MICHAEL VAN GERWEN completed a clean sweep of the Players Championship treble-header at the Barnsley Metrodome as he claimed a third successive midweek win, landing a second nine-darter in as many days before edging out Steve West in a brilliant final.
Van Gerwen had already followed up back-to-back European Tour wins by taking the £10,000 first prize in Players Championships on Tuesday and Wednesday in Barnsley.
Having also hit a nine-darter in Wednesday's tournament, the Dutchman secured perfection once more as one of three players, alongside Yordi Meeuwisse and Simon Whitlock, to achieve the feat in Thursday's event.
Having already seen off Kevin Painter and Jonny Clayton, van Gerwen landed his perfect leg in the third round against Joe Murnan, before then defeating Simon Stevenson, Berry van Peer and Kim Huybrechts to reach the final against West.
West had enjoyed a run to his first PDC final with a superb day in Barnsley, overcoming Mike Zuydwijk, William O'Connor, Jeffrey de Zwaan, Simon Whitlock, Cristo Reyes and Steve Evans to battle through to the decider.
He found himself 4-2 down to van Gerwen before hitting back to level - and then took out 116 to move 5-4 up and within touching distance of a first PDC title.
However, van Gerwen finished 76 to level and force a decider, and when West was unable to take out 110 for the title the world number one showed his class by finishing tops for a 13-darter.
The win means van Gerwen completed a clean sweep in Barnsley and extended his own winning run to 35 matches since his loss to Phil Taylor in August's Sydney Darts Masters final - having won the Perth Darts Masters before five September triumphs to move into this weekend's Unibet Champions League of Darts in buoyant mood.
West's consolation for his run to the final was £6,000 in prize money and qualification for October's Unibet World Grand Prix in Dublin on a dramatic final day in the race for spots in the double-start tournament.
Spanish ace Reyes also sealed a World Grand Prix debut with his run to the quarter-finals, with Justin Pipe and Josh Payne being knocked out of provisional qualifying places as Vincent van der Voort also narrowly missed out on a Dublin spot.
Mick McGowan's displays this week, including Tuesday's semi-final appearance, mean that the Irish ace also qualifies for a return to the World Grand Prix, having previously competed in the World Grand Prix on three occasions.
Ricky Evans enjoyed his best run on the ProTour for almost three years as he reached the semi-finals, defeating Mike De Decker, Benito van de Pas, Mark Webster, Stephen Bunting and Chris Dobey.
Evans also missed double 12 for a nine-darter during the day, and fell two matches short of securing a World Grand Prix place, had he gone on to win the event.
Belgian ace Huybrechts also won through to the last four, while emerging star Dobey was a quarter-finalist for the first time on the circuit.
Dutch youngster Berry van Peer was a quarter-finalist for the second time on the PDC ProTour, while Rowby-John Rodriguez also reached the last eight of a ProTour event for the first time since February.
Dutchman Meeuwisse landed a nine-darter for the first time since he joined the PDC circuit, although it came in a narrow 6-5 first round loss to Benito van de Pas, while Australian ace Whitlock achieved his perfect leg in a second round win over Andrew Gilding.
The Players Championship events were streamed with action simultaneously from two stream boards throughout the week, with the further events in Dublin on September 30 and October 1 also to be screened through www.LIVEPDC.TV.
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Players Championship 16
Thursday September 22, Barnsley Metrodome
First Round
Michael van Gerwen (1) 6-1 Kevin Painter
Jonny Clayton 6-5 Darren Johnson
Jamie Lewis (32) 6-2 Mark Hylton
Joe Murnan 6-1 Max Hopp
Joe Cullen (16) 6-4 Andy Boulton
Peter Hudson 6-1 Jay Foreman
Brian Woods 6-4 Steve Beaton (17)
Simon Stevenson 6-2 Kevin Dowling
James Wade (8) 6-3 Jim Walker
Barrie Bates 6-4 Keegan Brown
