WES NEWTON claimed his second PDC ProTour win by defeating Andy Smith 6-2 in the final of Saturday's Players Championship in Wigan.
The Fleetwood ace followed up last November's victory in a Players Championship in Scotland to claim the £6,000 title at the Robin Park Tennis Centre, a win which should also ensure his place in the summer's StanJames.com World Matchplay in Blackpool.
On a fine day of darts, Newton whitewashed Mareno Michels and Nigel Birch and defeated Steve Evans 6-2 and Terry Jenkins 6-1 to reach the quarter-finals, where he saw off Colin Osborne 6-4.
Newton then held off Andy Hamilton's fightback to edge their semi-final 6-5, having seen Hamilton hit back from 5-1 down to force a decider.
A strong start to the final ensured that the final would not be as tight, as he took the opening three legs to lead 3-0.
Smith landed double top and double ten to win two of the next three, with a 13-darter having seen Newton take a fourth leg as he held a 4-2 advantage.
Smith hit three ton-plus scores in the next, but a 180 from Newton left him 61, which he took out in two darts before adding another 14-darter in the next leg to claim victory with Smith waiting on a double.
"It's great to win, I'm over the moon," said Newton, who had lost 6-5 in the final of a UK Open Qualifier to Gary Anderson last month.
"I've lost a few finals in the last year so to win another one is great for me. Losing to Gary Anderson hurt me but this will give me a lot more belief.
"I played really well all day today and am pleased with my performance. I'm getting more confidence and hopefully I'll kick on from this."
Smith's run saw him reach his first final since winning a Players Championship in Germany last June, and included a 6-4 semi-final win over in-form Gary Anderson.
He overcame Chris Thompson, Peter Hudson and Alex Roy in the early rounds, before overcoming Mark Walsh 6-3 and sealing a 6-4 win over Kevin Painter with a 154 finish.
Barrie Bates' run to the semi-finals included an 11-darter in the deciding leg of his win over Adrian Lewis in the last 16, before he was defeated by Anderson 6-5.
Mark Webster and Colin Osborne joined Painter and Bates in the quarter-finals, but Simon Whitlock's bid to win a third successive Players Championship was ended in the second round, as the Australian went down 6-2 to Alex Roy.
Players Championship 11
Preliminary Round
Peter Hudson 6-0 Jim McKevitt
Tony Ayres 6-1 Chris Loudon
Brian Startin 6-5 Wayne Atwood
First Round
Mark Walsh (1) 6-2 Kirk Shepherd
Mark Stephenson 6-2 Martyn Bevan
Dave Smith 6-4 Tony Eccles (32)
Gary Eastwood 6-1 Steve Grubb
Simon Whitlock (16) 6-3 Stuart Bousfield
Alex Roy 6-2 Andy Callaby
Andy Smith (17) 6-2 Chris Thompson
Peter Hudson 6-4 Mark Jones
Wayne Jones (8) 6-5 Steve Maish
Gary Welding 6-2 Michael Smith
Kevin Painter (25) 6-2 Daz Mawer
Tony Martin 6-3 Lee Hayes
Steve Beaton (9) 6-4 Mark Lawrence
Matt Clark 6-3 Martyn Turner
Mark Cox 6-3 Brendan Dolan (24)
John Part 6-2 Mark Hylton
Gary Anderson (5) 6-2 Joe Cullen
Par Riihonen 6-3 Robbie Newland
Jelle Klaasen (28) 6-4 Ian McFarlane
Terry Temple 6-3 Roland Scholten
James Wade (12) 6-3 Stuart Dutton
Ian White 6-2 Lee White
Alan Tabern (21) 6-1 Andy Hutchings
Gary Mawson 6-5 Stephen Hardy
Adrian Lewis (4) 6-3 Jimmy Mann
Mensur Suljovic 6-0 Richie Burnett
Steve Brown (29) 6-4 Darren Webster
Louis Blundell 6-2 Jon Archer
Paul Nicholson (13) 6-1 Ian Jopling
Kevin Harris 6-4 Jason Clark
Barrie Bates (20) 6-0 Ron Atwill
Steve Hine 6-2 Lee Williams
Nigel Heydon 6-3 Colin Lloyd (2)
Dave Ladley 6-5 Adrian Gray
Mark Webster (31) 6-2 William O'Connor
