MERVYN KING defeated Wes Newton 6-3 to win his first Players Championship since January in the Spanish Darts Trophy at the Melia Hotel Benidorm.
King has spent much of 2011 battling tendinitis in his throwing elbow, but capped a recent return to form - which included a run to the semi-finals of Championship League Darts - by picking up the £6,000 first prize in Spain.
The 45-year-old began Sunday's event with a whitewash of Spaniard Eduardo Gonzales, before defeating Steve Maish, Belgium's Kurt van de Rijck, Ronnie Baxter and Colin Osborne to reach the semi-finals, where he saw off Jamie Caven 6-2.
In the final against Newton, King took the opening leg with a superb 138 finish before the Fleetwood ace levelled with a 97 checkout and hit double top to punish King's misses and lead.
King broke back but was punished again in leg five as Newton hit double ten to lead 3-2.
Finishes of 124 and 98 from King moved him 4-3 up, and when Newton missed double five in the eighth he took out double ten to edge towards a victory which was sealed in style courtesy of a 136 checkout in leg nine.
Newton's run to the final included a fine 6-3 win over Raymond van Barneveld in the semis, alongside defeats of three other World Champions in Mark Webster, Steve Beaton and Adrian Lewis.
Van Barneveld followed up his appearance in Saturday's final with a semi-final finish 24 hours later, picking up £5,000 in total of his weekend's work which included a memorable second win of the weekend over Phil Taylor, who was defeated 6-4 in the last 32.
The Dutch ace also defeated Peter Wright 6-5 in a tight semi-final which the Lowestoft star had a chance to win in the deciding leg.
Gary Anderson and Colin Osborne also reached the quarter-finals, alongside Mark Webster - who had opened the day with a nine-dart finish in the opening leg of his first round win over Juan Huertas, which earned him an £800 bonus.
Saturday's champion James Wade was whitewashed by Caven in the last 16, with Baxter, Beaton, Colin Lloyd, Mark Walsh, Vincent van der Voort, Scott Rand and Justin Pipe also losing out at that stage.
Youngster Michael Smith almost matched Webster's achievement in hitting a perfect leg during his second round loss to Wayne Jones, but missed double 15 for a nine-darter after hitting scores of 174 and 177 to leave a 150 checkout.
The Players Championships in Spain were the last European-based PDC ProTour events of 2011, with the four players from the European Order of Merit to qualify for the Ladbrokes World Darts Championship in December.
The qualifiers will be confirmed once the remaining four Players Championships - to be held in Crawley next weekend and in Wigan on November 26 & 27 - have taken place, with players qualifying from the PDC Order of Merit and Players Championship Order of Merit first.
The four provisional European Order of Merit qualifiers for the World Championship are Belgium's Kim Huybrechts, Spain's Antonio Alcinas, Austria's Mensur Suljovic and Germany's Jyhan Artut.
Spanish Darts Trophy Players Championship
(PC27, Benidorm, Sunday October 30 2011)
Preliminary Round
Jesus Almazan 6-4 Sergio Garcia
Eduardo Sales Lopez 6-2 Alvaro Molina
Martin Marti 6-0 Bernd Schmidt
Jose Luis Torres 6-4 Manuel Fernandez
Dani Duran 6-1 Steffen Schaffer
Carlos Jiminez 6-2 Raul Invernon
