Dennis Smith
John Bowles 6-4 Robert Thornton
Kim Huybrechts 6-2 Joe Murnan
Mark Walsh 6-2 Sam Hill
James Wade 6-3 Steve Hine
Scott Rand 6-0 Brian Woods
Terry Jenkins 6-0 Magnus Caris
Dave Ladley 6-5 Bernd Roith
Dave Chisnall 6-1 Mark Dudbridge
James Richardson 6-2 Alan Tabern
Gary Anderson 6-2 Keith Stephen
Wayne Atwood 6-3 Shaun Griffiths
Michael van Gerwen 6-1 William O'Connor
Mark Frost 6-4 Peter Wright
Colin Lloyd 6-4 Roland Scholten
Darren Webster 6-3 Terry Temple
Mervyn King 6-3 Arron Monk
Denis Ovens 6-5 Michael Mansell
Stuart Kellett 6-5 Nigel Heydon
Paul Nicholson 6-1 Kevin Dowling
Wes Newton 6-1 Steve Brown
Dean Winstanley 6-2 Joe Cullen
Adrian Gray 6-3 Darren Whittingham
Andy Hamilton 6-3 Daniel Day
Losers £200

Third Round
Justin Pipe 6-5 Wayne Jones
John Part 6-5 Vincent van der Voort
Ian White 6-3 Barrie Bates
Andy Smith 6-5 Ronnie Baxter
Simon Whitlock 6-1 John Bowles
Mark Walsh 6-4 Kim Huybrechts
James Wade 6-4 Scott Rand
Terry Jenkins 6-0 Dave Ladley
James Richardson 6-2 Dave Chisnall
Gary Anderson 6-1 Wayne Atwood
Michael van Gerwen 6-1 Mark Frost
Darren Webster 6-3 Colin Lloyd
Mervyn King 6-4 Denis Ovens
Paul Nicholson 6-4 Stuart Kellett
Wes Newton 6-4 Dean Winstanley
Andy Hamilton 6-1 Adrian Gray
Losers £400

Fourth Round
Justin Pipe 6-4 John Part
Ian White 6-3 Andy Smith
Simon Whitlock 6-4 Mark Walsh
Terry Jenkins 6-2 James Wade
Gary Anderson 6-4 James Richardson
Michael van Gerwen 6-4 Darren Webster
Mervyn King 6-2 Paul Nicholson
Andy Hamilton 6-5 Wes Newton
Losers £600

Quarter-Finals
Ian White 6-4 Justin Pipe
Terry Jenkins 6-3 Simon Whitlock
Michael van Gerwen 6-0 Gary Anderson
Andy Hamilton 6-3 Mervyn King
Losers £1,000

Semi-Finals
Ian White 6-0 Terry Jenkins
Michael van Gerwen 6-2 Andy Hamilton
Losers £2,000

Final
Michael van Gerwen 6-1 Ian White
Winner £6,000
Runner-Up £3,000

Final - Leg-By-Leg
Ian White v Michael van Gerwen
0-1 - van Gerwen takes out 78 for a 14-darter to win the opener.
1-1 - van Gerwen scores 140, 134 and 174, but fails to finish 53 and White levels with a superb 148 checkout.
1-2 - A van Gerwen 171 is followed by a 180 from White, but the Dutchman finishes tops for a 13-darter.
1-3 - Another 78 finish from van Gerwen sees him break throw to lead by two legs.
1-4 - van Gerwen opens 134, 140, 139 and wins the leg in 14 darts and raise his average to 109.
1-5 - The Dutchman's heavy scoring continues as he hits 137, 140, 134 and lands double ten for another 13-darter.
1-6 - White scores 140 and 180, but is unable to win his second leg and van Gerwen takes out doule eight to seal the win.

Match Stats