STEVE BEATON claimed his first tournament win since 2001 with a 6-1 defeat of Wes Newton in Saturday's Players Championship in Nuland.
The former Embassy Champion's last title came at the JR & Vauxhall Open in 2001, but he continued his renaissance with a fine showing in Holland.
Having reached a Players Championship final in Austria last month, losing to Jamie Caven, he went one better this time around to claim the £6,000 Players Championship title.
Beaton began Saturday's event with a 6-4 win over Wayne Mardle, hitting a 170 finish to claim victory, and then whitewashed Dennis Smith before seeing off Denis Ovens and Steve Hine.
He was a 6-4 victor against Kevin Painter in the quarter-finals, and produced an impressive display to see off Vincent van der Voort 6-1 in the semis.
The 45-year-old then came from a leg down to defeat Wes Newton in the decider.
Newton took advantage of four missed doubles to win the opening leg, but could do little as the next two went to Beaton on double 16.
Misses from Newton were punished as Beaton took a 3-1 lead, before he landed 180s in taking the next two legs, and then sealed victory on double 16.
"It's brilliant," said Beaton. "It's been a long time coming for me but I've been desperate to win an event and come close a few times recently.
"I know I can still do it and it's about putting it together on the day and performing, and I did that today.
"We always say there are no easy games but to draw Wayne Mardle in the first round, when he's scrapping to stay in the top 16, was massive and that was a big win.
"I had tough games throughout the day against top players and that's another bonus."
In-form Newton reached his third PDC Pro Tour final inside three months with his run, which included a 6-4 win over Adrian Lewis in the semi-finals.
He also overcame York's Chris Thompson 6-5 in the last eight, and defeated Toon Greebe, Jyhan Artut, Roland Scholten and Colin Monk in the event.
Gary Anderson inflicted a 6-2 win on world number two Raymond van Barneveld in his run to the quarter-finals, while world number three James Wade was defeated in a deciding leg by Gibraltar's Dylan Duo.
Players Championship (Nuland)
Preliminary Round
Michael Rosenauer 6-0 Tony Blundell
Tony Ayres 6-4 Adrian Gray
Remco van Eijden 6-1 Neil Dickson
First Round
Colin Osborne (1) 6-0 Gerard Klijn
Willem Kralt 6-3 Chris Loudon
Peter Wright (32) 6-1 Louis Blundell
John Part 6-4 Michael Rosenauer
Brendan Dolan 6-3 Andy Smith (16)
Christian van Overdijk 6-1 Ingo Vogt
Vincent van der Voort (17) 6-0 Michael Kinzelbach
Justin Pipe 6-2 Richard van Zijtveld
Jamie Caven (8) 6-2 Nandor Bezzeg
Kirk Shepherd 6-3 Mark Carter
Tony Eccles (25) 6-1 Daniel de Boer
Bryan de Hoog 6-2 Andreas Krockel
Alan Tabern (9) 6-4 Rocco Maes
Andree Welge 6-2 Achmed Ahmaddi
Mario Masurka 6-4 Peter Manley (24)
Arron Monk 6-1 Simon Craven
Terry Jenkins (5) 6-3 Jan van der Rassel
Steve Brown 6-1 Par Riihonen
Steve Hine (28) 6-4 Mensur Suljovic
Andreas Sterk 6-1 Erwin Extercatte
Steve Beaton (12) 6-4 Wayne Mardle
Dennis Smith 6-1 Wilchard Vissers
Denis Ovens (21) 6-4 Johnny Okken
Richie Burnett 6-3 Michael Barnard
Robert Thornton (4) 6-4 Wim Mink
Jordy Terburg 6-4 Didier de Vuyst
Matt Clark (29) 6-2 Hermie van Orsouw
Braulio Roncero 6-5 Robin Ferdinandus
Andy Hamilton (13) 6-3 Eimardo van Engelen
Steve Maish 6-2 Colin Rice
Kevin Painter (20) 6-1 Dave Ladley
Andy Fordham 6-0 Harold Wieleman
Mark Walsh (2) 6-3 Hannes Schnier
Leon de Geus 6-4 John Quantock
Barrie Bates (31) 6-4 Ken Dobson
Toon Greebe 6-3 Tony Ayres
Wes Newton (15) 6-2 Colin Monk
Roland Scholten 6-2 Gino Vos
Michael van Gerwen (18) 6-5 Mark Stephenson
Jyhan Artut 6-1 Maik Langendorf
James Wade (7) 6-5 Nick Fullwell
Mark Webster 6-1 Rolf Kaiser
Carlos Rodriguez (26) 6-5 Mark Frost
Dylan Duo 6-2 Karsten Kornath
Wayne Jones (10) 6-1 Jean-Paul van Acker
James Barton 6-5 Stephen Hardy
Martyn Turner 6-5 Jelle Klaasen (23)
Chris Thompson 6-3 Alex Roy
Gary Anderson (6) 6-1 Barry Zander
Rick Lowther 6-4 Steve Grubb
Co Stompe (27) 6-2 Marko Puls
Erwin Renkema 6-0 Gabriela Gobel
Karsten Koch 6-4 Mervyn King (11)
