DENIS OVENS won his first PDC Pro tour event since 2007 with victory over Gary Anderson in the final of Sunday's Gibraltar Players Championship.
Ovens claimed the £6,000 title with a fine day of darts in the Tercentenary Sports Hall, picking up his first win in two-and-a-half years and reaching a final for the first time in 16 months.
In a day of steadily improving form, he overcame Tony Blundell, Andy Relf and Par Riihonen in the early stages before blowing away Mark Dudbridge and Andy Hamilton 6-1 and dropping just two legs against Steve Evans.
He enjoyed a thrilling final against Anderson, hitting two 180s in taking a 4-2 lead before the Scot took out 78 and 96 to level.
A 120 finish put Ovens 5-4 up, with Anderson taking the tenth leg but having no answer in the decider, as the Stevenage man hit another 180 and took out 96 for the title.
Anderson was in blistering form in the early rounds, dropping only two legs in victories against Bryan De Hoog, Tab Hunter, Wayne Atwood and Robert Thornton before sweeping past Terry Jenkins 6-3 and seeing off Nigel Heydon 6-2 in the semi-finals.
Heydon, an undertaker from Leamington Spa who competed as an amateur qualifier in the 2007 UK Open, celebrated his debut weekend on the PDC Pro Tour by reaching the semi-finals.
He overcame Darren Johnson, Andy Smith, Paul Nicholson, Kevin McDine and James Wade in an excellent run before losing to Anderson, but takes home the biggest paycheck of his darts career with £1,500.
Hamilton's run to the last four saw him match Anderson in dropping only two legs in his first four games, including a whitewash of Colin Osborne - who he will now practice with on a regular basis after moving to Derby.
Welsh pair Steve Evans and Richie Burnett enjoyed fine runs, with Evans defeating John Part and Colin Lloyd - the winner of Saturday's StanJames.com Eddie Cox Memorial Trophy - in reaching the quarter-finals.
Wade reached the last eight for a second successive day, while Jenkins battled past Whyte & Mackay Premier League Darts rival Adrian Lewis in progressing to the quarters.
The day also featured the first nine-dart finish of 2010, as Matt Clark achieved the feat in his first round win over Dave Askew, earning him a £3,600 bonus.
Gibraltar Players Championship
Preliminary Round
John MaGowan 6-2 George Ramos
Mareno Michels 6-3 Dyson Parody
John Quantock 6-2 Jeremy Cruz
Chris Loudon 6-0 Jimmy King
Manolo Vilerio 6-3 Miguel Tejero
Christian Tosso 6-5 Geoff Whitworth
Marko Puls 6-0 Kevin Negron
Harry Parody 6-3 Steve Randall
Dennis Smith 6-3 Daz Mawer
Christian Robba 6-4 Alan Kimberley
Adrian Gray 6-1 David Bautista
Mark Stephenson 6-5 Nick Fullwell
Rocco Maes 6-2 Salvador Santiago
Sebastijan Pecjak 6-2 Francisco Arias
Maik Langendorf 6-4 David Rodriguez
Michael Barnard 6-0 Alvaro Gonzalez
Andy Relf 6-2 Francisco Lucena
John Part 6-0 Wayne Mardle
Steve Evans 6-5 Steve Grubb
Darren Webster 6-2 Michael Frydendahl
First Round
Mark Walsh (1) 6-3 Jason Clark
Joe Cullen 6-0 Andree Welge
Kevin McDine (32) 6-4 Tony Randell
John MaGowan 6-1 Mareno Michels
Andy Smith (16) 6-0 Lee White
Nigel Heydon 6-4 Darren Johnson
Paul Nicholson (17) 6-2 Carlos Rodriguez
John Quantock 6-0 Michael Schmidt
James Wade (8) 6-1 Ian Eames
Louis Blundell 6-0 Agustin Hernandez
Jelle Klaasen (25) 6-2 Rafael Carrero
Steve Maish 6-2 Chris Loudon
Ronnie Baxter (9) 6-1 Mick McGowan
Dave Honey 6-2 Matthew Wenham
Co Stompe (24) 6-0 Dave Ahmet
Colin Monk 6-3 Manolo Vilerio
Gary Anderson (5) 6-1 Bryan De Hoog
Tab Hunter 6-4 Stuart Bousfield
Wayne Atwood 6-3 Steve Hine (28)
Michael Kloenhammer 6-0 Christian Tosso
