BRILLIANT BUNTING DENIES NINE-DART STAR VAN GERWEN
STEPHEN BUNTING won his second PDC ranking title at Players Championship Two as he defeated nine-dart star Michael van Gerwen 6-4 in Sunday's final.
Bunting had won his only previous PDC tournament at a UK Open Qualifier in February 2014, but produced a day of outstanding darts as he denied in-form van Gerwen his seventh title of the year and became the first player from outside of the world's top five to win a PDC event so far in 2016.
The St Helens ace overcame Johnny Haines 6-1 in his opening match and then defeated Robbie Green 6-3 before claiming deciding-leg wins over Betway Premier League aces Robert Thornton and Adrian Lewis - where he produced a remarkable comeback from 5-0 down - to reach the quarter-finals.
There, he dropped just one leg against Andrew Gilding before sneaking past Saturday's Players Championship One winner Peter Wright in another 11-leg battle, but he saved his best performance for the final against world number one van Gerwen.
The Dutchman took the opening leg in 16 darts before finishing 141 for a 12-darter to double his lead, only for Bunting to take the next four legs in 15, 12, 14 and 13 darts - landing two 180s in the game's fourth leg - to move into a 4-2 advantage.
Van Gerwen landed a 180 as he hit back in leg seven, only for Bunting to match that as he moved 5-3 up with the aid of a maximum of his own.
A 13-dart finish from van Gerwen kept his hopes alive at 5-4, and the pair both kicked off the tenth leg with scores of 140 and 180 before Bunting fired in a 137 score and took out 44 for a 12-darter to seal victory and secure the £10,000 first prize.
Van Gerwen had to settle for the £6,000 runner-up prize as he ended a PDC tournament weekend without a victory for the first time this year, after previously winning the Unibet Masters, three UK Open Qualifiers, the Dutch Darts Masters and last week's Coral UK Open Televised Finals.
The Dutch ace did, though, achieve perfection for a second successive weekend by landing a nine-darter in the opening leg of his 6-1 quarter-final win over Ian White.
He also defeated Simon Stevenson, David Pallett, Jamie Caven, Steve West and Kyle Anderson on the day, although the Australian paid for missing one match dart at tops in his narrow 6-5 semi-final loss.
Anderson had followed up his run to last weekend's UK Open quarter-finals by reaching his third PDC ProTour semi-final, seeing off Northern Irish duo Daryl Gurney and Mickey Mansell, Dutch ace Benito van de Pas, Kettering's Ricky Evans and tricky Austrian Mensur Suljovic.
Wright also reached the last four as he followed up Saturday's superb Players Championship success with another strong run before he lost out to Bunting.
Joe Cullen suffered his third defeat to Wright inside a week as he lost out in the quarter-finals, having also reached the last eight of the UK Open and the semi-finals of Players Championship One only to lose out to the world number five.
White, Suljovic and Gilding joined Cullen in the quarter-finals on Sunday, while Wes Newton enjoyed a welcome return to form by reaching the last 16 for the first time since April 2015 with wins over Paul Nicholson, Raymond van Barneveld and Kim Huybrechts.
Matt Clark also won through to the last 16 as he enjoyed 6-5 wins over Andy Smith, Brendan Dolan and Phil Taylor, while emerging ace Chris Dobey, Germany's Jyhan Artut and in-form Jelle Klaasen joined him in the fourth round.
The £75,000 tournament concluded the PDC ProTour weekend at the Barnsley Metrodome, with the second-tier PDC Unicorn Challenge Tour set to kick off next weekend with four events in Wigan before the European Tour's Dutch Darts Masters over the Easter weekend is accompanied by the opening PDC Unicorn Development Tour events.
Players Championship Two
First Round
Michael van Gerwen (1) 6-2 Simon Stevenson
David Pallett 6-4 Andy Parsons
Jamie Caven (32) 6-2 James Wilson
Andy Hamilton 6-4 Vincent Kamphuis
Gary Anderson (16) 6-0 Jan Dekker
Cristo Reyes 6-1 Brian Woods
Mervyn King (17) 6-3 Matthew Edgar
Steve West 6-1 Stuart Kellett
Ian White (8) 6-2 Mike De Decker
Devon Petersen 6-4 Alan Tabern
