WAYNE MARDLE stopped James Wade's run of victories with a 3-1 win of his own in the final of the PartyPoker.net German Darts Trophy at the SeePark in Kirchheim.
Wade has been victorious in two of the last three PDC tournaments, but suffered a second successive Players Championship loss - having been defeated by Andy Smith in Scotland last Saturday.
Mardle enjoyed a superb run in Germany to pick up his second PDC Pro Tour win of the year, repeating August's Peachtree Open victory against Wade.
That was a 3-2 win, but he did it in style this time in front of an enthusiastic German crowd, hitting six 180s in the final.
Mardle won the first set 2-0 against the darts and should have doubled his lead, only to miss double top for the second set and allow Wade to level.
However, he landed two maximums in winning the third set 2-0, and then hit another 180 in taking the lead in the fourth.
Wade hit back with a third 180 of his own before taking leg two on double top - a feat matched by Mardle in the next as he secured the £5,000 first prize.
Mardle's form was perhaps his most consistent since that August win in America, with only taking him to a deciding set all day - and the German number one Mensur Suljovic also had one missed dart to win that encounter.
The Englishman recovered to storm past Andy Kroeckel and Steve Maish to reach the last eight and then defeat World Champion Raymond van Barneveld 3-1 in the quarter-finals.
Fellow Essex product Kevin Painter was dispatched 3-0 in the semis as Mardle marched into the final.
"This meant more to me than winning Atlanta and I'm over the moon," said Mardle. "I knew I was entering some kind of form in Atlanta but this confirms what I've been doing for the last year.
"Today I didn't throw away any legs and that was a major breakthrough for me.
"Barney is class and it's always special beating him, but to again beat James in the final was the icing on the cake.
"The way he is playing it's hard to foresee beating him and seeing what chances you are going to get, but I wanted to carry on what I was doing.
"I kept hitting big scores and I wasn't missing doubles and it got to him in the end."
Painter's semi-final loss was a disappointing end to a fine run, as he moved a step closer to winning a place in the PartyBets.com Grand Slam of Darts next month.
Alan Tabern's run to the last four, where he lost 3-1 to Wade, saw him remain in contention, while Ronnie Baxter's last eight appearance saw him take another step towards securing the first qualifying place in the Grand Slam of Darts - to be awarded to the highest two non-qualified players in the PDC Order of Merit at 12 November.
Andy Jenkins reached the quarter-finals for a second successive tournament, following up last Sunday's run in the Scottish Regional Final by seeing off Mark Walsh and Roland Scholten on his way to the last eight.
Adrian Lewis missed double 12 for a perfect nine-dart leg during his 3-2 defeat to Vincent van der Voort in the last 16, with the youngster also missing three darts for the game before seeing the Dutchman take victory in the deciding leg.
Andree Welge, who competed in the 2006 World Championship, was the best-performing German in the event after overcoming Wes Newton and Colin Osborne before losing to Wade in straight sets.
Eight local players came through a qualifier on Friday night to win a place in the main tournament.
They were Martin van Bijlefeld, Patrick Esper, Benjamin Elbs, John Aylon, Christian Peter, Volker Kurz, Roberto Krugel and Michael Hahn.
Picture courtesy Henk Westerdaal - Darts International/Darts4You
PartyPoker.net German Darts Trophy
Round One
Robert Watson-Lang 3-1 John Aylon
Christian Krueger 3-1 Thomas Niggenaber
Round Two
Raymond van Barneveld 3-1 Adriano Comiotto
Robert Watson-Lang 3-1 Erwin Extercatte
Dave Ladley 3-1 Ben Burton
Alan Caves Bye (Patrick Emmerich)
Alexander Berger 3-2 Lee White
Denis Ovens Bye (Gerhard Kremer)
Richard McLaughlin 3-2 John Lokken
Andy Smith 3-0 Michael Hahn
