COLIN OSBORNE picked up his first Players Championship win of 2009 with a 6-2 defeat of Gary Anderson in Barnsley.
Osborne followed up his run to the final of last week's Blue Square UK Open and a semi-final appearance in Saturday's Players Championship by going all the way to the £6,000 title.
Early victories over Brendan Dolan, Kirk Shepherd, Andy Smith and Martyn Turner were followed by a 6-3 quarter-final defeat of Robert Thornton to put him into a second successive semi.
He then saw off Paul Nicholson 6-2 to reach the final, twice setting up potential nine-darters with back-to-back 180s in storming through.
The final saw him similarly dominant, with a break of throw in leg four putting him 3-1 up before he landed a second maximum of the final to lead 4-1.
A two-dart 64 finish kept Anderson in the contest, but successive 65 checkouts from Osborne ensured his third PDC Pro Tour victory.
Anderson's progression to the final included wins over Anastasia Dobromyslova, Jan van der Rassel, Andy Jenkins, Alan Tabern and Steve Beaton before he defeated Wayne Mardle 6-4 in the semis.
The run was also his fourth to a Players Championship final since joining the PDC earlier this year.
Mardle's display was his best of 2009, and featured narrow 6-5 wins in his first three games and victories over Vincent van der Voort and Mervyn King.
Nicholson's semi-final run was his best performance since reaching the quarter-finals at the Ladbrokes.com World Darts Championship.
However, he would still need to reach at least one more semi-final in the remaining three Players Championships before the 16 qualifiers for the stanjames.com World Matchplay are decided at the end of the month.
The tournament also featured a nine-dart finish for Colin Monk in the fourth leg of his 6-1 first round win over Ray Farrell, which earned him a £2,000 bonus.
Two further Players Championships will be held in Dinslaken next weekend, before the PDC Pro Tour heads to America for the Las Vegas Players Championship ahead of the PartyPoker.net Las Vegas Desert Classic.
Players Championship (Barnsley)
First Round
Board One
Mark Walsh (1) Bye
Geoff Whitworth 6-1 Mark Stephenson
Wayne Mardle (32) 6-5 Kevin Dowling
Mark Lawrence 6-4 Steve Cupitt
Board Two
Adrian Lewis (16) 6-3 Steve Brown
Dylan Duo 6-5 Dyson Parody
Vincent van der Voort (17) 6-5 Nick Fullwell
Chris Thompson 6-2 Steve Perkins
Board Three
Colin Lloyd (8) 6-1 Jim Leighton
Stuart Bousfield 6-2 Roland Scholten
Jelle Klaasen (25) 6-4 Joe Cullen
Mark Frost 6-3 Lee Holden
Board Four
Mervyn King (9) 6-2 Chris Loudon
Darren Latham 6-3 John Part
Steve Maish (24) 6-4 Geoff Wylie
Lionel Sams 6-0 Dave Smith
Board Five
Alan Tabern (5) 6-4 Richard Foster
Mark Webster 6-1 Paul Gudgeon
Wes Newton (28) 6-0 Norman Fletcher
Kevin McDine 6-0 Andy Fulton
Board Six
Gary Anderson (12) 6-1 Anastasia Dobromyslova
Jan van der Rassel 6-5 Stuart Dutton
Andy Jenkins (21) 6-5 Chris Cooper
Dave Honey 6-3 Russell Mason
Board Seven
Ronnie Baxter (4) 6-0 John Quantock
Colin Monk 6-1 Ray Farrell - Nine-dart finish from Colin Monk
Toon Greebe 6-5 Co Stompe (29)
Richie Burnett 6-0 Paul Hodkin
Board Eight
Michael van Gerwen (13) 6-0 Steve Watts
Peter Wright 6-3 Alex Tinsley
Steve Beaton (20) 6-1 Rick Lowther
