JAMIE CAVEN completed a memorable weekend double at the Robin Park Tennis Centre in Wigan as he backed up Saturday’s victory by taking the £10,000 first prize on Sunday, after a 6-4 victory over Jelle Klaasen in the final.
Caven - whose victory on Saturday ended a two-year gap without a ranking title - continued his form of 24 hours earlier as he comfortably defeated Ricky Sudale, Magnus Caris and Keegan Brown to reach the last 16.
The Derby-based thrower then overcame Kenny MacNeil by a 6-4 margin before producing a superb display to dismiss Robert Thornton for a second day in a row thanks to a 6-1 triumph.
Caven ended Alex Roy’s brilliant day with a 6-3 win in the semi-finals to set-up a final against Klaasen, in what was to prove a high-quality contest.
The first four legs were shared before a missed dart at the bullseye from Klaasen saw Caven take out 47 to break throw for the first time and lead 3-2.
Caven continued to maintain that advantage and went on to land a brilliant 146 checkout to win the match, ending the contest with a fantastic 110.68 average to round-off a perfect weekend.
Former Lakeside Champion Klaasen started his run to a first ProTour final since November 2007 with a whitewash victory over John Scott before overcoming Mervyn King in a deciding-leg to reach the last 32.
The Dutchman moved into the quarter-finals with victories over Mark Frost and Peter Wright before recording an excellent 6-1 win over Gary Anderson in the last eight.
The 28-year-old Dutchman saw off Andy Smith in the semi-finals by a 6-4 margin, before running into the brilliant Caven in the decider, losing out despite recording an excellent 103 average.
Roy enjoyed his best day on the PDC ProTour since January 2012 as he reached the last four, which included an excellent 6-5 win over Justin Pipe - as he came from 4-0 down - and a tough 6-4 win over John Bowles in the last eight.
Andy Smith enjoyed his best run in a PDC ProTour event since reaching the last eight in Killarney last October as he also made the semis.
The Warwickshire man defeated Holland’s Ryan De Vreede and Darren Johnson before claiming an excellent 6-2 victory over Colin Lloyd.
Smith followed that with a deciding-leg with over Paul Amos, and a 6-3 triumph over Steve Beaton put him through to semi-finals where he lost out to Klaasen.
Former Premier League champion Anderson reached the last eight for a second successive day and he was joined in the quarters by his Scottish compatriot Thornton, who lost to the superb Caven for a second day running in Wigan.
Former World Champion Steve Beaton reached the quarter-finals of a ProTour event for a second time this year along with Widnes’ Bowles, who was denied a second semi-final appearance of year after being edged out by Roy.
Joe Murnan, Paul Amos and Canada’s Kenny MacNeil all enjoyed fine runs to the last 16 stage, matching their best-ever performances on the PDC ProTour.
Wes Newton also reached the last 16 only hours after his return from competing in the Dubai Duty Free Darts Masters earlier in the week, winning three matches before losing out to Anderson.
The next two Players Championship events will take place at the K2 Centre in Crawley on June 22-23, both with £50,000 on offer following this year’s increase from £35,000 per event.
Players Championship 4
Sunday May 26
Robin Park Tennis Centre, Wigan
First Round
Robert Thornton (1) Bye
Lee Hayes 6-5 Matt Padgett
Darren Webster (32) 6-1 Chris Aubrey
Ted Hankey 6-2 Jason Marriott
Brendan Dolan (16) 6-3 Kentaro Suzuki
Joe Murnan 6-2 Richie Howson
Terry Jenkins (17) 6-3 Joe Cullen
Paul Barham 6-5 Nigel Heydon
Paul Nicholson (8) 6-0 Mark Hylton
Michael Barnard 6-3 Reece Robinson
Kenny MacNeil 6-4 Wayne Jones (25)
