JELLE KLAASEN won his second Players Championship event of 2015, defeating Raymond van Barneveld 6-4 in an all-Dutch final in Barnsley on Sunday.
The former Lakeside Champion had ended a seven-year gap between PDC ranking wins when he took victory on the PDC ProTour in Wigan in July, and claimed another £10,000 title by defeating van Barneveld.
After opening with a 6-4 win over Joe Cullen, Klaasen then dropped only one leg in each of his wins over Ronnie Baxter and Gerwyn Pice, and then defeated Steve West 6-3 to reach the quarter-finals.
There, he was a 6-2 winner over Robbie Green before being taken all the way to a deciding 11th leg against Simon Whitlock in the semis as he booked a spot in a fourth final of 2015.
The opening two legs of the final against van Barneveld were shared before Klaasen took the third and then broke in the fourth, landing back-to-back 180s in a 12-darter to move 3-1 up.
Van Barneveld responded with a 13-darter and then levelled on tops, before the pair shared two more legs to remain locked at four-all.
Klaasen then edged the ninth on double ten, and followed a van Barneveld 177 with his own third 180 of the game in leg ten before finishing 90 on the bull to claim victory with a 12-darter.
Van Barneveld's run to the final saw him pick up £5,000 in prize money as well as reach his first ProTour final for almost two years - and most importantly preserved his spot inside the world's top 16 to secure qualification for the partypoker.com World Grand Prix next week.
He saw off young Dutchman Dirk van Duijvenbode in his opening game and also defeated Andrew Gilding, Saturday's Players Championship winner Terry Jenkins, world number nine Dave Chisnall, Belgium's Ronny Huybrechts and fellow countryman Benito van de Pas on his way to the final.
Australian ace Whitlock enjoyed an encouraging return to form as he reached his third semi-final of the year, with Dutch youngster van de Pas continuing his emergence with wins over Mensur Suljovic, Michael Smith and Ian White to also make the last four.
Belgian star Kim Huybrechts hit a superb nine-dart finish during his quarter-final against Whitlock, only to lose out 6-5 after missing double 12 for another perfect leg, while he was joined brother Ronny, Robbie Green and Ian White in the last eight.
Dave Chisnall, Steve West and Michael Smith were joined in the last 16 by James Wade, Steve Beaton, Christian Kist, Jamie Caven and Nathan Derry, who knocked out world number one Michael van Gerwen 6-4 in the third round.
The tournament was the final PDC ProTour event before the cut-off for the partypoker.com World Grand Prix, which will be played from October 4-10 in Dublin.
Caven's run secured his qualification for the World Grand Prix through the ProTour Order of Merit, at the expense of Joe Murnan.
Players Championship 16
Sunday September 27, Barnsley Metrodome
First Round
Michael van Gerwen (1) 6-3 Dimitri Van den Bergh
Wayne Jones 6-1 Darren Webster
Cristo Reyes (32) 6-0 Mark Walsh
Nathan Derry 6-5 Martyn Turner
Simon Whitlock (16) 6-2 Wes Newton
Andy Smith 6-2 Andy Hamilton
Marvyn King (17) 6-2 Colin Osborne
Jamie Robinson 6-1 Joey ten Berge
Kim Hurbrechts (8) 6-1 Mark Frost
Nigel Heydon 6-5 Nathan Aspinall
Mark Webster (25) 6-4 Tony Newell
Matthew Edgar 6-3 Gary Stone
Andy Boulton 6-0 Gary Anderson (9)
Dean Winstanley 6-5 Michael Barnard
Jamie Lewis (24) 6-4 Mick Todd
Christian Kist 6-1 Tony Richardson
Robert Thornton (5) 6-3 Jan Dekker
Mark Dudbridge 6-5 Andy Parsons
Jamie Caven (28) 6-1 Devon Petersen
Kevin McDine 6-4 Eddie Dootson
Matt Clark 6-2 Justin Pipe (12)
John Bowles 6-4 Terry Temple
John Henderson (21) 6-5 Kevin Painter