Arron Monk 6-5 Gary Welding
Board Nine
Dennis Priestley (2) Bye
Justin Pipe 6-3 Adrian Gray
Barrie Bates (31) 6-3 Mark Jodrill
Par Riihonen 6-4 Gary Blades
Board Ten
Mark Dudbridge (15) 6-2 Ian Jopling
Paul Nicholson 6-2 Gary Mawson
Nigel Birch 6-5 Jamie Caven (18)
John MaGowan 6-1 Stephen Hardy
Board 11
Terry Jenkins (7) 6-3 Jonathan Overton
Lee Williams 6-3 Stuart Holden
Mark Cox 6-5 Peter Manley (26)
Michael Barnard 6-4 Tony Ayres
Board 12
Denis Ovens (10) 6-0 Andy Pearson
Jon Archer 6-0 Mike Roberts
Tony Eccles (23) 6-1 Mick McGowan
Michael Smith 6-2 Robbie Parker
Board 13
Colin Osborne (6) 6-3 Brendan Dolan
Kirk Shepherd 6-4 Steve Hine
Andy Smith (27) 6-1 Matt Gallett
James Barton 6-3 Jason Clark
Board 14
Martyn Turner 6-4 Andy Hamilton (11)
Kevin Harris 6-4 Pete Allen
Alex Roy (22) 6-1 Ian Lever
Sean White 6-3 Chris Mason
Board 15
Robert Thornton (3) 6-0 Simon Craven
Louis Blundell 6-1 Dennis Smith
Darren Johnson 6-1 Matt Clark (30)
Dave Ladley 6-1 Kevin Hill
Board 16
Kevin Painter (14) 6-4 Steve Evans
Steve Grubb 6-4 Andy Relf
Wayne Jones (19) 6-2 Ken Dobson
Les Fitton 6-1 Ian McFarlane
Second Round
Mark Walsh 6-2 Geoff Whitworth
Wayne Mardle 6-5 Mark Lawrence
Adrian Lewis 6-1 Dylan Duo
Vincent van der Voort 6-2 Chris Thompson
Colin Lloyd 6-2 Stuart Bousfield
Jelle Klaasen 6-2 Mark Frost
Mervyn King 6-2 Darren Latham
Lionel Sams 6-5 Steve Maish
Alan Tabern 6-3 Mark Webster
Kevin McDine 6-5 Wes Newton
Gary Anderson 6-3 Jan van der Rassel
Andy Jenkins 6-3 Dave Honey
Ronnie Baxter 6-4 Colin Monk
Toon Greebe 6-2 Richie Burnett
Peter Wright 6-4 Michael van Gerwen
Steve Beaton 6-1 Arron Monk
Justin Pipe 6-1 Dennis Priestley
Par Riihonen 6-3 Barrie Bates
Paul Nicholson 6-4 Mark Dudbridge
John MaGowan 6-1 Nigel Birch
Terry Jenkins 6-0 Lee Williams
Michael Barnard 6-2 Mark Cox
Denis Ovens 6-2 Jon Archer
Michael Smith 6-5 Tony Eccles
Colin Osborne 6-4 Kirk Shepherd
Andy Smith 6-2 James Barton
Martyn Turner 6-3 Kevin Harris
Alex Roy 6-1 Sean White
Robert Thornton 6-2 Louis Blundell
Dave Ladley 6-4 Darren Johnson
Steve Grubb 6-4 Kevin Painter
Wayne Jones 6-2 Les Fitton
Losers £200
Third Round
Wayne Mardle 6-5 Mark Walsh
Vincent van der Voort 6-1 Adrian Lewis
Jelle Klaasen 6-5 Colin Lloyd
Mervyn King 6-0 Lionel Sams
Alan Tabern 6-2 Kevin McDine
Gary Anderson 6-2 Andy Jenkins
Toon Greebe 6-5 Ronnie Baxter
Steve Beaton 6-1 Peter Wright
Justin Pipe 6-2 Par Riihonen
Paul Nicholson 6-2 John MaGowan
Michael Barnard 6-5 Terry Jenkins
Denis Ovens 6-3 Michael Smith
Colin Osborne 6-4 Andy Smith
Martyn Turner 6-5 Alex Roy
Robert Thornton 6-2 Dave Ladley
Wayne Jones 6-2 Steve Grubb
Losers £300
Fourth Round
Wayne Mardle 6-4 Vincent van der Voort
Mervyn King 6-3 Jelle Klaasen
Gary Anderson 6-2 Alan Tabern
Steve Beaton 6-2 Toon Greebe
Paul Nicholson 6-3 Justin Pipe
Denis Ovens 6-5 Michael Barnard
Colin Osborne 6-3 Martyn Turner
Robert Thornton 6-4 Wayne Jones
Losers £400
Quarter-Finals
Wayne Mardle 6-2 Mervyn King
Gary Anderson 6-2 Steve Beaton
Paul Nicholson 6-4 Denis Ovens
Colin Osborne 6-3 Robert Thornton
Losers £800
Semi-Finals
Gary Anderson 6-4 Wayne Mardle
Colin Osborne 6-2 Paul Nicholson
Losers £1,500
Final
Colin Osborne 6-2 Gary Anderson
Winner £6,000
Runner-Up £3,000