SIMON WHITLOCK won his sixth Players Championship of the year with a 6-4 defeat of Richie Burnett in Sunday's German Darts Championship at the Dolce Bad Nauheim.
The Australian continued his remarkable run of success on the PDC ProTour with the triumph, as Burnett suffered defeat in the final for a second successive day.
Whitlock moves up to fourth in the PDC Order of Merit following the victory, which he sealed in brilliant fashion with a 160 finish to cruelly deny Burnett.
Burnett held the early edge in the final, leading 2-1 after taking the first break of throw before Whitlock levelled with a 116 finish for a 12-darter and took out tops to lead.
Burnett finished 123 on the bull to win the sixth and also levelled at four-all with a 12-darter in the eighth, featuring a 180 and an 81 finish.
He looked set to edge in front in the ninth when three tons and a 140 left him 61, but he hit the bull when aiming for 25 before then missing double four, with Whitlock clinically finishing 92 on double eight for a 5-4 cushion.
Burnett then hit the bull again when aiming for 25 in the next when on a 121 finish, hitting treble 20 and then the bull when a 25 score would have left double 18.
Again there was to be no mercy as the Australian powered home a 160 checkout to take the win and the £6,000 first prize.
Whitlock had also produced similar moments of brilliance during the day, notably including finishes of 121, 130 and 97 in his semi-final win over Ronnie Baxter.
He rode his luck when Nigel Heydon missed darts to defeat him during their tight last 32 battle, while Whitlock also overcame Tony Randell, Vladimir Andersen, Steve Beaton and Mark Walsh on the day, before avenging Saturday's semi-final loss to Burnett to claim glory.
Burnett's display earned him a further £3,000 to complete his successful week, as he followed last weekend's semi-final in Killarney with two finals in Bad Nauheim.
He won a thrilling semi-final with Gary Anderson 6-4, taking a 4-1 lead before the Scot levelled, only for Burnett to punish misses from his opponent in the ninth and seal victory with a 13-darter.
He had edged out Andy Jenkins 6-5 in the last eight, and also gained revenge over Mark Webster for his defeat in Saturday's all-Welsh final as well as defeating Colin Lloyd.
Anderson's semi-final appearance followed up his quarter-final run on Saturday, while Mark Walsh was a loser to Whitlock in the last eight for a second successive day.
Jenkins' run to quarter-finals was his best display of the year, and included wins over Vincent van der Voort and Colin Osborne as he claimed a £1,000 prize which boosts his hopes of qualifying for the Ladbrokes.com World Darts Championship.
Mervyn King withdrew from playing on Sunday due to illness.
German Darts Trophy Players Championship (Sunday)
Preliminary Round
Peter Hochhauser 6-1 Gabriela Gobel
First Round
Simon Whitlock (1) 6-3 Tony Randell
Vladimir Andersen 6-3 Martino Tagliapietra
Nigel Heydon (32) 6-1 Mario Masurka
Steve Evans 6-1 Olaf Tupuschis
Steve Beaton (16) 6-5 Tony Ayres
Aodhagan O'Neill 6-0 Markus Tillmann
Alan Tabern (17) 6-5 Adrian Gray
Braulio Roncero 6-1 Peter Hochhauser
Mark Walsh (8) 6-1 Andre Michel
Andy Relf 6-2 Frank Liebeton
Paul Nicholson (25) 6-0 Daniel Hubner
Ian McFarlane 6-5 Anna Stephinger
Andy Hamilton (9) 6-2 Helmut Bergold
Kirk Shepherd 6-2 Willem Kralt
Steve Farmer (24) 6-0 Sabrina Sporle
Mensur Suljovic 6-1 Arron Monk
Wes Newton (5) 6-3 Marko Jovanovich
Chris Iedema 6-1 Thomas Schmidt
Justin Pipe (28) 6-0 Bernhard Pfeuffer
Steve Maish 6-0 Teddy Trenti
Ronnie Baxter (12) 6-1 Benjamin Freudenreich
Michael Peters 6-2 Maurizio Monterubbianesi
Steve Hine 6-3 Terry Jenkins (21)
Dylan Duo 6-4 Chris Thompson
Jamie Caven (4) 6-3 Ian White
Sebastijan Pecjak 6-4 Steve Grubb
Dennis Smith (29) 6-1 Milos Bedy
Nick Fullwell 6-0 Romano Ruggeri
Wayne Jones (13) 6-0 Peter Trapp
Colin Monk 6-0 Mirko Wunder
Barrie Bates (20) 6-2 Kevin Munch
Wayne Atwood 6-1 Hermie van Orsouw
Gary Anderson (2) 6-3 Antonio Alcinas
Scott Rand 6-4 Joe Cullen
Peter Wright (31) 6-0 Carlos Garbayo Martinez
Bernd Roith 6-5 Dave Ladley
Andy Smith (15) 6-2 Michael Kiebel
John MaGowan 6-0 Stefanie Luck
Co Stompe (18) 6-5 Alex Roy
Jon Archer 6-1 Jochen Graudenz
Adrian Lewis (7) 6-0 Bjorn Pfalzgraf
Johnny Okken 6-0 Sascha Ruloffs
Tony Eccles (26) 6-2 Anastasia Dobromyslova
Maik Langendorf 6-4 Darren Johnson
Denis Ovens (10) 6-0 Stefan Lammer
