MARK WEBSTER won his maiden PDC title with a 6-4 victory over Richie Burnett in an all-Welsh final of Saturday's German Darts Trophy Players Championship.
The left-hander won his first event since joining the PDC in early 2009 with the triumph at the Dolce Bad Nauheim in a battle between two former World Champions.
Having defeated Aodhagan O'Neill, Wim Mink and Denis Ovens in the early rounds, Webster came from 3-0 down to see off Vincent van der Voort 6-5 and reach the quarter-finals.
He repeated that scoreline against Dennis Smith in the last eight and also in the semis, where Germany's Andree Welge led 5-3 but failed to close out victory.
Webster found himself behind again in the final, as rejuvanated Burnett led 3-1 and 4-2 only to see Webster reel off four straight legs to claim the title.
Burnett's run saw him reach his first PDC ranking final since 2002 and follows a semi-final appearance in the John McEvoy Gold Dart Classic Players Championship last Sunday.
His victories on the day included narrow wins over Jamie Caven and Colin Osborne as well as a comeback defeat of Justin Pipe before he saw off Simon Whitlock 6-2 in the semi-finals.
Burnett took out finishes of 141, 91, 83 and 81 during the game, as he pulled from two-all to win four successive legs in denying the Australian.
Whitlock had hit two 164 finishes in his quarter-final win against Mark Walsh, having earlier come back from 5-2 down to punish Johnny Okken in the last 32.
Welge's run to the semis saw him defeat Adrian Lewis, Andy Hamilton and Gary Anderson as he emulated the success of Michael Rosenauer, who had been Germany's only previous Players Championship semi-finalist two years ago in Las Vegas.
Dennis Smith, who was the runner-up in last Sunday's Players Championship in Killarney, continued his run of form by reaching the quarter-finals in Bad Nauheim before losing to Webster.
Play in Germany continues with a second £31,600 Players Championship on Sunday.
German Darts Trophy Players Championship (Saturday)
Preliminary Round
Helmut Bergold 6-0 Bjorn Pfalzgraf
Marko Jovanivic 6-0 Gabriela Gobel
Arno Merk 6-0 Andre Michel
Stefan Lammer 6-4 Benjamin Freudenreich
Michael Kiebel 6-5 Peter Hochhauser
Peter Trapp 6-2 Andre Kosel
Markus Riether 6-4 Gerhard Kramer
First Round
Simon Whitlock (1) 6-0 Harald Trenz
Louis Blundell 6-3 Roland Scholten
Nigel Heydon (32) 6-1 Albin Kulasic
Johnny Okken 6-0 Teddy Trenti
Andy Smith (16) 6-1 Martino Tagliapietra
Joe Cullen 6-2 Sladan Nedic
Alan Tabern (17) 6-0 Markus Tillmann
Braulio Roncero 6-1 Helmut Bergold
Mark Walsh (8) 6-1 Lars Erkelenz
Sebastijan Pecjak 6-4 Stefanie Luck
Steve Farmer (25) 6-2 Kevin McDine
Anna Stephinger 6-1 Michael Peters
Steve Beaton (9) 6-2 Carlos Rodriguez
Willem Kralt 6-4 Tomas Seyler
Jelle Klaasen (24) 6-3 Ian McFarlane
Gregor Gorjup 6-2 Franz Wuehrer
Wes Newton (5) 6-4 Andy Jenkins
Arron Monk 6-2 Dylan Duo
Dave Ladley 6-1 Michael van Gerwen (28)
Adrian Gray 6-2 Mark Hylton
Colin Osborne (12) 6-3 Tony Randell
Peter Martin 6-0 Frank Liebeton
Terry Jenkins (21) 6-0 Jon Archer
Marko Jovanivic 6-2 Thorsten Alver
Jamie Caven (4) 6-0 Daniel Hubner
Richie Burnett 6-0 Peter van der Broek
Justin Pipe (29) 6-3 Steve Maish
Sabrina Sporle 6-4 Milos Bedy
Wayne Jones (13) 6-2 Kevin Munch
Ian White 6-2 Tony Blundell
Steve Hine 6-1 Barrie Bates (20)
Kim Huybrechts 6-2 Arno Merk
Gary Anderson (2) 6-1 Anastasia Dobromyslova
Bernd Roith 6-0 Hans-Peter Benseler
Peter Wright (31) 6-1 Frank Eisentrager
Marko Puls Bye (Mario Masurka disqualified)
Mervyn King (15) 6-1 Mick McGowan
Mirko Wunder 6-4 Muzaffer Celik
Co Stompe (18) 6-1 Tony Ayres
Michael Rosenauer 6-0 Stefan Lammer
Adrian Lewis (7) 6-0 Harald Schiffl
Andree Welge 6-1 Par Riihonen
Matt Clark 6-5 Paul Nicholson (26)
Darren Johnson 6-5 Chris Thompson
Andy Hamilton (10) 6-1 Paul Williams
Alex Roy 6-2 Antonio Alcinas
Brendan Dolan (23) 6-5 Colin Monk
Michael Kiebel 6-1 Jochen Graudenz
Vincent van der Voort (6) 6-3 Chris Iedema
Scott Rand 6-5 Maik Langendorf
Tony Eccles (27) 6-2 Maurizio Monterubbianesi
Kirk Shepherd 6-0 Michael Hartl
Denis Ovens (11) 6-1 Hermie van Orsouw
Nick Fullwell 6-0 Olaf Tupuschis
Mark Webster (22) 6-4 Aodhagan O'Neill
Wim Mink 6-4 Peter Trapp
Colin Lloyd (3) 6-0 Romano Ruggeri
John MaGowan 6-2 Steve Grubb
Dennis Smith (30) 6-2 Mareno Michels
Steve Evans 6-0 Andy Relf
Ronnie Baxter (14) 6-4 Wayne Atwood