Robert Thornton (12) 6-1 Jon Archer
Barrie Bates 6-1 Raul Lazaro
Kevin Painter (21) 6-5 Darren Latham
Marko Puls 6-2 Sam Allen
Adrian Lewis (4) 6-1 Michel Helder
Tony Martin 6-3 George Federico
Peter Manley (29) 6-2 Ian MacFarlane
Dennis Smith 6-3 Harry Parody
Vincent van der Voort (13) 6-0 Carsten Christensen
Mark Jodrill 6-0 Jann Hoffmann
Terry Jenkins (20) 6-0 Stefan Federico
Christian Robba 6-3 Paul Wills
Colin Osborne (2) 6-0 Glenn Cameron
Keith Rooney 6-1 Kirk Shepherd
Matt Clark (31) 6-4 Dave Askew - Matt Clark hits nine-dart finish
Adrian Gray 6-1 Mark Stephenson
Alan Tabern (15) 6-2 Alex Roy
Mark Webster 6-0 Mark Robinson
Andy Hamilton (18) 6-0 Jim Leighton
Peter Hudson 6-1 Rocco Maes
Wes Newton (7) 6-2 James Barton
Tomas Seyler 6-1 Mike Roberts
Tony Eccles (26) 6-3 Michael Rosenauer
Sebastijan Pecjak 6-1 Gary Mawson
Wayne Jones (10) 6-2 Mark Lawrence
Justin Pipe 6-2 Justin Broton
Tony Ayres 6-2 Peter Wright (23)
Maik Langendorf 6-4 Simon Craven
Steve Beaton (6) 6-4 Dylan Duo
Antonio Estelerric 6-3 Didier De Vuyst
Mark Dudbridge (27) 6-1 Carlos Martinez
Michael Barnard 6-1 Mark Hylton
Jamie Caven (11) 6-1 Henry Zapata
Par Riihonen 6-1 Danny Peach
Denis Ovens (22) 6-4 Tony Blundell
Andy Relf 6-2 Mario Masurka
Colin Lloyd (3) 6-2 Dave Ladley
Jyhan Artut 6-1 Anastasia Dobromyslova
Steve Brown (30) 6-1 Martyn Turner
Steve Evans 6-5 John Part
Richie Burnett 6-1 Michael van Gerwen (14)
Lars Erkelenz 6-0 Alex Nunez
Chris Thompson 6-2 Mervyn King (19)
Roland Scholten 6-0 Darren Webster
Second Round
Mark Walsh 6-0 Joe Cullen
Kevin McDine 6-1 John MaGowan
Nigel Heydon 6-1 Andy Smith
Paul Nicholson 6-4 John Quantock
James Wade 6-0 Louis Blundell
Steve Maish 6-5 Jelle Klaasen
Ronnie Baxter 6-3 Dave Honey
Co Stompe 6-3 Colin Monk
Gary Anderson 6-1 Tab Hunter
Wayne Atwood 6-5 Michael Kloenhammer
Robert Thornton 6-3 Barrie Bates
Marko Puls 6-2 Kevin Painter
Adrian Lewis 6-2 Tony Martin
Dennis Smith 6-5 Peter Manley
Vincent van der Voort 6-3 Mark Jodrill
Terry Jenkins 6-0 Christian Robba
Colin Osborne 6-3 Keith Rooney
Adrian Gray 6-3 Matt Clark
Mark Webster 6-5 Alan Tabern
Andy Hamilton 6-1 Peter Hudson
Wes Newton 6-3 Tomas Seyler
Tony Eccles 6-2 Sebastijan Pecjak
Wayne Jones 6-2 Justin Pipe
Tony Ayres 6-1 Maik Langendorf
Antonio Estelerric 6-4 Steve Beaton
Mark Dudbridge 6-0 Michael Barnard
Par Riihonen 6-4 Jamie Caven
Denis Ovens 6-2 Andy Relf
Colin Lloyd 6-3 Jyhan Artut
Steve Evans 6-3 Steve Brown
Richie Burnett 6-2 Lars Erkelenz
Chris Thompson 6-0 Roland Scholten
Losers £200
Third Round
Kevin McDine 6-4 Mark Walsh
Nigel Heydon 6-3 Paul Nicholson
James Wade 6-3 Steve Maish
Co Stompe 6-1 Ronnie Baxter
Gary Anderson 6-0 Wayne Atwood
Robert Thornton 6-4 Marko Puls
Adrian Lewis 6-5 Dennis Smith
Terry Jenkins 6-2 Vincent van der Voort
Colin Osborne 6-4 Adrian Gray
Andy Hamilton 6-1 Mark Webster
Wes Newton 6-4 Tony Eccles
Wayne Jones 6-1 Tony Ayres
Mark Dudbridge 6-4 Antonio Estelerric
Denis Ovens 6-2 Par Riihonen
Steve Evans 6-5 Colin Lloyd
Richie Burnett 6-2 Chris Thompson
Losers £300
Fourth Round
Nigel Heydon 6-3 Kevin McDine
James Wade 6-3 Co Stompe
Gary Anderson 6-0 Robert Thornton
Terry Jenkins 6-5 Adrian Lewis
Andy Hamilton 6-0 Colin Osborne
Wes Newton 6-2 Wayne Jones
Denis Ovens 6-1 Mark Dudbridge
Steve Evans 6-5 Richie Burnett
Losers £500
Quarter-Finals
Nigel Heydon 6-3 James Wade
Gary Anderson 6-3 Terry Jenkins
Andy Hamilton 6-5 Wes Newton
Denis Ovens 6-2 Steve Evans
Losers £1,000
Semi-Finals
Gary Anderson 6-2 Nigel Heydon
Denis Ovens 6-1 Andy Hamilton
Losers £1,500
Final
Denis Ovens 6-5 Gary Anderson
Winner £6,000
Runner-Up £3,000