Nick Fullwell 6-5 Ross Smith
Jamie Caven (9) 6-1 Ricky Sudale
Magnus Caris 6-5 Marc Dewsbury
Mark Webster (24) 6-0 Ian Walters
Keegan Brown 6-5 Andy Parsons
John Part (5) 6-4 Gareth Pass
Keith Stephen 6-3 Barrie Bates
Scott Rand (28) 6-1 Andy Pearce
John Bowles 6-5 Sam Hill
Stuart Kellett (12) 6-3 Sean Ryan
Terry Temple 6-5 Kevin McDine
Arron Monk (21) 6-4 Steve Brown
Joey Palfreyman 6-4 Geoff Whitworth
Matt Clark 6-5 Kim Huybrechts (4)
David Pallett 6-2 Steve Grubb
Michael Smith (29) 6-2 Stephen Hardy
Alex Roy 6-2 Jamie Robinson
Justin Pipe (13) 6-5 James Richardson
Steve Hine 6-3 Ian Moss
Kevin Painter (20) 6-3 Lee Palfreyman
Dennis Priestley 6-4 Mick Todd
Dave Chisnall (2) 6-2 Jyhan Artut
Alan Tabern 6-2 Josh Payne
Paul Amos 6-5 James Hubbard (31)
Colin Fowler 6-4 Bernd Roith
Colin Lloyd (15) 6-3 Campbell Jackson
Tony West 6-5 Daryl Gurney
Andy Smith (18) 6-4 Ryan de Vreede
Darren Johnson 6-4 Kevin Dowling
Ian White (7) 6-0 Ronny Huybrechts
Prakash Jiwa 6-1 Ryan Harrington
Steve Beaton (26) 6-4 Keith Rooney
Dan Russell 6-4 Matthew Dicken
Ronnie Baxter (10) 6-1 Michael Mansell
Steve West 6-1 Jim Walker
Peter Hudson 6-4 Richie Burnett (23)
Co Stompe 6-3 Gaz Cousins
Peter Wright (6) 6-3 Ricky Evans
Dennis Smith 6-3 Darren Whittingham
Roland Scholten 6-2 Vincent van der Voort (27)
Vernon Sheppard 6-5 John Henderson
Mervyn King (11) 6-3 Adrian Gray
Jelle Klaasen 6-0 John Scott
Colin Osborne (22) 6-3 Steve Farmer
Mark Frost 6-2 Stephen McNally
Wes Newton (3) 6-3 William O'Connor
Matthew Edgar 6-4 Mark Jones
Alan Derrett 6-1 Dean Winstanley (30)
Connie Finnan 6-4 Mark Dudbridge
Gary Anderson (14) 6-3 Adam Hunt
Jamie Lewis 6-4 Jerry Hendriks
Mark Walsh (19) 6-5 Andy Jenkins
David Dodds 6-0 David Copley
Second Round
Robert Thornton 6-3 Lee Hayes
Darren Webster 6-2 Ted Hankey
Joe Murnan 6-4 Brendan Dolan
Terry Jenkins 6-5 Paul Barham
Paul Nicholson 6-3 Michael Barnard
Kenny MacNeil 6-2 Nick Fullwell
Jamie Caven 6-2 Magnus Caris
Keegan Brown 6-4 Mark Webster
John Part 6-2 Keith Stephen
John Bowles 6-2 Scott Rand
Terry Temple 6-4 Stuart Kellett
Joey Palfreyman 6-5 Arron Monk
David Pallett 6-2 Matt Clark
Alex Roy 6-5 Michael Smith
Justin Pipe 6-4 Steve Hine
Dennis Priestley 6-5 Kevin Painter
Dave Chisnall 6-4 Alan Tabern
Paul Amos 6-4 Colin Fowler
Colin Lloyd 6-4 Tony West
Andy Smith 6-2 Darren Johnson
Ian White 6-4 Prakash Jiwa
Steve Beaton 6-3 Dan Russell
Ronnie Baxter 6-3 Steve West
Co Stompe 6-4 Peter Hudson
Peter Wright 6-2 Dennis Smith
Roland Scholten 6-5 Vernon Sheppard
Jelle Klaasen 6-5 Mervyn King
Mark Frost 6-5 Colin Osborne
Wes Newton 6-1 Matthew Edgar
Connie Finnan 6-3 Alan Derrett
Gary Anderson 6-1 Jamie Lewis
Mark Walsh 6-0 David Dodds
Losers £250
Third Round
Robert Thornton 6-5 Darren Webster
Joe Murnan 6-2 Terry Jenkins
Kenny MacNeil 6-4 Paul Nicholson
Jamie Caven 6-2 Keegan Brown
John Bowles 6-4 John Part
Terry Temple 6-5 Joey Palfreyman
Alex Roy 6-1 David Pallett
Justin Pipe 6-1 Dennis Priestley
Paul Amos 6-3 Dave Chisnall
Andy Smith 6-2 Colin Lloyd
Steve Beaton 6-4 Ian White
Ronnie Baxter 6-1 Co Stompe
Peter Wright 6-0 Roland Scholten
Jelle Klaasen 6-1 Mark Frost
Wes Newton 6-4 Connie Finnan
Gary Anderson 6-2 Mark Walsh
Losers £500
Fourth Round
Robert Thornton 6-1 Joe Murnan
Jamie Caven 6-4 Kenny MacNeil
John Bowles 6-4 Terry Temple
Alex Roy 6-5 Justin Pipe
Andy Smith 6-5 Paul Amos
Steve Beaton 6-0 Ronnie Baxter
Jelle Klaasen 6-4 Peter Wright
Gary Anderson 6-2 Wes Newton
Losers £1,000
Quarter-Final
Jamie Caven 6-1 Robert Thornton
Alex Roy 6-4 John Bowles
Andy Smith 6-3 Steve Beaton
Jelle Klaasen 6-1 Gary Anderson
Losers £1,500
Semi-Finals
Jamie Caven 6-3 Alex Roy
Jelle Klaasen 6-4 Andy Smith
Losers £2,500
Final
Jamie Caven 6-4 Jelle Klaasen
Winner £10,000
Runner-Up £5,000