ANDY SMITH picked up his first Players Championship victory since 2007 with a 6-5 win over Colin Lloyd in the final of Saturday's German Darts Trophy.
Smith had not picked up a tournament win since October 2007 in Scotland, but hit a nine-darter in ending that run in Dinslaken.
The Studley-based star achieved the perfect leg in his quarter-final victory against Mark Walsh, having hit a ten-darter to level after being 3-0 down before landing a perfect leg later in the match to earn a £400 bonus.
Smith overcame Wim Mink and Louis Blundell in the early rounds, edged out Mervyn King 6-5 in the last 32 and then defeated Jelle Klaasen 6-4 to reach the quarters.
Following his deciding leg win over Walsh, Smith then knocked out Bradford youngster Joe Cullen 6-3 in the semis and edged out Lloyd in a tight final.
Lloyd's run featured wins over Mick McGowan, Braulio Roncero, Andy Hamilton, Steve Beaton and Wayne Jones to reach his fourth final of the year.
Cullen's run follows his recent decision to leave his job as a postman to become a full-time professional, and was his best-ever on the PDC Pro Tour.
The 19-year-old picked up wins over Mark Dudbridge, Tony Eccles, Alan Tabern and Vincent van der Voort in making the last four, and led Smith 3-2 before the eventual champion took the final four legs without reply.
Jones' semi-final appearance was his fifth of 2009, while Steve Beaton reached the last eight for the fourth successive PDC Pro Tour event.
German Darts Trophy Players Championship (Dinslaken)
First Round
Michael Barnard 6-1 Wesley van Holsteijn
Carlos Rodriguez 6-2 Yves Cottenje
Ray Farrell 6-0 Dieter Bubos
Jamie Caven 6-1 Markus Kremser
Mark Webster 6-1 Steve Grubb
Adrian Lewis 6-1 Dulan Duo
Jyhan Artut 6-4 Dave Honey
Justin Pipe 6-3 Bryan de Hoog
Andy Smith 6-1 Wim Mink
Louis Blundell 6-1 Erwin Renkema
James Barton 6-4 Michael de Cujiper
Jelle Klassen 6-1 Bernd Roith
Chris Loudon 6-4 Marco Kantele
Dennis Smith 6-1 Jarkko Komula
Matt Clark 6-1 Mark Frost
Mensur Suljovic 6-3 Hannes Schnier
Mark Dubridge 6-1 Karsten Kornath
Joe Cullen 6-2 Ufuk Uzuner
Tony Eccles 6-1 Adrian Gray
Jonathan Overton 6-3 Manuel Berns
Patrick Bulen 6-1 Barry Zander
Co Stompe 6-0 Shamolli Perparim
Dave Ladley 6-0 Patrick Loos
Vincent van der Voort 6-1 Tony Ayres
Ken Dobson 6-5 Rocco Maes
Paul Nicholson 6-2 Alex Roy
Peter Wright 6-1 Andy Relf
Nick Fullwell 6-2 Richard van Zijtveld
Kevin McDine 6-1 Stuard Bousfield
Marko Puls 6-4 Toon Greebe
Steven Beaton 6-3 Par Riihonen
Steve Hine 6-4 Andree Welge
Kevin Painter 6-2 Mario Masurka
Roland Scholten 6-2 Maik Langendorf
Mick McGowan 6-3 Stefan Schneider
Wayne Mardle 6-0 John Lokken