Jamie Lewis (25) 6-4 Mark Barilli
Jermaine Wattimena 6-3 Nigel Daniels
Jelle Klaasen (9) 6-1 James Richardson
Darren Johnson 6-4 Le Palfreyman
Alan Norris (24) 6-3 Josh Payne
Dennis Smith 6-4 Andy Jenkins
James Wade (5) 6-5 Richie Corner
Mick McGowan 6-5 John Part
Ross Smith 6-5 Steve Beaton (28)
Ricky Evans 6-1 Brett Claydon
Benito van de Pas (12) 6-3 Jason Wilson
Darron Brown 6-1 Ryan Palmer
Kyle Anderson 6-3 Daryl Gurney (21)
Mickey Mansell 6-2 Ray Campbell
Kim Huybrechts (4) 6-5 Magnus Caris
Jim Walker 6-4 Kevin Painter
Raymond van Barneveld (29) 6-3 Prakash Jiwa
Wes Newton 6-4 Paul Nicholson
Mensur Suljovic (13) 6-5 Yordi Meeuwisse
Mark Walsh 6-1 Tony Richardson
Gerwyn Price (20) 6-0 Harry Robinson
Ryan Meikle 6-1 Curtis Hammond
Peter Wright (2) 6-1 Shaun Griffiths
Steve Hine 6-1 Ricky Williams
Nigel Heydon 6-2 Rowby-John Rodriguez
Dirk van Duijvenbode 6-2 Matthew Dennant
Simon Whitlock (15) 6-1 Jeffrey de Zwaan
Ronnie Baxter 6-1 Jeffrey de Graaf
Jamie Robinson 6-5 Justin Pipe (18)
Chris Dobey 6-3 Dimitri Van den Bergh
Dave Chisnall (7) 6-3 Dean Winstanley
Ron Meulenkamp 6-5 Jason Lovett
Jyhan Artut 6-5 John Henderson (26)
Robert Owen 6-5 Jason Marriott
Terry Jenkins (10) 6-3 John Bowles
Mike Zuydwijk 6-4 Max Hopp
Steve Brown 6-4 Vincent van der Voort (23)
Joe Cullen 6-4 Jonny Clayton
Adrian Lewis (6) 6-1 Jonathan Worsley
Darren Webster 6-1 Steve McNally
Mark Webster (27) 6-5 Peter Hudson
Joe Murnan 6-0 Tony Newell
Robert Thornton (11) 6-5 Ken MacNeil
Terry Temple 6-4 Andy Boulton
Stephen Bunting (22) 6-1 Johnny Haines
Robbie Green 6-1 Stephen Willard
Michael Smith (3) 6-2 Nathan Aspinall
Ted Evetts 6-5 Joey Palfreyman
Keegan Brown (30) 6-1 Mark Frost
Andrew Gilding 6-1 Wayne Jones
Phil Taylor (14) 6-1 Berry van Peer
Ronny Huybrechts 6-2 Christian Kist
Brendan Dolan (19) 6-2 Nathan Derry
Matt Clark 6-5 Andy Smith
Second Round
Michael van Gerwen 6-0 David Pallett
Jamie Caven 6-4 Andy Hamilton
Gary Anderson 6-2 Cristo Reyes
Steve West 6-3 Mervyn King
Ian White 6-3 Devon Petersen
Jermaine Wattimena 6-1 Jamie Lewis
Jelle Klaasen 6-4 Darren Johnson
Alan Norris 6-2 Dennis Smith
Mick McGowan 6-2 James Wade
Ricky Evans 6-3 Ross Smith
Benito van de Pas 6-2 Darron Brown
Kyle Anderson 6-5 Mickey Mansell
Kim Huybrechts 6-1 Jim Walker
Wes Newton 6-2 Raymond van Barneveld
Mensur Suljovic 6-1 Mark Walsh
Gerwyn Price 6-4 Ryan Meikle
Peter Wright 6-3 Steve Hine
Dirk van Duijvenbode 6-2 Nigel Heydon
Simon Whitlock 6-3 Ronnie Baxter
Chris Dobey 6-1 Jamie Robinson
Dave Chisnall 6-2 Ron Meulenkamp
Jyhan Artut 6-3 Robert Owen
Terry Jenkins 6-5 Mike Zuydiwjk
Joe Cullen 6-3 Steve Brown
Adrian Lewis 6-2 Darren Webster
Joe Murnan 6-5 Mark Webster
Robert Thornton 6-5 Terry Temple
Stephen Bunting 6-3 Robbie Green
Michael Smith 6-1 Ted Evetts
Andew Gilding 6-2 Keegan Brown
Phil Taylor 6-0 Ronny Huybrechts
Matt Clark 6-5 Brendan Dolan
Losers £500
Third Round
Michael van Gerwen 6-5 Jamie Caven
Steve West 6-4 Gary Anderson
Ian White 6-1 Jermaine Wattimena
Jelle Klaasen 6-3 Alan Norris
Ricky Evans 6-4 Mick McGowan
Kyle Anderson 6-1 Benito van de Pas
Wes Newton 6-2 Kim Huybrechts
Mensur Suljovic 6-5 Gerwyn Price
Peter Wright 6-3 Dirk van Duijvenbode
Chris Dobey 6-3 Simon Whitlock
Jyhan Artut 6-5 Dave Chisnall
Joe Cullen 6-4 Terry Jenkins
Adrian Lewis 6-3 Joe Murnan
Stephen Bunting 6-5 Robert Thornton
Andrew Gilding 6-5 Michael Smith
Matt Clark 6-5 Phil Taylor
Losers £1,000
Fourth Round
Michael van Gerwen 6-3 Steve West
Ian White 6-2 Jelle Klaasen
Kyle Anderson 6-5 Ricky Evans
Mensur Suljovic 6-2 Wes Newton
Peter Wright 6-5 Chris Dobey
Joe Cullen 6-4 Jyhan Artut
Stephen Bunting 6-5 Adrian Lewis
Andrew Gilding 6-3 Matt Clark
Losers £1,500
Quarter-Finals
Michael van Gerwen 6-1 Ian White - Michael van Gerwen hits nine-dart finish
Kyle Anderson 6-3 Mensur Suljovic
Peter Wright 6-4 Joe Cullen
Stephen Bunting 6-1 Andrew Gilding
Losers £2,250
Semi-Finals
Michael van Gerwen 6-5 Kyle Anderson
Stephen Bunting 6-5 Peter Wright
Losers £3,000
Final
Stephen Bunting 6-4 Michael van Gerwen
Winner £10,000
Runner-Up £6,000
Prize Fund
Winner £10,000
Runner-Up £6,000
Semi-Finalists £3,000
Quarter-Finalists £2,250
Last 16 £1,500
Last 32 £1,000
Last 64 £500
Total £75,000