Mensur Suljovic 6-1 Carlos Garbayo Martinez
Kevin Painter (19) 6-0 Rene Hellmich
Karsten Kornath 6-2 Markus Riether
Second Round
Simon Whitlock 6-3 Louis Blundell
Johnny Okken 6-2 Nigel Heydon
Andy Smith 6-1 Joe Cullen
Alan Tabern 6-4 Braulio Roncero
Mark Walsh 6-4 Sebastijan Pecjak
Steve Farmer 6-0 Anna Stephinger
Steve Beaton 6-2 Willem Kralt
Jelle Klaasen 6-3 Gregor Gorjup
Wes Newton 6-5 Arron Monk
Adrian Gray 6-4 Dave Ladley
Colin Osborne 6-4 Peter Martin
Terry Jenkins 6-3 Marko Jovanivic
Richie Burnett 6-5 Jamie Caven
Justin Pipe 6-0 Sabrina Sporle
Wayne Jones 6-5 Ian White
Steve Hine 6-2 Kim Huybrechts
Gary Anderson 6-0 Bernd Roith
Peter Wright 6-1 Marko Puls
Mervyn King 6-1 Mirko Wunder
Co Stompe 6-5 Michael Rosenauer
Andree Welge 6-3 Adrian Lewis
Matt Clark 6-4 Darren Johnson
Andy Hamilton 6-1 Alex Roy
Brendan Dolan 6-0 Michael Kiebl
Vincent van der Voort 6-4 Scott Rand
Tony Eccles 6-1 Kirk Shepherd
Denis Ovens 6-0 Nick Fullwell
Mark Webster 6-3 Wim Mink
John MaGowan 6-3 Colin Lloyd
Dennis Smith 6-2 Steve Evans
Ronnie Baxter 6-5 Mensur Suljovic
Kevin Painter 6-0 Karsten Kornath
Losers £200
Third Round
Simon Whitlock 6-5 Johnny Okken
Alan Tabern 6-2 Andy Smith
Mark Walsh 6-3 Steve Farmer
Jelle Klaasen 6-5 Steve Beaton
Wes Newton 6-0 Adrian Gray
Colin Osborne 6-2 Terry Jenkins
Richie Burnett 6-4 Justin Pipe
Steve Hine 6-4 Wayne Jones
Gary Anderson 6-1 Peter Wright
Mervyn King 6-1 Co Stompe
Andree Welge 6-2 Matt Clark
Andy Hamilton 6-4 Brendan Dolan
Vincent van der Voort 6-5 Tony Eccles
Mark Webster 6-4 Denis Ovens
Dennis Smith 6-0 John MaGowan
Ronnie Baxter 6-3 Kevin Painter
Losers £300
Fourth Round
Simon Whitlock 6-4 Alan Tabern
Mark Walsh 6-1 Jelle Klaasen
Colin Osborne 6-5 Wes Newton
Richie Burnett 6-2 Steve Hine
Gary Anderson 6-1 Mervyn King
Andree Welge 6-4 Andy Hamilton
Mark Webster 6-5 Vincent van der Voort
Dennis Smith 6-2 Ronnie Baxter
Losers £500
Quarter-Finals
Simon Whitlock 6-5 Mark Walsh
Richie Burnett 6-5 Colin Osborne
Andree Welge 6-5 Gary Anderson
Mark Webster 6-5 Dennis Smith
Losers £1,000
Semi-Finals
Richie Burnett 6-2 Simon Whitlock
Mark Webster 6-5 Andree Welge
Losers £1,500
Final
Mark Webster 6-4 Richie Burnett
Winner £6,000
Runner-Up £3,000
Semi-Finals
Richie Burnett defeated Simon Whitlock 6-2 to reach his first PDC ranking final since 2002. Whitlock started brilliantly with a 180 to open the final, and took the opening leg in 12 darts before Burnett hit back with two-dart finishes of 91 and 83 to lead 2-1. Whitlock hit another 180 and took out 68 on double 16 to level, but missed two darts at double 18 to punish misses from Burnett in the next before the Welshman returned to hit double one. He then took out 81 and 141 to lead 5-2, and hit scores of 180, 140 and 140 to set up a finish in the next, giving him the cushion to miss seven match darts before double one put him into his first Players Championship final.
Mark Webster set up an all-Welsh final with a comeback win over German Andree Welge, who led 5-3 but failed to close out victory. Welge led 2-1 before Webster punished a miss at double top to level on the same bed and hit double 12 for a 3-2 lead. The German, though, took out 107 to level and a brace of double 16 finishes moved him a leg away from a history victory at 5-3, as he closed in on being the first-ever German finalist in a PDC ProTour event. Webster won the ninth on double ten, and after Welge missed a dart at the bull for a 91 finish and the match another double 12 gave Webster a lifeline as he forced a decider, in which he was too strong and landed double top at the first time of asking to reach the final.
Final
1-0 - Burnett breaks on double top after four missed doubles from Webster
1-1 - The left-hander breaks back on double ten
2-1 - Burnett takes out double four for another break
3-1 - Webster misses two darts at double 17 to break and Burnett hits double top for a two-leg lead
3-2 - Webster posts double top for the fifth leg
4-2 - Burnett finishes 81 in two darts to maintain his advantage
4-3 - Webster hits a 147 score to leave double top, which he finishes at the first attempt
4-4 - Burnett misses double eight and Webster takes out 86 on the bull to level
4-5 - Webster lands double top once more to lead for the first time in the game
4-6 - Webster hits tops once more to claim his first PDC ProTour victory