Raymond van Barneveld 6-2 Christoph Stehmann
Andy Jenkins (22) 6-5 Mick McGowan
Steve Evans 6-4 Rico Dera
Adrian Lewis (3) 6-4 Dick van Dijk
Bas Smits 6-4 Joe Cullen
Kevin McDine (30) 6-3 Markus Schonbein
Remco van Eijden 6-5 Danny Lanooij
Mark Dudbridge (14) 6-2 Darren Johnson
Pim van Veenendal 6-4 Andy Relf
Paul Nicholson (19) 6-0 Jurgen Lechtken
Patrick Bulen 6-4 Kevin Munch
Second Round
Willem Kralt 6-2 Colin Osborne
John Part 6-5 Peter Wright
Christian van Overdijk 6-5 Brendan Dolan
Vincent van der Voort 6-3 Justin Pipe
Jamie Caven 6-4 Kirk Shepherd
Tony Eccles 6-5 Bryan de Hoog
Alan Tabern 6-5 Andree Welge
Arron Monk 6-2 Mario Masurka
Terry Jenkins 6-4 Steve Brown
Steve Hine 6-2 Andreas Sterk
Steve Beaton 6-0 Dennis Smith
Denis Ovens 6-4 Richie Burnett
Robert Thornton 6-5 Jordy Terburg
Braulio Roncero 6-4 Matt Clark
Steve Maish 6-2 Andy Hamilton
Kevin Painter 6-2 Andy Fordham
Mark Walsh 6-2 Leon de Geus
Toon Greebe 6-2 Barrie Bates
Wes Newton 6-3 Roland Scholten
Jyhan Artut 6-3 Michael van Gerwen
James Wade 6-0 Mark Webster
Dylan Duo 6-4 Carlos Rodriguez
Wayne Jones 6-1 James Barton
Chris Thompson 6-1 Martyn Turner
Gary Anderson 6-3 Rick Lowther
Co Stompe 6-4 Erwin Renkema
Raymond van Barneveld 6-1 Karsten Koch
Andy Jenkins 6-1 Steve Evans
Adrian Lewis 6-2 Bas Smits
Remco van Eijden 6-3 Kevin McDine
Mark Dudbridge 6-4 Pim van Veenendal
Paul Nicholson 6-4 Patrick Bulen
Losers £200
Third Round
Willem Kralt 6-4 John Part
Vincent van der Voort 6-2 Christian van Overdijk
Jamie Caven 6-2 Tony Eccles
Alan Tabern 6-3 Arron Monk
Steve Hine 6-4 Terry Jenkins
Steve Beaton 6-4 Denis Ovens
Robert Thornton 6-5 Braulio Roncero
Kevin Painter 6-5 Steve Maish
Toon Greebe 6-1 Mark Walsh
Wes Newton 6-4 Jyhan Artut
Dylan Duo 6-5 James Wade
Chris Thompson 6-2 Wayne Jones
Gary Anderson 6-2 Co Stompe
Raymond van Barneveld 6-0 Andy Jenkins
Adrian Lewis 6-3 Remco van Eijden
Paul Nicholson 6-3 Mark Dudbridge
Losers £300
Fourth Round
Vincent van der Voort 6-3 Willem Kralt
Alan Tabern 6-4 Jamie Caven
Steve Beaton 6-1 Steve Hine
Kevin Painter 6-2 Robert Thornton
Wes Newton 6-5 Toon Greebe
Chris Thompson 6-0 Dylan Duo
Gary Anderson 6-2 Raymond van Barneveld
Adrian Lewis 6-1 Paul Nicholson
Losers £400
Quarter-Finals
Vincent van der Voort 6-5 Alan Tabern
Steve Beaton 6-4 Kevin Painter
Wes Newton 6-5 Chris Thompson
Adrian Lewis 6-3 Gary Anderson
Losers £800
Semi-Finals
Steve Beaton 6-2 Vincent van der Voort
Wes Newton 6-4 Adrian Lewis
Losers £1,500
Final
Steve Beaton 6-1 Wes Newton
Winner £6,000
Runner-Up £3,000
Semi-Finals
Steve Beaton defeated Vincent van der Voort 6-2 to reach his second Players Championship final inside two months. Beaton took out 122 on the bull to break throw in the opening leg before the Dutchman hit back in the second, hitting a 180 and double 16. Beaton took advantage of missed doubles to win the third on double two, hit the same bed to move 3-1 up and also won the next two legs to move four clear. Double eight kept van der Voort in the game, but he missed double top in the next and Beaton took out double four for the match.
Wes Newton's run of form continued with a 6-4 win over Adrian Lewis - seeing him reach a third Players Championship final since the summer. Newton took the first two legs to lead, before Lewis posted a 180 and double eight to get off the mark. Newton missed doubles in the next to lead 4-1, with Lewis cutting the gap to 3-2 on double four. Lewis then missed the bull to level, as Newton took out double 16 to move 4-2 up. Lewis produced a fine 120 finish, with Newton waiting on 40 in the next, before double top saw him pull level at 4-4. Newton, however, took the ninth leg in 14 darts and punished three misses from Lewis to seal victory on double ten.
Final
Steve Beaton came from a leg down to defeat Wes Newton in the final and claim his first title since 2001. Newton took advantage of four missed doubles to win the opening leg, but could do little as the next two went to Beaton on double 16. Misses from Newton were punished as Beaton took a 3-1 lead, before he landed 180s in taking the next two legs, and then sealed victory on double 16.