Mensur Suljovic 3-0 Ali Avci
Wayne Mardle 3-0 Alexander Koehler
Andy Kroeckel 3-0 Markus Scheck
Dave Askew Bye (Mark Jodrill)
Roland Schmidt 3-0 Volker Kurz
Barrie Bates 3-1 Olaf Fiß
Michael Kiebel Bye (Reinhard Ertl)
Steve Maish 3-2 Dave Honey
Owen Caffrey 3-2 Patrick Esper
Maik Langendorf 3-2 Andy Hamilton
Kevin McDine 3-0 Stephan Wusch
Lionel Sams 3-0 Felix Losan
Holger Kauf Bye (Joerg Gregor)
Kevin Painter 3-0 Johann Honner
Kieran Leal 3-0 Axel Fleischer
Bob Anderson 3-0 Peter Schlote
Mario Hermann 3-0 Marcel Plaewe
Adrian Lewis Bye (Hrvoje Istuk)
Frank Mast Bye (Jochen Graudenz)
Darren Webster 3-0 Jon Archer
Jason Clark 3-0 Mark Lentz
Mark Dudbridge 3-1 Mario Masurka
Stephan Schneider 3-1 Olaf Schmethuesen
Vincent van der Voort 3-0 Manfred Hauesler
James Wade 3-0 Bernhard Kraus
Christian Krueger 3-1 Kai Hohenberger
Rico Vonck 3-0 Hans Pfaff
Jelle Klaasen 3-1 Michael van Gerwen
Hueseyin Zengin 3-0 Detlef Bietz
Colin Osborne Bye (Sean Palfrey)
Andree Welge 3-0 Detlef Haut
Wes Newton 3-0 Karsten Kornath
Bye (Johannes Posthoff & Rolf Werner withdrawn)
Colin Lloyd 3-0 Andreas Heigl
Sven Buechner 3-0 Benjamin Elbs
Dennis Smith 3-1 Steve Brown
Thomas Eisgruber 3-0 Tobias Rebstock
Ronnie Baxter 3-1 Michael Rosenauer
Mike Herold 3-1 Andreas Mueller
Adrian Gray Bye (Ricky Williams)
Dietmar Burger 3-0 Juergen Gallinat
Roland Scholten 3-0 Oliver Scheyhing
Hannes Schnier 3-0 Martin van Bijlefeld
Matt Clark Bye (Guenther Ulrich)
Tobias Hoentsch 3-0 Burkhard Fritsch
Andy Jenkins 3-0 Juergen Demler
Tomas Seyler 3-1 Kai Nithammer
Mark Walsh 3-0 Christian Peter
Wayne Atwood 3-0 Alex Niedermeier
Terry Jenkins 3-0 Volker Beck
Toon Greebe 3-0 Roberto Krugel
Colin Monk 3-0 Thomas Mayer
Dragutin Horvat Bye (Markus Kremser)
Alan Tabern 3-0 Alexander Berggrun
Jyhan Artut 3-0 Denis Huseinovic
Anton Pein 3-1 Mick McGowan
Third Round
Raymond van Barneveld 3-0 Robert Watson-Lang
Alan Caves 3-0 Dave Ladley
Denis Ovens 3-0 Alexander Berger
Andy Smith 3-0 Richard McLaughlin
Wayne Mardle 3-2 Mensur Suljovic
Andy Kroeckel 3-0 Dave Askew
Barrie Bates 3-1 Roland Schmidt
Steve Maish 3-2 Michael Kiebel
Maik Langendorf 3-0 Owen Caffrey
Kevin McDine 3-0 Lionel Sams
Kevin Painter 3-0 Holger Kauf
Bob Anderson 3-0 Kieran Leal
Adrian Lewis 3-1 Mario Hermann
Darren Webster 3-0 Frank Mast
Jason Clark 3-1 Mark Dudbridge
Vincent van der Voort 3-0 Stephan Schneider
James Wade 3-0 Christian Krueger
Jelle Klaasen 3-1 Rico Vonck
Colin Osborne 3-0 Hueseyin Zengin
Andree Welge 3-1 Wes Newton
Colin Lloyd Bye
Dennis Smith 3-0 Sven Buechner
Ronnie Baxter 3-0 Thomas Eisgruber
Adrian Gray 3-0 Mike Herold
Roland Scholten 3-0 Dietmar Burger
Matt Clark 3-1 Hannes Schnier
Andy Jenkins 3-0 Tobias Hoentsch
Mark Walsh 3-0 Tomas Seyler
Terry Jenkins 3-1 Wayne Atwood
Toon Greebe 3-0 Colin Monk
Alan Tabern 3-0 Dragutin Horvat
Anton Pein 3-2 Jyhan Artut
Losers £75
Fourth Round
Raymond van Barneveld 3-1 Alan Caves
Denis Ovens 3-2 Andy Smith
Wayne Mardle 3-1 Andy Kroeckel
Steve Maish 3-1 Barrie Bates
Kevin McDine 3-1 Maik Langendorf
Kevin Painter 3-0 Bob Anderson
Adrian Lewis 3-0 Darren Webster
Vincent van der Voort 3-1 Jason Clark
James Wade 3-0 Jelle Klaasen
Andree Welge 3-2 Colin Osborne
Colin Lloyd 3-0 Dennis Smith
Ronnie Baxter 3-0 Adrian Gray
Roland Scholten 3-2 Matt Clark
Andy Jenkins 3-1 Mark Walsh
Terry Jenkins 3-1 Toon Greebe
Alan Tabern 3-2 Anton Pein
Losers £150
Fifth Round
Raymond van Barneveld 3-2 Denis Ovens
Wayne Mardle 3-0 Steve Maish
Kevin Painter 3-1 Kevin McDine
Vincent van der Voort 3-2 Adrian Lewis
James Wade 3-0 Andree Welge
Ronnie Baxter 3-0 Colin Lloyd
Andy Jenkins 3-2 Roland Scholten
Alan Tabern 3-1 Terry Jenkins
Losers £300
Quarter-Finals
Wayne Mardle 3-1 Raymond van Barneveld
Kevin Painter 3-1 Vincent van der Voort
James Wade 3-1 Ronnie Baxter
Alan Tabern 3-1 Andy Jenkins
Losers £600
Semi-Finals
Wayne Mardle 3-0 Kevin Painter
James Wade 3-1 Alan Tabern
Losers £1,250
Final
Wayne Mardle 3-1 James Wade (2-0, 1-2, 2-0, 2-1)
Winner £5,000
Runner-Up £2,500