ROB CROSS claimed his maiden PDC ProTour title as he beat Mervyn King 6-5 in the final of Players Championship Three, on a day that also saw Kim Huybrechts hit a nine-dart finish.
Sussex's Cross, who only joined the PDC ProTour less than three months ago, began his day with impressive victories over Alan Norris, Max Hopp and then Richie Burnett at the Barnsley Metrodome.
Last year's PDC Unicorn Challenge Tour winner then faced Jamie Caven in the last 16 where he secured a 6-4 win to book his place in the quarter-finals.
There, he defeated five-time World Champion Raymond van Barneveld 6-4 to set up a semi-final encounter with last weekend’s UK Open runner-up Gerwyn Price.
The Welshman took a commanding 3-1 lead before Cross won five of the following seven legs to make his way in to a first PDC ProTour final, as he took on experienced King.
The final was a tense encounter which saw the pair break the others throw in the opening two legs.
From that point both King and Cross finished well and held throw to take the match to a deciding leg, despite Cross missing the bullseye to claim the victory in leg ten.
Cross opened the last leg with 134 to put himself in control, and eventually went on to secure his first title and the £10,000 prize on double two.
King's displays on the day saw him reach his first final on the circuit since 2014, starting with victories over Brian Woods, Jeffrey de Graaf and ninth seed James Wade.
King followed that with two impressive performances, first in a 6-1 win over Martin Schindler and then a 6-2 victory against Ritchie Edhouse to make his way in to the semi-final.
There, he faced Steve West - who he defeated in the World Championship three months ago - and the Norfolk ace had to dig deep to secure a 6-5 win from 4-2 down to book his spot in the decider.
Players Championship Three saw none of the top ten seeds make their way in to the quarter-final stage with Michael van Gerwen, Gary Anderson and Peter Wright all being defeated before the last 16 stage.
World number one Van Gerwen came unstuck against William O’Connor, two-time World Champion Anderson was beaten by Daryl Gurney and Paul Nicholson accounted for newly crowned UK Open champion Wright.
Kim Huybrechts also had a memorable day in Barnsley as he hit a perfect leg in his opening match against Sven Groen before being beaten by Jamie Caven in the second round.
Ritchie Edhouse, Raymond van Barneveld, Michael Smith and Daryl Gurney will all reflect on a solid day as they reached the quarter-final stages.
Players Championship Four will take place on Sunday, with the £75,000 tournament being streamed live on www.livepdc.tv and a series of bookmakers’ websites.
WHERE TO WATCH
Live coverage from two streamed boards will be available online for all PDCTV-HD Subscribers worldwide via www.livepdc.tv .
Live coverage is also available through the following bookmakers' websites:
188 Bet
Aspen
Bet365
Fonbet
Nike
TAB NZ
Vivarobet
Players Championship Three
Saturday March 11, Barnsley Metrodome
First Round
Michael van Gerwen 6-2 Joe Murnan
Scott Darbyshire 6-5 Matthew Edgar
Christian Kist 6-3 John Jnr Norman
William O'Connor 6-4 Zoran Lerchbacher
Andy Jenkins 6-5 Stephen Bunting
Ritchie Edhouse 6-4 Andy Hamilton
Cristo Reyes 6-5 Vincent Kamphuis
John Michael 6-3 Ricky Evans
Ian White 6-5 Haruki Muramatsu
Martin Schindler 6-1 Kirk Shepherd
Ronny Huybrechts 6-1 Wes Newton
Dimitri Van den Bergh 6-3 Ronnie Baxter
James Wade 6-2 Colin Roelofs
Matt Clark 6-1 Paul Rowley
Mervyn King 6-2 Brian Woods
Jeffrey de Graaf 6-4 Devon Petersen
Dave Chisnall 6-3 Andy Parsons
Peter Hudson 6-2 Ryan Palmer
Darren Webster 6-5 Jeffrey de Zwaan
