GLEN DURRANT clinched his first ever PDC title with victory in Players Championship Four at the Robin Park Tennis Centre in Wigan.
The three-time Lakeside Champion was in incredible form all day, and added his name to the history books of PDC winners as he beat Dimitri Van den Bergh 8-3 in the final.
It was a second ProTour final in a week for Durrant, after narrowly losing out to Dave Chisnall at Players Championship Two.
A dominant start in the final saw the Middlesbrough star - who featured as the contender in last Thursday's Premier League action - race into a 3-0 lead and immediately put the Belgian on the back foot.
The pair traded 13 darters as Van den Bergh got a foothold in the game, with the match then going with throw for the next four legs.
A 12 dart break of throw from Durrant - the best leg of the final - was to follow as he landed his third 180, a 140 and 130 to set up a 51 checkout and move to within a leg of the title.
And he sealed the £10,000 prize with a 76 checkout to round out an 8-3 win.
"That is as good as it gets, it's a wonderful feeling," said Durrant.
"To showcase my talents - I have just had the best two weeks. I am now a PDC champion, and I am ecstatic."
Durrant’s performance of the day came in the semi-finals, however, where he stunned Gerwyn Price 7-3 with a colossal 109.3 average to the Welshman’s 103.4 in a high-class affair.
His run to the final started with an impressive 6-3 win over Jamie Lewis, averaging 100.
This was certainly a sign of things to come from the 48-year-old, as he escaped a strong test against Ritchie Edhouse 6-5 averaging over 103, before repeating that with a 6-3 win over Joe Cullen.
A comfortable 6-2 win over Mensur Suljovic followed as he booked his spot in the quarter-finals.
Youngster Bradley Brooks then provided a stern test in the last eight, but Durrant eked through a 6-5 winner to reach that incredible semi-final with Price.
World Youth Champion Van den Bergh was also on the hunt for his first ProTour title and started the day with a 6-2 win over Chris Dobey.
This was followed by a 6-3 victory over Tony Alcinas, before seeing off Premier League star James Wade 6-4 in the last 32.
Two successive 6-4 victories followed over Stephen Burton and Matthew Edgar as he reached the semi-finals to face Rob Cross.
It was here he played arguably his best darts as he averaged just over 100 as he edged out the former World Champion 7-5 to reach his first ProTour final.
Saturday’s winner Michael van Gerwen was on the receiving end of a 6-1 thumping at the hands of World Championship semi-finalist Nathan Aspinall, who then fell to Price in the last eight.
But ultimately it was Durrant who came out on top as he continues his bright start to life in the PDC after securing his tour card in January.
The Players Championship action continues next weekend (Feb 23-24) with events Five and Six at the Barnsley Metrodome.
Players Championship Four
Sunday February 17
Click here for full results & stats
Last 16
Nathan Aspinall 6-1 Michael van Gerwen
Gerwyn Price 6-5 Michael Smith
Bradley Brooks 6-4 Adrian Lewis
Glen Durrant 6-2 Mensur Suljovic
Kyle Anderson 6-3 Mark McGeeney
Rob Cross 6-3 Jonny Clayton
Dimitri Van den Bergh 6-4 Stephen burton
Matthew Edgar 6-0 Adrian Gray
Quarter-Finals
Gerwyn Price 6-5 Nathan Aspinall
Glen Durrant 6-5 Bradley Brooks
Rob Cross 6-2 Kyle Anderson
Dimitri Van den Bergh 6-4 Matthew Edgar
Semi-Finals
Glen Durrant 7-3 Gerwyn Price
Dimitri Van den Bergh 7-5 Rob Cross
Final
Glen Durrant 8-3 Dimitri Van den Bergh
Full Results & Stats
See fixtures, results and stats via DartConnect.