Eduardo Gonzales 6-5 Juan Abascal
Kurt van de Rijck 6-2 Fernando Gutierrez
David Sanchez 6-0 Rudiger Lohse
Maik Langendorf 6-0 Maurizio Monterubbianesi
Jose Maria Anibarro 6-0 Michael Schmidt
Armando Frias 6-2 Raul Gutierrez
Colin Rice 6-4 Juan Carlos Albaladejo
Gregorio Garcia 6-0 Filip Grelha
Enrique Garcia 6-4 Oscar Vives
Juan Huertas 6-0 Romano Ruggeri
Jose Rodriguez Bernardino 6-1 Jonatan Loarce
Abraham Beltran Alfonso 6-4 Hugh Rowlands
Juan Jose Acs 6-0 Wilfried Hoburg
Fernando Bas 6-3 Mahdi Sadre Arhami
Guillermo Corella 6-0 Mauro Stronati
Carlos Garbayo 6-2 Hans Benseler
First Round
Gary Anderson (1) 6-0 Jesus Almazan
Ian White 6-1 Barrie Bates
Roland Scholten (32) 6-4 Ignacio Bassullas
Steve Hine 6-5 Steve Grubb
Colin Lloyd (16) 6-0 Eduardo Sales Lopez
William O'Connor 6-2 Kevin McDine
Denis Ovens (17) 6-1 Martin Marti
Matthew Edgar 6-5 Shaun Griffiths
James Wade (8) 6-0 Jose Luis Torres
Joe Cullen 6-4 Veijo Viinikka
John Henderson (25) 6-1 Simon Craven
Arron Monk 6-4 Dave Smith
Jamie Caven (9) 6-0 Dani Duran
Dyson Parody 6-5 Mark Dudbridge
Richie Burnett (24) 6-1 Diego Martinez
Mensur Suljovic 6-5 Michael Mansell
Ronnie Baxter (5) 6-3 Carlos Jiminez
Dennis Priestley 6-1 Devon Petersen
Andy Hamilton (28) 6-0 Darrell Claydon
Brian Woods 6-3 Magnus Caris
Mervyn King (12) 6-0 Eduardo Gonzales
Steve Maish 6-5 Chris Thompson
Kurt van de Rijck 6-4 Steve Brown (21)
Rocco Maes 6-0 Mareno Michels
Mark Walsh (4) 6-0 David Sanchez
Andy Jenkins 6-5 Jyhan Artut
Co Stompe (29) 6-3 Geoff Whitworth
John Michael 6-2 Marko Kantele
Colin Osborne (13) 6-1 Maik Langendorf
Nick Fullwell 6-5 Brendan Dolan
Alan Tabern (20) 6-5 Jose Maria Anibarro
Aodhagan O'Neill 6-3 Chris Aubrey
Wes Newton (2) 6-3 Armando Frias
James Richardson 6-2 Darren Johnson
Adrian Lewis (31) 6-2 Lee Palfreyman
Bernd Roith 6-2 Adam Smith-Neale
Colin Rice 6-2 Dave Chisnall (15)
Jelle Klaasen 6-0 Matt Padgett
Steve Beaton (18) 6-2 Gregorio Garcia
Tim Hope 6-2 Carlos Rodriguez
Vincent van der Voort (7) 6-2 Enrique Garcia
Peter Manley 6-4 Terry Temple
Michael van Gerwen (26) 6-5 Julio Barbero
Michael Barnard 6-1 Andy Relf
Mark Webster (10) 6-3 Juan Huertas - Mark Webster hits nine-dart finish
Steve Evans 6-1 Antonio Alcinas
Wayne Jones (23) 6-1 Jose Antonio Justicia
Michael Smith 6-4 Ken MacNeil
Phil Taylor (6) 6-0 Jose Rodriguez Bernardino
Kim Huybrechts 6-4 Tomas Seyler
Raymond van Barneveld (27) 6-0 Lee White
Dave Ladley 6-5 Dylan Duo
Kevin Painter (11) 6-0 Abraham Beltran Alfonso
Paul Rowley 6-4 Ken Dobson
Scott Rand (22) 6-2 Juan Jose Acs
Simon Burt 6-5 Gary Welding
Justin Pipe (3) 6-1 Fernando Bas
Michael Rosenauer 6-4 Mark Frost
Nigel Heydon (30) 6-0 Rene Hellmich
Dennis Smith 6-4 Robert Thornton
Peter Wright (14) 6-0 Guillermo Corella
Andree Welge 6-2 Adrian Gray
Mark Hylton (19) 6-1 Carlos Garbayo
Kirk Shepherd 6-2 Mick Todd
Second Round
Gary Anderson 6-5 Ian White
Roland Scholten 6-3 Steve Hine
Colin Lloyd 6-3 William O'Connor
Denis Ovens 6-2 Matthew Edgar
James Wade 6-0 Joe Cullen
John Henderson 6-5 Arron Monk
Jamie Caven 6-5 Dyson Parody
Richie Burnett 6-2 Mensur Suljovic
Ronnie Baxter Bye (Dennis Priestley withdrew through illness)
Brian Woods 6-4 Andy Hamilton
Mervyn King 6-3 Steve Maish
Kurt van de Rijck 6-1 Rocco Maes
Mark Walsh 6-4 Andy Jenkins
Co Stompe 6-4 John Michael