John Henderson 6-1 Maik Langendorf
Jelle Klaasen 6-3 Mick McGowan
Mark Webster 6-5 Stuart Kellett
Steve West 6-4 Jan Dekker
Ryan Meikle 6-5 Keegan Brown
Benito van de Pas 6-2 Simon Stevenson
Ted Evetts 6-2 Yordi Meeuwisse
Jamie Lewis 6-4 Robbie Green
James Richardson 6-4 Tony Newell
Michael Smith 6-1 Harry Robinson
Jamie Bain 6-4 Aden Kirk
Steve Beaton 6-5 Ryan Searle
Simon Preston 6-3 Ross Twell
Peter Wright 6-1 Berry van Peer
Paul Nicholson 6-2 Stephen Burton
Darron Brown 6-5 Josh Payne
Warrick Scheffer 6-4 Ron Meulenkamp
Joe Cullen 6-2 Kevin Painter
Raymond van Barneveld 6-3 Mark Barilli
Kyle Anderson 6-1 Bryan de Hoog
Shaun Griffiths 6-4 Mark Walsh
Rob Cross 6-2 Alan Norris
Max Hopp 6-4 Chris Quantock
Robert Thornton 6-3 Brendan Dolan
Richie Burnett 6-5 Richie Corner
Kim Huybrechts 6-2 Sven Groen - Kim Huybrechts hits nine-dart finish
Jamie Caven 6-3 Terry Temple
James Wilson 6-3 Matthew Dennant
Steve Lennon 6-4 Mickey Mansell
Steve Hine 6-3 Simon Whitlock
Jimmy Hendriks 6-5 Terry Roach
Justin Pipe 6-1 John Bowles
Ricky Williams 6-5 Dennis Smith
Gerwyn Price 6-2 Jim Brown
Jonny Clayton 6-2 Andy Boulton
Chris Dobey 6-2 Ray Campbell
Richard North 6-5 David Pallett
Mensur Suljovic 6-1 Mike De Decker
Jonathan Worsley 6-5 Lee Bryant
Jermaine Wattimena 6-0 Antonio Alcinas
Dirk van Duijvenbode 6-4 Vincent van der Voort
Gary Anderson 6-1 Adam Hunt
Darren Johnson 6-2 Andrew Gilding
Daryl Gurney 6-2 Robert Owen
Mick Todd 6-2 Scott Taylor
Second Round
Michael van Gerwen 6-1 Scott Darbyshire
William O'Connor 6-2 Christian Kist
Ritchie Edhouse 6-3 Andy Jenkins
John Michael 6-4 Cristo Reyes
Martin Schindler 6-5 Ian White
Ronny Huybrechts 6-1 Dimitri Van den Bergh
James Wade 6-3 Matt Clark
Mervyn King 6-3 Jeffrey de Graaf
Dave Chisnall 6-4 Peter Hudson
John Henderson 6-5 Darren Webster
Mark Webster 6-5 Jelle Klaasen
Steve West 6-3 Ryan Meikle
Benito van de Pas 6-4 Ted Evetts
Jamie Lewis 6-5 James Richardson
Michael Smith 6-5 Jamie Bain
Simon Preston 6-4 Steve Beaton
Paul Nicholson 6-5 Peter Wright
Warrick Scheffer 6-1 Darron Brown
Raymond van Barneveld 6-0 Joe Cullen
Kyle Anderson 6-4 Shaun Griffiths
Rob Cross 6-3 Max Hopp
Richie Burnett 6-3 Robert Thornton
Jamie Caven 6-3 Kim Huybrechts
James Wilson 6-4 Steve Lennon
Steve Hine 6-3 Jimmy Hendriks
Justin Pipe 6-3 Ricky Williams
Gerwyn Price 6-4 Jonny Clayton
Chris Dobey 6-0 Richard North
Mensur Suljovic 6-1 Jonathan Worsley
Jermaine Wattimena 6-5 Dirk van Duijvenbode
Gary Anderson 6-3 Darren Johnson
Daryl Gurney 6-3 Mick Todd
Losers £500
Third Round
William O'Connor 6-4 Michael van Gerwen
Ritchie Edhouse 6-3 John Michael
Martin Schindler 6-5 Ronny Huybrechts
Mervyn King 6-4 James Wade
Dave Chisnall 6-2 John Henderson
Steve West 6-5 Mark Webster
Jamie Lewis 6-1 Benito van de Pas
Michael Smith 6-5 Simon Preston
Paul Nicholson 6-3 Warrick Scheffer
Raymond van Barneveld 6-4 Kyle Anderson
Rob Cross 6-2 Richie Burnett
Jamie Caven 6-0 James Wilson
Justin Pipe 6-4 Steve Hine
Gerwyn Price 6-4 Chris Dobey
Mensur Suljovic 6-5 Jermaine Wattimena
Daryl Gurney 6-4 Gary Anderson
Losers £1,000
Fourth Round
Ritchie Edhouse 6-5 William O'Connor
Mervyn King 6-1 Martin Schindler
Steve West 6-4 Dave Chisnall
Michael Smith 6-4 Jamie Lewis
Raymond van Barneveld 6-5 Paul Nicholson
Rob Cross 6-4 Jamie Caven
Gerwyn Price 6-1 Justin Pipe
Daryl Gurney 6-2 Mensur Suljovic
Losers £1,500
Quarter-Finals
Mervyn King 6-2 Ritchie Edhouse
Steve West 6-1 Michael Smith
Rob Cross 6-4 Raymond van Barneveld
Gerwyn Price 6-4 Daryl Gurney
Losers £2,250
Semi-Finals
Mervyn King 6-5 Steve West
Rob Cross 6-5 Gerwyn Price
Losers £3,000
Final
Rob Cross 6-5 Mervyn King
Winner £10,000
Runner-Up £6,000