Vincent van der Voort (25) 6-2 Ronny Huybrechts
Darren Webster 6-2 Alan Tabern
Gerwyn Price (9) 6-1 Jason Lovett
Brett Claydon 6-4 Nathan Aspinall
Ronnie Baxter 6-5 Justin Pipe (24)
Berry van Peer 6-5 Ron Meulenkamp
Ian White (5) 6-4 Dirk van Duijvenbode
Michael Barnard 6-2 Richie Corner
Jermaine Wattimena (28) 6-3 Ryan Meikle
Steve Brown 6-1 Scott Dale
Terry Jenkins (12) 6-2 Arron Monk
Andy Hamilton 6-3 Ricky Williams
Matt Clark 6-3 Robbie Green (21)
Rowby-John Rodriguez 6-4 John Henderson
Kim Huybrechts (4) 6-3 Ray Campbell
Callum Loose 6-2 Darron Brown
Raymond van Barneveld (29) 6-0 Paul Nicholson
John Bowles 6-4 Matthew Dennant
Michael Smith (13) 6-4 Christian Kist
Mark Barilli 6-3 Steve Hine
Jamie Caven (20) 6-2 Chris Quantock
Steve McNally 6-1 Andy Parsons
Jeffrey de Zwaan 6-3 Peter Wright (2)
Shaun Griffiths 6-3 Nathan Derry
Steve West (31) 6-3 Mike Zuydwijk
William O'Connor 6-2 Jan Dekker
Simon Whitlock (15) 6-1 Jonathan Worsley
Andrew Gilding 6-4 Prakash Jiwa
Andy Jenkins 6-1 James Wilson (18)
Mick McGowan 6-2 Mick Todd
Dave Chisnall (7) 6-4 Wayne Jones
Ted Evetts 6-4 Paul Milford
Mickey Mansell 6-3 Josh Payne (26)
Wes Newton 6-2 Dean Winstanley
Jelle Klaasen (10) 6-4 David Pallett
Dimitri Van den Bergh 6-3 Robert Owen
Cristo Reyes (23) 6-5 Matthew Edgar
Jason Wilson 6-3 Brendan Dolan
Benito van de Pas (6) 6-5 Yordi Meeuwisse - Yordi Meeuwisse hits nine-dart finish
Ricky Evans 6-3 Mike De Decker
Mark Webster (27) 6-5 Mark Frost
Stuart Kellett 6-3 Trevor Burkhill
Stephen Bunting (11) 6-4 Jyhan Artut
Curtis Hammond 6-1 Jamie Robinson
Vincent Kamphuis 6-1 Robert Thornton (22)
Dennis Smith 6-4 Jeffrey de Graaf
Mensur Suljovic (3) 6-3 Tony Newell
Mark Walsh 6-3 Ryan Palmer
Devon Petersen (30) 6-3 Nigel Daniels
Ryan Harrington 6-2 Simon Preston
Chris Dobey 6-3 Alan Norris (14)
James Richardson 6-5 Terry Temple
Andy Smith 6-4 Mervyn King (19)
Nigel Heydon 6-2 Jason Marriott
Second Round
Michael van Gerwen 6-3 Jonny Clayton
Joe Murnan 6-0 Jamie Lewis
Joe Cullen 6-1 Peter Hudson
Simon Stevenson 6-1 Brian Woods
Barrie Bates 6-2 James Wade
Darren Webster 6-2 Vincent van der Voort
Gerwyn Price 6-1 Brett Claydon
Berry van Peer 6-4 Ronnie Baxter
Ian White 6-2 Michael Barnard
Steve Brown 6-2 Jermaine Wattimena
Andy Hamilton 6-3 Terry Jenkins
Rowby-John Rodriguez 6-4 Matt Clark
Kim Huybrechts 6-1 Callum Loose
Raymond van Barneveld 6-1 John Bowles
Michael Smith 6-2 Mark Barilli
Steve McNally 6-4 Jamie Caven
Jeffrey de Zwaan 6-5 Shaun Griffiths
Steve West 6-3 William O'Connor
Simon Whitlock 6-3 Andrew Gilding - Simon Whitlock hits nine-dart finish
Andy Jenkins 6-5 Mick McGowan
Ted Evetts 6-1 Dave Chisnall
Mickey Mansell 6-3 Wes Newton
Jelle Klaasen 6-5 Dimitri Van den Bergh
Cristo Reyes 6-2 Jason Wilson
Ricky Evans 6-5 Benito van de Pas
Mark Webster 6-3 Stuart Kellett
Stephen Bunting 6-5 Curtis Hammond
Vincent Kamphuis 6-1 Dennis Smith
Mark Walsh 6-3 Mensur Suljovic
Devon Petersen 6-3 Ryan Harrington
Chris Dobey 6-3 James Richardson
Andy Smith 6-1 Nigel Heydon
Third Round
Michael van Gerwen 6-2 Joe Murnan - Michael van Gerwen hits nine-dart finish
Simon Stevenson 6-1 Joe Cullen
Darren Webster 6-2 Barrie Bates
Berry van Peer 6-5 Gerwyn Price
Steve Brown 6-5 Ian White
Rowby-John Rodriguez 6-4 Andy Hamilton
Kim Huybrechts 6-3 Raymond van Barneveld
Michael Smith 6-2 Steve McNally
Steve West 6-1 Jeffrey de Zwaan
Simon Whitlock 6-3 Andy Jenkins
Mickey Mansell 6-4 Ted Evetts
Cristo Reyes 6-5 Jelle Klaasen
Ricky Evans 6-1 Mark Webster
Stephen Bunting 6-4 Vincent Kamphuis
Devon Petersen 6-2 Mark Walsh
Chris Dobey 6-3 Andy Smith
Fourth Round
Michael van Gerwen 6-1 Simon Stevenson
Berry van Peer 6-4 Darren Webster
Rowby-John Rodriguez 6-3 Steve Brown
Kim Huybrechts 6-3 Michael Smith
Steve West 6-2 Simon Whitlock
Cristo Reyes 6-1 Mickey Mansell
Ricky Evans 6-2 Stephen Bunting
Chris Dobey 6-4 Devon Petersen
Quarter-Finals
Michael van Gerwen 6-3 Berry van Peer
Kim Huybrechts 6-1 Rowby-John Rodriguez
Steve West 6-4 Cristo Reyes
Ricky Evans 6-4 Chris Dobey
Semi-Finals
Michael van Gerwen 6-1 Kim Huybrechts
Steve West 6-4 Ricky Evans
Final
Michael van Gerwen 6-5 Steve West