ANDY SMITH won his first Players Championship for a year with a 6-4 defeat of Alan Tabern at the Van Der Valk Hotel in Haarlem on Sunday.
Smith had been victorious on the corresponding weekend last year, in Dinslaken, Germany, and repeated his success to take the £6,000 title in Holland.
The world number 29 dropped only five legs in his opening three games, against Par Riihonen, Dennis Smith and Kevin Dowling, before whitewashing Steve Maish to reach the quarter-finals.
There, he defeated Kevin Painter 6-3 and came from 5-3 down to win in a deciding leg in the semi-finals against Steve Brown.
After securing an immediate break of throw in the final by winning the first leg, he hit a 180 in doubling his lead before Tabern got off the mark.
Tabern hit a maximum of his own in the fourth leg, but a missed bullseye allowed Smith in to take out 64 in two darts on double top.
Tabern enjoyed his best leg of the match with a 174 score and a 116 finish in pulling back to 3-2, while Smith shared the next two to remain ahead.
He then took a key eighth leg to move 5-3 up, hitting another maximum and then double four to move to the brink of victory.
Tabern landed a 180 and double ten to take the ninth, but Smith was first to a finish in the next and sealed the victory on double ten.
Tabern's run saw him reach his first final since May 2009, and gives him hope of retaining a top 16 place for the StanJames.com World Matchplay next month.
After taking wins over Germany's Jyhan Artut and Holland's Mareno Michels, he defeated Denis Ovens, Simon Whitlock and Vincent van der Voort to reach the semis.
There, he pulled clear from two-all to win four successive legs in claiming a third Dutch scalp of the day, before Smith proved too strong in the final.
Brown was denied a place in his first ranking final in agonising circumstances as Smith came from 5-3 down to win 6-5 in their semi, with the Bristol man waiting on 24 in the deciding leg but never having a dart for victory.
However, the £1,000 strengthens his grip on a qualifying place for the StanJames.com World Matchplay and also improves his hopes of winning a spot in next month's European Championship in Germany.
He defeated UK Open semi-finalist Tony Ayres, Andy Jenkins, Joe Cullen, Saturday's runner-up Wayne Jones and Justin Pipe to reach the last four, his second PDC ProTour semi-final.
Taunton-based Pipe's quarter-final appearance continued his recent run of form as he seeks to qualify for the World Matchplay, and included a victory over number one seed Wes Newton and defeats of the Spanish pair Carlos Rodriguez and Antonio Alcinas.
Leamington Spa's Nigel Heydon also won through to the last eight, overcoming Steve Beaton, Arron Monk and Andy Hamilton in reaching his third PDC quarter-final.
Saturday's champion Vincent van der Voort also reached the quarter-finals, losing to Tabern but taking his prize money for the weekend to £7,000.
Germany's Bernd Roith made a late push for a European Championship qualifying place with his run to the last 16, which included a defeat of Paul Nicholson, while Ian White also reached that stage for the first time on the PDC ProTour.