Tony Randell 6-5 Didier de Vuyst
Denis Ovens (15) 6-2 Mark Frost
Sam Allen 6-4 Colin Monk
Dennis Smith 6-5 Mark Dudbridge (18)
Tony Ayres 6-0 Darren Latham
Jamie Caven (7) 6-3 Shaun Dring
Justin Pipe 6-5 Peter Manley
Michael van Gerwen (26) 6-1 Andy Relf
Arron Monk 6-4 Dave Honey
Andy Hamilton (10) 6-0 Kevin McDine
Harry Robinson 6-1 Chris Mason
Dennis Priestley (23) 6-2 Ian Lever
Paul Williams 6-3 Alex Tinsley
Wes Newton (6) 6-0 Mareno Michels
Nigel Birch 6-3 Andy Pearce
Peter Wright (27) 6-1 Michael Barnard
Steve Evans 6-4 Nick Fullwell
Vincent van der Voort (11) 6-2 Andy Fordham
Lionel Sams 6-3 Dean Allsopp
Terry Jenkins (22) 6-3 Wayne Mardle
Steve Farmer 6-2 Dylan Duo
Colin Osborne (3) 6-4 James Barton
Darren Johnson 6-5 Tony Blundell
Anastasia Dobromyslova 6-3 Co Stompe (30)
Dave Askew 6-1 Matt Padgett
Mervyn King (14) 6-1 Kevin Dowling
Darren Weaver 6-0 Paul Rowley
Robert Thornton (19) 6-1 Mick McGowan
Brian Startin 6-4 Tom Martin
Second Round
Mark Walsh 6-4 Mark Stephenson
Gary Eastwood 6-2 Dave Smith
Alex Roy 6-3 Simon Whitlock
Andy Smith 6-3 Peter Hudson
Wayne Jones 6-3 Gary Welding
Kevin Painter 6-0 Tony Martin
Steve Beaton 6-5 Matt Clark
John Part 6-5 Mark Cox
Gary Anderson 6-1 Par Riihonen
Terry Temple 6-5 Jelle Klaasen
James Wade 6-5 Ian White
Alan Tabern 6-4 Gary Mawson
Adrian Lewis 6-2 Mensur Suljovic
Steve Brown 6-4 Louis Blundell
Kevin Harris 6-5 Paul Nicholson
Barrie Bates 6-5 Steve Hine
Nigel Heydon 6-2 Dave Ladley
Mark Webster 6-0 Tony Randell
Denis Ovens 6-3 Sam Allen
Dennis Smith 6-1 Tony Ayres
Jamie Caven 6-5 Justin Pipe
Arron Monk 6-1 Michael van Gerwen
Andy Hamilton 6-1 Harry Robinson
Dennis Priestley 6-4 Paul Williams
Wes Newton 6-0 Nigel Birch
Steve Evans 6-5 Peter Wright
Vincent van der Voort 6-3 Lionel Sams
Terry Jenkins 6-4 Steve Farmer
Colin Osborne 6-2 Darren Johnson
Anastasia Dobromyslova 6-1 Dave Askew
Mervyn King 6-3 Darren Weaver
Robert Thornton 6-1 Brian Startin
Losers £200
Third Round
Mark Walsh 6-1 Gary Eastwood
Andy Smith 6-3 Alex Roy
Kevin Painter 6-3 Wayne Jones
Steve Beaton 6-0 John Part
Gary Anderson 6-3 Terry Temple
James Wade 6-2 Alan Tabern
Adrian Lewis 6-3 Steve Brown
Barrie Bates 6-4 Kevin Harris
Mark Webster 6-4 Nigel Heydon
Denis Ovens 6-3 Dennis Smith
Jamie Caven 6-1 Arron Monk
Andy Hamilton 6-3 Dennis Priestley
Wes Newton 6-2 Steve Evans
Terry Jenkins 6-4 Vincent van der Voort
Colin Osborne 6-0 Anastasia Dobromyslova
Mervyn King 6-3 Robert Thornton
Losers £300
Fourth Round
Andy Smith 6-3 Mark Walsh
Kevin Painter 6-3 Steve Beaton
Gary Anderson 6-2 James Wade
Barrie Bates 6-5 Adrian Lewis
Mark Webster 6-3 Denis Ovens
Andy Hamilton 6-3 Jamie Caven
Wes Newton 6-1 Terry Jenkins
Colin Osborne 6-5 Mervyn King
Losers £500
Quarter-Finals
Andy Smith 6-4 Kevin Painter
Gary Anderson 6-5 Barrie Bates
Andy Hamilton 6-2 Mark Webster
Wes Newton 6-4 Colin Osborne
Losers £1,000
Semi-Finals
Andy Smith 6-4 Gary Anderson
Wes Newton 6-5 Andy Hamilton
Losers £1,500
Final
Wes Newton 6-2 Andy Smith
Winner £6,000
Runner-Up £3,000
Final - Leg By Leg
0-1 - Newton posts double four to win the opener
0-2 - Newton breaks throw on double eight after Smith misses one dart at double top
0-3 - Double ten puts Newton three legs clear
1-3 - A 76 finish on double top gets Smith off the mark
1-4 - Smith misses double six for a 126 finish and Newton takes out double 16 for a 13-darter
2-4 - Smith pulls back another leg with a 14-darter, finishing on double ten
2-5 - Newton matches Smith's 14-darter with one of his own, finishing 61 on double 18
2-6 - Another 14-darter seals victory for Newton, taking out 74 in two darts