Robbie Green 6-3 William O'Connor
Adam Hunt 6-4 Peter Wright (4)
Shaun Griffiths 6-4 Ross Twell
Steve West 6-4 Daryl Gurney (29)
Max Hopp 6-1 Alan Tabern
Jelle Klaasen (13) 6-4 Joe Cullen
Ronnie Baxter 6-2 Trevor Burkhill
Gerwyn Price (20) 6-0 Dennis Smith
Adan Kirk 6-3 Prakash Jiwa
Michael Smith (2) 6-1 Kevin Bambrick
Jay Foreman 6-3 Jonny Clayton
David Pallett (31) 6-3 Darren Johnson
Steve Hine 6-1 Steve Brown
Benito van de Pas (15) 6-1 Lee Palfreyman
Jason Lovett 6-0 Stuart Kellett
Mensur Suljovic (18) 6-4 Chris Dobey
Kevin Thomas 6-2 Nick Fullwell
Ian White (7) 6-2 Jyhan Artut
Jeffrey de Zwaan 6-4 Matt Padgett
Joe Murnan (26) 6-5 Steve McNally
Mike Zuydwijk 6-5 Ricky Evans
Jermaine Wattimena 6-4 Brendan Dolan (10)
Mike De Decker 6-3 Luke Woodhouse
Steve Beaton (23) 6-1 Steve Douglas
Curtis Hammond 6-4 Colin Lloyd
Dave Chisnall (6) 6-3 Andy Jenkins
Mickey Mansell 6-3 Jim Walker
Keegan Brown (27) 6-1 Jason Marriott
Ken MacNeil 6-4 David Ladley
Terry Jenkins (11) 6-4 Arron Monk
Jason Wilson 6-4 Jamie Bain
Andrew Gilding (22) 6-3 John Part
Raymond van Barneveld 6-4 Dirk van Duijvenbode
James Wade (3) 6-2 James Wilson
Roxy-James Rodriguez 6-5 Mark Barilli
Rowby-John Rodriguez (30) 6-2 Ian Moss
Alan Norris 6-0 Ben Ward
Vincent van der Voort (14) 6-3 James Hubbard
Ronny Huybrechts 6-3 Barrie Bates
Stephen Bunting (19) 6-1 Stephen Willard
Brian Woods 6-5 Johnny Haines
Second Round
Michael van Gerwen 6-3 Wayne Jones
Nathan Derry 6-5 Cristo Reyes
Simon Whitlock 6-5 Andy Smith
Mervyn King 6-5 Jamie Robinson
Kim Huybrechts 6-1 Nigel Heydon
Mark Webster 6-2 Matthew Edgar
Andy Boulton 6-4 Dean Winstanley
Christian Kist 6-5 Jamie Lewis
Robert Thornton 6-3 Mark Dudbridge
Jamie Caven 6-5 Kevin McDine
Matt Clark 6-2 John Bowles
Robbie Green 6-4 John Henderson
Shaun Griffiths 6-4 Adam Hunt
Steve West 6-0 Max Hopp
Jelle Klaasen 6-1 Ronnie Baxter
Gerwyn Price 6-4 Aden Kirk
Michael Smith 6-1 Jay Foreman
David Pallett 6-3 Steve Hine
Benito van de Pas 6-5 Jason Lovett
Mensur Suljovic 6-2 Kevin Thomas
Ian White 6-5 Jeffrey de Zwaan
Mike Zuydwijk 6-5 Joe Murnan
Mike De Decker 6-3 Jermaine Wattimena
Steve Beaton 6-2 Curtis Hammond
Dave Chisnall 6-0 Mickey Mansell
Keegan Brown 6-3 Ken MacNeil
Terry Jenkins 6-4 Jason Wilson
Raymond van Barneveld 6-2 Andrew Gilding
James Wade 6-2 Roxy-James Rodriguez
Alan Norris 6-3 Rowby-John Rodriguez
Ronny Huybrechts 6-3 Vincent van der Voort
Stephen Bunting 6-1 Brian Woods
Losers £250
Third Round
Nathan Derry 6-4 Michael van Gerwen
Simon Whitlock 6-2 Mervyn King
Kim Huybrechts 6-5 Mark Webster
Christian Kist 6-2 Andy Boulton
Jamie Caven 6-4 Robert Thornton
Robbie Green 6-2 Matt Clark
Steve West 6-5 Shaun Griffiths
Jelle Klaasen 6-1 Gerwyn Price
Michael Smith 6-4 David Pallett
Benito van de Pas 6-5 Mensur Suljovic
Ian White 6-1 Mike Zuydwijk
Steve Beaton 6-4 Mike De Decker
Dave Chisnall 6-3 Keegan Brown
Raymond van Barneveld 6-4 Terry Jenkins
James Wade 6-4 Alan Norris
Ronny Huybrechts 6-5 Stephen Bunting
Losers £750
Last 16
Simon Whitlock 6-0 Nathan Derry
Kim Huybrechts 6-3 Christian Kist
Robbie Green 6-2 Jamie Caven
Jelle Klaasen 6-3 Steve West
Benito van de Pas 6-4 Michael Smith
Ian White 6-4 Steve Beaton
Raymond van Barneveld 6-4 Dave Chisnall
Ronny Huybrechts 6-5 James Wade
Losers £1,500
Quarter-Finals
Simon Whitlock 6-5 Kim Huybrechts - Kim Huybrechts Nine-Dart Finish
Jelle Klaasen 6-2 Robbie Green
Benito van de Pas 6-5 Ian White
Raymond van Barneveld 6-2 Ronny Huybrechts
Losers £2,000
Semi-Finals
Jelle Klaasen 6-5 Simon Whitlock
Raymond van Barneveld 6-3 Benito van de Pas
Losers £2,500
Final
Jelle Klaasen 6-4 Raymond van Barneveld
Winner: £10,000
Runner-Up: £5,000