Players Championship 18 (Sunday)
Preliminary Round
Martyn Turner 6-1 Erwin Renkema
Louis Blundell 6-1 Sven Vogelskamp
Alex Roy 6-2 Michael Schmidt
Marko Puls 6-1 Bas van Elk
Nick van Huet Bye (Vito Quintieri withdrew)
Chris Thompson 6-1 Ron de Pijpar
Dennis Smith 6-0 Barry Albers
Roland Scholten 6-1 Matthew Medhurst
Roemer Mooijman 6-5 Dave Ladley
William O'Connor 6-1 Erwin Valks
Per Laursen 6-1 Jasper Smidt
Nick Fullwell 6-3 Dennis van der Horn
Rolf Kaiser 6-4 Robbie Medhurst
Mareno Michels 6-1 Danny Lanooij
First Round
Justin Pipe 6-1 Wes Newton (1)
Carlos Rodriguez 6-5 Wouter Vaes
John Part (32) 6-2 Kevin McDine
Antonio Alcinas 6-0 Jurgen Niewohner
Paul Nicholson (16) 6-4 Anthony Urmston-Toft
Bernd Roith 6-5 Rico Dera
Mario Masurka 6-3 Mark Dudridge (17)
Martyn Turner 6-2 Maik de Wit
Gary Anderson (8) 6-4 Richie Burnett
Joe Cullen 6-3 Dylan Duo
Steve Brown (25) 6-4 Tony Ayres
Andy Jenkins 6-5 Louis Blundell
Wayne Jones (9) 6-4 John MaGowan
Kirk Shepherd 6-3 Lee White
Robert-Jan Bartels 6-4 Mark Webster (24)
Steve Grubb 6-5 Alex Roy
Colin Lloyd (5) 6-0 Maurizio Monterubbianesi
Wim Mink 6-1 Jorn Lossau
Tony Eccles (28) 6-2 Guiseppe Quintiero
Mensur Suljovic 6-3 Marko Puls
Jamie Caven (12) 6-3 Ian McFarlane
Mark Hylton 6-2 Mark Frost
Kevin Painter (21) 6-2 Bill Aitken
Ian Jopling 6-1 Nick van Huet
Mark Walsh (4) 6-1 Sebastijan Pecjak
Steve Maish 6-4 Mick McGowan
Jelle Klaasen (29) 6-5 Tony Randell
Chris Thompson 6-0 Rudiger Lohse
Willem Kralt 6-4 Colin Osborne (13)
Kevin Dowling 6-3 Gary Eastwood
Andy Smith (20) 6-1 Par Riihonen
Dennis Smith 6-2 Tomas Seyler
Michael Rosenauer 6-5 Adrian Lewis (2)
Chris Iedema 6-0 Ryan de Vreede
Co Stompe (31) 6-0 Stephan Schaak
Matt Clark 6-0 Barry van Spelden
Mervyn King (15) 6-3 Nandor Bezzeg
Steve Evans 6-5 Maik Langendorf
Barrie Bates (18) 6-3 Dave Honey
Ian White 6-0 Roland Scholten
Andy Hamilton (7) 6-4 John Michael
Toni Restovic 6-1 Stefanie Luck
Peter Martin 6-3 Peter Wright (26)
Karsten Kornath 6-5 Roemer Mooijman
Nigel Heydon 6-3 Steve Beaton (10)
Michael Kloenhammer 6-4 Jochen Graudenz
Arron Monk 6-5 Brendan Dolan (23)
William O'Connor 6-2 Andree Welge
Vincent van der Voort (6) 6-2 Peter Hudson
Jarkko Komula 6-5 Adrian Gray
Sergio Pettarini 6-5 Michael van Gerwen (27)
Per Laursen 6-4 Scott Rand
Ronnie Baxter (11) 6-1 Lars Erkelenz
Henry Zapata 6-5 Romano Ruggeri
Robert Thornton (22) 6-3 Marko Balzer
Nick Fullwell 6-2 Gilbert van der Meijden
Simon Whitlock (3) 6-0 Colin Monk
Gary Mawson 6-2 Johnny Okken
Steve Hine (30) Bye (Matt Padgett withdrew)
Andy Relf 6-4 Rolf Kaiser
Denis Ovens (14) 6-0 Tony Blundell
Vladimir Andersen 6-3 Steve Farmer
Alan Tabern (19) 6-1 Jyhan Artut
Mareno Michels 6-1 Barry Zander
Second Round
Justin Pipe 6-2 Carlos Rodriguez
Antonio Alcinas 6-3 John Part
Bernd Roith 6-3 Paul Nicholson
Martyn Turner 6-5 Mario Masurka
Joe Cullen 6-3 Gary Anderson
Steve Brown 6-4 Andy Jenkins
Wayne Jones 6-3 Kirk Shepherd
Robert-Jan Bartels 6-4 Steve Grubb
Colin Lloyd 6-3 Wim Mink
Tony Eccles 6-4 Mensur Suljovic
