PHIL TAYLOR completed a Dutch double with victory in Sunday's Players Championship event, claiming back-to-back titles at the Golden Tulip Hotel in Lisse.
Taylor repeated his success in the 2005 events by taking victory in both tournaments in Holland over the weekend - a perfect preparation for the PartyBets.com Grand Slam of Darts, which begins on Saturday.
He followed up Saturday's win over Chris Mason in the final by seeing off Raymond van Barneveld 3-2 in Sunday's decider.
The final went all the way, with the first four sets going to a deciding third leg before Taylor pulled away to take the decider and £5,000 title.
Van Barneveld took out a 13-dart leg and then a 91 finish in winning the first set, before Taylor came from one down in the next two.
Taylor also led in the next before van Barneveld levelled with a 14-darter and then stepped in on double top after Taylor wasted four match darts.
However, the Englishman broke van Barneveld's throw in the opening leg of set five, and a 180 pushed him clear in the next before he took out double 16 for victory.
Taylor failed to drop a set in his early wins over Rico Vonck, Dave Honey, Mark Walsh and Toon Greebe, before Wayne Mardle pushed him to a fifth set in the quarter-finals.
Taylor also saw John Part come from two sets down to level in their semi-final, only for a superb final set to help him progress.
Van Barneveld saw off two of Taylor's Stoke rivals, Andy Hamilton and Adrian Lewis, with 3-1 wins in the latters stages, and survived a scare when Bob Anderson took him to a deciding leg earlier in the day.
The day's results mean that Ronnie Baxter and Kevin Painter take the final two places in the PartyBets.com Grand Slam of Darts - as the two leading non-qualified players in the PDC Order of Merit.
Alan Tabern's win over Painter, in a deciding leg, kept his hopes alive but he needed to go on to reach the final of the event, and lost 3-0 to Raymond van Barneveld in the last 16.
In the race for places in the Ladbrokes.com World Darts Championship, Adrian Gray moves into 32nd place in the PDC Order of Merit, meaning he has an automatic place at Alexandra Palace.
Mark Walsh, who slips to 33rd, is one of the eight Players Championship qualifiers, which came from the top eight players from outside the main Order of Merit's top 32.
The eight qualifiers are: Jelle Klaasen, Mark Walsh, Tony Eccles, Michael van Gerwen, Steve Brown, Dave Askew, Jason Clark and Matt Clark.
Toon Greebe's run to the last 16 sees him qualify in second place in the DDF standings, alongside Leroy Kwadijk, with Erwin Extercatte the unlucky man to miss out.
Picture courtesy Ans Westerdaal - www.dartsinternational.com
Players Championship - Sunday
First Round
John MaGowan 3-0 Brian Jones
Peter van der Veer 3-0 Kevin Reade
Chris Daglish Bye (Co Stompe)
Tony Eccles 3-0 Perry Noordermeer
Evert Kluitenberg 3-0 Hank van der Vegt
Darren Moulsley 3-1 Adrian Gray
Mike Kuiper 3-0 Kevin Hill
Dennis Smith 3-0 Cor Ernst
Sean Palfrey 3-2 Kees Slokkers
Kirk Shepherd 3-0 Kevin Dowling
Lee White 3-1 Elmer Kralt
Steve Maish 3-0 Jonathan Overton
Ricky Williams 3-0 Sjors van Veen
Owen Caffrey 3-1 Steve Brown
Dennis Smits 3-0 Kevin Fletcher
Second Round
Mark Walsh 3-0 Danny Landoij
Gary Welding 3-2 Maarten Pape
Phil Taylor 3-0 Rico Vonck
Dave Honey 3-1 Marijn Soomers
Mark Dudbridge 3-0 Lee Palfreyman
Toon Greebe 3-2 Darren Webster
Andy Jenkins 3-2 Jamie Robinson
John MaGowan 3-2 Dave Ladley
Jelle Klaasen 3-0 Mervyn King
Erwin Extercatte 3-0 Janerik Kanis
Bobby Biemans 3-1 Roland Scholten
Rick Hofstra 3-1 Peter van der Veer
Steve Hine 3-1 Wes Newton
Garry Spedding 3-2 Jasper Smidt
Wayne Mardle 3-0 Jimmy Mann
Bert Koster 3-0 Chris Daglish
Willem Kralt 3-0 Alan Warriner-Little