Braulio Roncero 6-5 Didier de Vuyst
Thomas Seyler 6-1 Michael Rosenauer
Peter Manley 6-4 Martin Turner
Remco van Eijden 6-4 Yordi Meeuwisse
John Part 6-0 Jon Archer
Wes Newton 6-4 Jan van der Rassel
Dyson Parody 6-4 Kirk Shepherd
Johnny Okken 6-0 Moritz Hanisch
Chris Thompson 6-4 Steve Maish
Kevin Harris 6-1 Sander Sonneveld
Darren Johnson 6-0 Rolf Kaiser
Barrie Bates 6-2 Simon Craven
Brendan Dolan 6-1 Frank Liebeton
Wayne Jones 6-2 Anoop Ramdajal
Steve Brown 6-0 Tobias Rolf
Colin Monk 6-4 Andy Jenkins
Gino Vos 6-1 Hüseyin Zengin
Second Round
Mark Walsh 6-3 Michael Barnard
Carlos Rodriguez 6-5 Ray Farrell
Jamie Caven 6-3 Mark Webster
Adrian Lewis 6-3 Jyhan Artut
Mervyn King 6-2 Justin Pipe
Andy Smith 6-2 Louis Blundell
Denis Ovens 6-3 James Barton
Jelle Klaasen 6-3 Chris Loudon
Alan Tabern 6-2 Dennis Smith
Matt Clark 6-2 Mensur Suljovic
Joe Cullen 6-5 Mark Dudbridge
Tony Eccles 6-1 Jonathan Overton
Ronnie Baxter 6-3 Patrick Bulen
Co Stompe 6-0 Dave Ladley
Vincent van der Voort 6-2 Ken Dobson
Peter Wright 6-4 Paul Nicholson
Colin Osborne 6-2 Nick Fullwell
Kevin McDine 6-5 Marco Puls
Steve Beaton 6-1 Steve Hine
Kevin Painter 6-2 Roland Scholten
Colin Lloyd 6-3 Mick McGowan
Braulio Roncero 6-5 Wayne Mardle
Andy Hamilton 6-5 Tomas Seyler
Peter Manley 6-2 Remco van Eijden
John Part 6-4 Terry Jenkins
Wes Newton 6-2 Dyson Parody
Johnny Okken 6-5 Michael van Gerwen
Chris Thompson 6-3 Kevin Harris
Robert Thornton 6-3 Darren Johnson
Barrie Bates 6-2 Brendan Dolan
Wayne Jones 6-1 Steve Brown
Colin Monk 6-5 Gino Vos
Losers £200
Third Round
Mark Walsh 6-3 Carlos Rodriguez
Jamie Caven 6-4 Adrian Lewis
Andy Smith 6-5 Mervyn King
Jelle Klaasen 6-5 Denis Ovens
Alan Tabern 6-2 Matt Clark
Joe Cullen 6-5 Tony Eccles
Ronnie Baxter 6-3 Co Stompe
Vincent van der Voort 6-2 Peter Wright
Colin Osborne 6-3 Kevin McDine
Steve Beaton 6-2 Kevin Painter
Colin Lloyd 6-5 Braulio Roncero
Andy Hamilton 6-3 Peter Manley
John Part 6-4 Wes Newton
Johnny Okken 6-4 Chris Thompson
Barrie Bates 6-5 Robert Thornton
Wayne Jones 6-0 Colin Monk
Losers £300
Fourth Round
Mark Walsh 6-2 Jamie Caven
Andy Smith 6-4 Jelle Klaasen
Joe Cullen 6-4 Alan Tabern
Vincent van der Voort 6-0 Ronnie Baxter
Steve Beaton 6-2 Colin Osborne
Colin Lloyd 6-4 Andy Hamilton
John Part 6-3 Johnny Okken
Wayne Jones 6-3 Barrie Bates
Losers £400
Quarter-Finals
Andy Smith 6-5 Mark Walsh - Andy Smith hits nine-darter
Joe Cullen 6-4 Vincent van der Voort
Colin Lloyd 6-2 Steve Beaton
Wayne Jones 6-1 John Part
Losers £800
Semi-Finals
Andy Smith 6-3 Joe Cullen
Colin Lloyd 6-1 Wayne Jones
Losers £1,500
Final
Andy Smith 6-5 Colin Lloyd
Winner £6,000
Runner-Up £3,000