Mark Hylton 6-4 Jamie Caven
Kevin Painter 6-4 Ian Jopling
Steve Maish 6-3 Mark Walsh
Chris Thompson 6-5 Jelle Klaasen
Kevin Dowling 6-5 Willem Kralt
Andy Smith 6-3 Dennis Smith
Michael Rosenauer 6-5 Chris Iedema
Co Stompe 6-2 Matt Clark
Steve Evans 6-5 Mervyn King
Ian White 6-2 Barrie Bates
Andy Hamilton 6-0 Toni Restovic
Peter Martin 6-1 Karsten Kornath
Nigel Heydon 6-0 Michael Kloenhammer
Arron Monk 6-3 William O'Connor
Vincent van der Voort 6-4 Jarkko Komula
Per Laursen 6-4 Sergio Pettarini
Ronnie Baxter 6-0 Henry Zapata
Nick Fullwell 6-1 Robert Thornton
Simon Whitlock 6-3 Gary Mawson
Steve Hine 6-0 Andy Relf
Denis Ovens 6-2 Vladimir Andersen
Alan Tabern 6-3 Mareno Michels
Losers £200
Third Round
Justin Pipe 6-2 Antonio Alcinas
Bernd Roith 6-3 Martyn Turner
Steve Brown 6-1 Joe Cullen
Wayne Jones 6-3 Robert-Jan Bartels
Colin Lloyd 6-3 Tony Eccles
Kevin Painter 6-3 Mark Hylton
Steve Maish 6-5 Chris Thompson
Andy Smith 6-1 Kevin Dowling
Co Stompe 6-2 Michael Rosenauer
Ian White 6-5 Steve Evans
Andy Hamilton 6-1 Peter Martin
Nigel Heydon 6-4 Arron Monk
Vincent van der Voort 6-3 Per Laursen
Ronnie Baxter 6-3 Nick Fullwell
Simon Whitlock 6-1 Steve Hine
Alan Tabern 6-2 Denis Ovens
Losers £300
Fourth Round
Justin Pipe 6-1 Bernd Roith
Steve Brown 6-5 Wayne Jones
Kevin Painter 6-4 Colin Lloyd
Andy Smith 6-0 Steve Maish
Co Stompe 6-0 Ian White
Nigel Heydon 6-3 Andy Hamilton
Vincent van der Voort 6-3 Ronnie Baxter
Alan Tabern 6-4 Simon Whitlock
Losers £500
Quarter-Finals
Steve Brown 6-4 Justin Pipe
Andy Smith 6-3 Kevin Painter
Co Stompe 6-4 Nigel Heydon
Alan Tabern 6-3 Vincent van der Voort
Losers £1,000
Semi-Finals
Andy Smith 6-5 Steve Brown
Alan Tabern 6-2 Co Stompe
Losers £1,500
Final
Andy Smith 6-4 Alan Tabern
Winner £6,000
Runner-Up £3,000
Semi-Finals
Alan Tabern won through to his first final for 13 months with a 6-2 defeat of Co Stompe. Both players have enjoyed a welcome return to form in reaching the latter stages, and shared the opening four legs of the final - although Stompe was punished in the third leg for four missed darts to break throw. Tabern, though, took the game by the scruff of the next with a hat-trick of double 16 finishes, including the first break of throw, to move 5-2 up before defying a 180 from Stompe to take out 66 for the win.
Andy Smith pulled off a remarkable comeback from 5-3 down to deny Steve Brown his first appearance in a ranking final. Brown held an early 2-0 lead after a strong start, but missed doubles in the third allowed Smith in before the Studley ace levelled. Brown took the fifth with a 70 finish but was waiting on a double in the next as Smith squared the game. Bristol's Brown, in only his second PDC ProTour semi-final, took out 84 to win the ninth leg and broke throw with double top to punish one missed double from Smith. However, Smith hit 180s to leave a finish in taking the next two legs to force a decider, and took out double top with his third dart to take victory, with Brown waiting in vain on 24.