Kevin McDine 3-0 Mike Herold
Peter Manley 3-0 Jim Leighton
Tony Eccles 3-0 Matt Sheehan
Denis Ovens 3-0 Michael van Gerwen
Matt Clark 3-2 Martyn Turner
John Part 3-0 Len Bouwman
Alan Thomson 3-2 Evert Kluitenberg
Vincent van der Voort 3-1 Shayne Passey
Thomas Neilson Bye (Inita Bite)
Terry Jenkins 3-1 Mark Thomson
Wayne Atwood 3-0 Darren Moulsley
Colin Osborne 3-0 Richard McLaughlin
Kevin Harris Bye (Jeffrey de Ruiter Disqualified)
Barrie Bates 3-2 Alan Caves
Tony Randell 3-0 Mike Kuipers
Bob Anderson 3-0 Ben Burton
Willem Freek Kuipers 3-0 Simon Craven
Raymond van Barneveld 3-0 Chris Sargeant
Dennis Smith 3-2 Mark Jodrill
Alan Tabern 3-1 Jon Archer
David Platt 3-2 Dave Askew
Kevin Painter 3-1 Yves Cottenge
Ray Farrell 3-1 Sean Palfrey
Alex Roy 3-2 Willem Verbakel
Colin Monk 3-0 Antoine Feijen
Andy Hamilton 3-0 Kieran Leal
Kirk Shepherd 3-0 Paul Cooper
Wayne Jones Bye (Petra de Crouy)
Darren Johnson 3-1 Lionel Sams
Henry van der Ster 3-1 Colin Lloyd
Lee White 3-1 Rob Broekhof
Steve Cusick 3-0 Mick McGowan
Stephan de Wit 3-0 Bjorn Bakker
Adrian Lewis 3-0 Peter van den Broek
Steve Maish 3-0 Rudy Jobse
Andy Smith 3-0 Martin Burchell
Braulio Roncero 3-1 Danny de Haas
Jason Clark 3-1 Dennis Priestley
Ricky Williams 3-1 John Ferrell
Steve Beaton 3-0 Freddy de Geus
Simon Whatley 3-0 Tomas Seyler
James Wade 3-0 Mark Carter
Nick Fulwell 3-1 Owen Caffrey
Chris Mason 3-0 Shaun McDonald
John Lokken 3-0 Willem de Vries
Ronnie Baxter 3-2 Leroy Kwadijk
Robert Watson-Lang 3-2 Dennis Smits
Third Round
Mark Walsh 3-0 Gary Welding
Phil Taylor 3-0 Dave Honey
Toon Greebe 3-0 Mark Dudbridge
Andy Jenkins 3-2 John MaGowan
Jelle Klaasen 3-1 Erwin Extercatte
Rick Hofstra 3-0 Bobby Biemans
Steve Hine 3-2 Garry Spedding
Wayne Mardle 3-1 Bert Koster
Kevin McDine 3-1 Willem Kralt
Tony Eccles 3-2 Peter Manley
Denis Ovens Bye (Matt Clark Withdrew Through Leg Injury)
John Part 3-0 Alan Thomson
Vincent van der Voort 3-0 Thomas Neilson
Terry Jenkins 3-2 Wayne Atwood
Colin Osborne 3-0 Kevin Harris
Barrie Bates 3-2 Tony Randell
Bob Anderson 3-1 Willem Freek Kuipers
Raymond van Barneveld 3-1 Dennis Smith
Alan Tabern 3-1 David Platt
Kevin Painter 3-2 Ray Farrell
Colin Monk 3-2 Alex Roy
Andy Hamilton 3-1 Kirk Shepherd
Wayne Jones 3-0 Darren Johnson
Henry van der Ster 3-0 Lee White
Steve Cusick 3-1 Stephan de Wit
Adrian Lewis 3-2 Steve Maish
Andy Smith 3-1 Braulio Roncero
Jason Clark 3-2 Ricky Williams
Steve Beaton 3-1 Simon Whatley
James Wade 3-0 Nick Fulwell
Chris Mason 3-0 John Lokken
Ronnie Baxter 3-0 Robert Watson-Lang
Losers £75
Fourth Round
Phil Taylor 3-0 Mark Walsh
Toon Greebe 3-1 Andy Jenkins
Jelle Klaasen 3-2 Rick Hofstra
Wayne Mardle 3-0 Steve Hine
Kevin McDine 3-2 Tony Eccles
John Part 3-0 Denis Ovens
Vincent van der Voort 3-0 Terry Jenkins
Colin Osborne 3-1 Barrie Bates
Raymond van Barneveld 3-2 Bob Anderson
Alan Tabern 3-2 Kevin Painter
Andy Hamilton 3-1 Colin Monk
Wayne Jones 3-1 Henry van der Ster
Adrian Lewis 3-2 Steve Cusick
Jason Clark 3-1 Andy Smith
James Wade 3-2 Steve Beaton
Ronnie Baxter 3-0 Chris Mason
Losers £150
Fifth Round
Phil Taylor 3-0 Toon Greebe
Wayne Mardle 3-0 Jelle Klaasen
John Part 3-2 Kevin McDine
Vincent van der Voort 3-1 Colin Osborne
Raymond van Barneveld 3-0 Alan Tabern
Andy Hamilton 3-1 Wayne Jones
Adrian Lewis 3-0 Jason Clark
James Wade 3-1 Ronnie Baxter
Losers £300
Quarter-Finals
Phil Taylor 3-2 Wayne Mardle
John Part 3-1 Vincent van der Voort
Raymond van Barneveld 3-1 Andy Hamilton
Adrian Lewis 3-1 James Wade
Losers £600
Semi-Finals
Phil Taylor 3-2 John Part (2-0, 2-1, 1-2, 1-2, 2-0)
Raymond van Barneveld 3-1 Adrian Lewis (2-1, 1-2, 2-0, 2-1)
Losers £1,250
Final
Phil Taylor 3-2 Raymond van Barneveld (1-2, 2-1, 2-1, 1-2, 2-0)
Winner £5,000
Runner-Up £2,500