Michael Rosenauer 6-3 Mick McGowan
Jelle Klaasen (23) 6-3 Mareno Michels
Mark Hylton 6-4 Paul Williams
Vincent van der Voort (6) 6-0 Arno Merk
Andy Jenkins 6-3 Gregor Gorjup
Kevin McDine 6-4 Michael van Gerwen (27)
Andree Welge 6-1 Tony Blundell
Colin Osborne (11) 6-1 Andre Kobel
Marko Puls 6-0 Carlos Rodriguez
Brendan Dolan (22) 6-1 Peter Martin
Benito van de Pas 6-2 Patrick Langbecker
Colin Lloyd (3) 6-4 Matt Clark
Louis Blundell 6-2 Hans-Peter Benseler
Richie Burnett (30) 6-0 Tomas Seyler
Kim Huybrechts 6-1 Lars Erkelenz
Mark Webster (14) 6-0 Dieter Probach
Sladan Nedic 6-0 Karsten Kornath
Kevin Painter (19) 6-0 Peter van der Broek
Roland Scholten 6-5 Par Riihonen
Second Round
Simon Whitlock 6-2 Vladimir Andersen
Nigel Heydon 6-4 Steve Evans
Steve Beaton 6-3 Aodhagan O'Neill
Braulio Roncero 6-1 Alan Tabern
Mark Walsh 6-4 Andy Relf
Paul Nicholson 6-3 Ian McFarlane
Andy Hamilton 6-3 Kirk Shepherd
Steve Farmer 6-3 Mensur Suljovic
Wes Newton 6-2 Chris Iedema
Justin Pipe 6-2 Steve Maish
Ronnie Baxter 6-0 Michael Peters
Steve Hine 6-1 Dylan Duo
Jamie Caven 6-0 Sebastijan Pecjak
Dennis Smith 6-3 Nick Fullwell
Wayne Jones 6-1 Colin Monk
Wayne Atwood 6-2 Barrie Bates
Gary Anderson 6-1 Scott Rand
Bernd Roith 6-2 Peter Wright
Andy Smith 6-2 John MaGowan
Co Stompe 6-1 Jon Archer
Johnny Okken 6-4 Adrian Lewis
Tony Eccles 6-5 Maik Langendorf
Denis Ovens 6-3 Michael Rosenauer
Jelle Klaasen 6-0 Mark Hylton
Andy Jenkins 6-3 Vincent van der Voort
Kevin McDine 6-4 Andree Welge
Colin Osborne 6-4 Marko Puls
Benito van de Pas 6-4 Brendan Dolan
Colin Lloyd 6-0 Louis Blundell
Richie Burnett 6-3 Kim Huybrechts
Mark Webster 6-2 Sladan Nedic
Roland Scholten 6-2 Kevin Painter
Losers £200
Third Round
Simon Whitlock 6-5 Nigel Heydon
Steve Beaton 6-3 Braulio Roncero
Mark Walsh 6-2 Paul Nicholson
Steve Farmer 6-1 Andy Hamilton
Wes Newton 6-3 Justin Pipe
Ronnie Baxter 6-1 Steve Hine
Jamie Caven 6-2 Dennis Smith
Wayne Jones 6-2 Wayne Atwood
Gary Anderson 6-1 Bernd Roith
Co Stompe 6-2 Andy Smith
Tony Eccles 6-0 Johnny Okken
Jelle Klaasen 6-3 Denis Ovens
Andy Jenkins 6-3 Kevin McDine
Colin Osborne 6-5 Benito van de Pas
Richie Burnett 6-1 Colin Lloyd
Mark Webster 6-4 Roland Scholten
Losers £300
Fourth Round
Simon Whitlock 6-4 Steve Beaton
Mark Walsh 6-2 Steve Farmer
Ronnie Baxter 6-1 Wes Newton
Jamie Caven 6-0 Wayne Jones
Gary Anderson 6-2 Co Stompe
Tony Eccles 6-5 Jelle Klaasen
Andy Jenkins 6-5 Colin Osborne
Richie Burnett 6-3 Mark Webster
Losers £500
Quarter-Finals
Simon Whitlock 6-3 Mark Walsh
Ronnie Baxter 6-3 Jamie Caven
Gary Anderson 6-4 Tony Eccles
Richie Burnett 6-5 Andy Jenkins
Losers £1,000
Semi-Finals
Simon Whitlock 6-3 Ronnie Baxter
Richie Burnett 6-4 Gary Anderson
Losers £1,500
Final
Simon Whitlock 6-4 Richie Burnett
Winner £6,000
Runner-Up £3,000
Semi-Finals
Simon Whitlock overcame his semi-final disappointment of Saturday with a 6-3 win over Ronnie Baxter. Baxter won the opening leg on double four, but Whitlock broke throw twice in winning the next four, hitting bullseye finishes of 121 and 130 against the darts in moving 4-1 up. Baxter broke with a 70 finish in the sixth, after three misses at double top from Whitlock, and also finished 65 to cut the gap to 4-3 before a crucial 97 finish put Whitlock a leg away from the win, which was sealed in the next when he hit a 180 to leave 62 and took out double top after Baxter missed two darts at the same bed.
Richie Burnett reached his second successive final, defeating Gary Anderson 6-4. Burnett followed up his success in reaching the decider, where he lost to Mark Webster, with another great display to see off Anderson, who ultimately paid for his poor start. Burnett broke in the first leg and hit two 180s in taking the second before Anderson won the third, hitting a maximum of his own and a 115 finish of 25, bull and double top. However, Burnett took the next two with double eight checkouts to lead 4-1 as Anderson was punished for some sloppy play in twice failing to leave a double. Two misses from Burnett in the sixth allowed the Scot in on double eight and he hit double top two win the next two legs and level, hitting a sparkling 11-darter in the latter. Two misses at double ten for a 71 finish in the ninth, though, proved costly as Burnett hit double four for a 5-4 cushion and despite a 180 from Anderson in the next the Welsh ace hit a 138 score to leave 40 as he sealed victory with a 13-dart finish.