Colin Osborne 6-2 Nick Fullwell
Aodhagan O'Neill 6-4 Alan Tabern
Wes Newton 6-2 James Richardson
Adrian Lewis 6-4 Bernd Roith
Colin Rice 6-5 Jelle Klaasen
Steve Beaton 6-1 Tim Hope
Vincent van der Voort 6-2 Peter Manley
Michael Barnard 6-4 Michael van Gerwen
Mark Webster 6-2 Steve Evans
Wayne Jones 6-2 Michael Smith
Phil Taylor 6-4 Kim Huybrechts
Raymond van Barneveld 6-0 Dave Ladley
Paul Rowley 6-5 Kevin Painter
Scott Rand 6-0 Simon Burt
Justin Pipe 6-4 Michael Rosenauer
Nigel Heydon 6-5 Dennis Smith
Peter Wright 6-0 Andree Welge
Mark Hylton 6-4 Kirk Shepherd
Losers £200
Third Round
Gary Anderson 6-0 Roland Scholten
Colin Lloyd 6-2 Denis Ovens
James Wade 6-5 John Henderson
Jamie Caven 6-3 Richie Burnett
Ronnie Baxter 6-4 Brian Woods
Mervyn King 6-3 Kurt van de Rijck
Mark Walsh 6-3 Co Stompe
Colin Osborne 6-2 Aodhagan O'Neill
Wes Newton 6-4 Adrian Lewis
Steve Beaton 6-0 Colin Rice
Vincent van der Voort 6-0 Michael Barnard
Mark Webster 6-3 Wayne Jones
Raymond van Barneveld 6-4 Phil Taylor
Scott Rand 6-2 Paul Rowley
Justin Pipe 6-5 Nigel Heydon
Peter Wright 6-5 Mark Hylton
Losers £400
Fourth Round
Gary Anderson 6-0 Colin Lloyd
Jamie Caven 6-0 James Wade
Mervyn King 6-2 Ronnie Baxter
Colin Osborne 6-2 Mark Walsh
Wes Newton 6-3 Steve Beaton
Mark Webster 6-3 Vincent van der Voort
Raymond van Barneveld 6-2 Scott Rand
Peter Wright 6-4 Justin Pipe
Losers £600
Quarter-Finals
Jamie Caven Bye (Gary Anderson conceded with Caven leading 5-4)
Mervyn King 6-3 Colin Osborne
Wes Newton 6-2 Mark Webster
Raymond van Barneveld 6-5 Peter Wright
Losers £1,000
Semi-Finals
Mervyn King 6-2 Jamie Caven
Wes Newton 6-3 Raymond van Barneveld
Losers £2,000
Final
Mervyn King 6-3 Wes Newton
Winner £6,000
Runner-Up £3,000
Semi-Finals
Mervyn King defeated Jamie Caven 6-2 to win through from the first semi-final. Caven led courtesy of an 11-dart finish before King won three in a row to lead 3-1. Caven took the fifth but King again took three in a row to seal the win.
Wes Newton denied Raymond van Barneveld a place in a second successive final with a 6-3 triumph in the second semi-final. Newtn finished 146 for the opening leg, and after the Dutchman levelled he took three in a row to lead 4-1. Van Barneveld won the sixth on tops, but missed four darts to take the seventh as Newton moved 5-2 up. Double 18 kept van Barneveld in the game, but Newton finished 83 for victory.
Final
Mervyn King v Wes Newton
0-0 - Mervyn King wins the bull and will throw first.
1-0 - Newton hits a 177 but King powers home a 138 checkout to lead.
1-1 - Newton hits a 180 and finishes 97 on tops to level.
1-2 - King fires in a 180 but misses double 11 for a 124 finish and two darts at double four to allow Newton in to break on tops.
2-2 - King breaks back on double 16, initially missing the bed but being given a reprieve when Newton misses double four and two for a 68 finish.
2-3 - King misses the bull for an 86 finish and Newton takes out double ten to break again.
3-3 - King again breaks in reply, finishing 124 on double 11.
4-3 - Newton misses the bull for a 75 finish and King takes out 98 on double 16.
5-3 - King misses the bull for a 170 checkout, but Newton misses double five and he returns to hit double eight and move a leg away from the win.
6-3 - King seals the victory in style with a 136 finish.