RAYMOND VAN BARNEVELD prevailed in a deciding leg shoot-out against Terry Jenkins to win the inaugural Las Vegas Players Championship.
The Dutchman had an ideal warm-up for the Las Vegas Desert Classic at the Mandalay Bay Resort & Casino by winning a fourth PDC Pro Tour event of 2007.
He had reached the final with four 3-0 whitewashes in his six games, with Jimmy Mann (3-2) and Lionel Sams (3-1) taking sets from the World Champion.
Van Barneveld has opened with a 3-0 victory against Alan Matthews, and three successive wins by the same scoreline against Kevin Painter, Roland Scholten and then in the semis against Dennis Priestley set up a clash with Jenkins.
The Dutchman - last year's Desert Classic runner-up - came from 1-0 down to win the first set, before Jenkins took out a 143 finish on his way to the second.
Two straight legs gave van Barneveld the third, but a 116 finish in the deciding leg of set four sent the match into the final set.
A pressure double nine with his last dart gave van Barneveld leg on, before Jenkins replied against the throw with a fourth 180 of the match to win the second and ensure that the contest went to the last leg.
Jenkins opened with back-to-back 140s but three slack scores allowed van Barneveld in to take out 48 for a 14-darter and the match.
Jenkins had also reached the final by dropping sets in just to matches.
Having opened with whitewashes over Gary Blades and American Chris White, he was taken to a decider by both Darin Young and James Wade.
He then saw off Barrie Bates 3-0 in the quarter-finals and hit back from losing the opening leg in his semi-final against Mervyn King to win six in a row and the match.
Ray Carver was the furthest American, losing to King in a deciding set at the quarter-final stage, while Bill Davis lost in the last 16 to Priestley.
Pictures courtesy FM Harris/Bulls-Eye News
Las Vegas Players Championship Results
Round One
Ray Carver 3-0 Mark Mulkey
Martyn Turner 3-0 Robert Race
Jim Widmayer 3-1 Steve Grubb
Scott Lee 3-1 Chris Peake
Brian Cathcart 3-0 Terry Stewart
Jason Clark 3-0 John McGowan
Darren Latham 3-2 John Ferrell
Richie Burnett 3-2 Matt Clark
Robert Watson-Lang 3-0 Ken Dobson
Steve Smith 3-0 Mark Tiller
John Quantock 3-0 John Blankeship
Joe DaVanti 3-0 Alvin Martin
John Rutherford 3-0 Alexander Plachutin
Steve Brown 3-1 Thomas Trimmer
Dave Ladley 3-1 William Bell
Bob Avenall 3-2 Danny Marineau
Michael van Gerwen 3-0 Bryan Webb
Round Two
Kevin McDine w/o Phil Taylor
Stephen Panuncialman 3-1 Frank Hernandez
Richard Espinosa 3-1 John MaGowan
Ray Carver 3-2 Darren Webster
Andy Jenkins 3-0 Roger Jolliff
Brad Wethington 3-1 Brian Jones
Steve Hine 3-0 Jon Archer
Mark Dudbridge 3-0 Martyn Turner
Wayne Mardle 3-0 Ben Hendon
Sean Palfrey 3-0 Geoff Hubbard
David Fatum 3-0 Gordon Dixon
Jim Widmayer 3-1 Mick McGowan
John Part 3-1 Andy Callaby
Michael Barnard 3-0 Dana Dayton
Mervyn King 3-0 Adrian W Lewis
Mark Walsh 3-0 Scott Lee
Terry Jenkins 3-0 Gary Blades
Chris White 3-0 Karl Hartmann
Darin Young 3-1 Joseph Swick
Dennis Smith 3-0 Brian Cathcart
James Wade w/o Larry McInally
Don Campos 3-2 Dave Watson
Gerry Convery 3-1 Dave Forsyth
Alan Tabern 3-1 Jason Clark
Peter Manley w/o Paul Lim
Adrian Gray 3-0 Jim Howuth
Mark Nielson 3-2 Greg Wheeler
Darren Latham 3-1 Steve Beaton
Barrie Bates 3-2 Jelle Klaasen
Paul Burke w/o Dave Honey
Tom Wilson 3-0 Scott Kirchner
Wes Newton 3-2 Richie Burnett
Raymond van Barneveld 3-0 Alan Matthews
Jimmy Mann 3-0 Tony Eccles
Ron Peppers 3-0 Justin Mulholland
Lionel Sams 3-0 Robert Watson-Lang
Kevin Painter 3-0 Kjetil Berg
Scottie Burnett 3-0 Mark McGuigan
Larry Butler 3-1 Bruce Graham
Denis Ovens 3-1 Steve Smith
Adrian Lewis 3-0 Tim Nicoll
Ryan Barnett 3-1 Michael Petracelli
Dan Olson 3-1 Paul Harrison
Bob Anderson 3-1 John Quantock
Roland Scholten 3-0 Steve Maish
Alan Caves 3-2 Geoff Wylie
Steve Hills 3-2 Wil Tan
Alan Warriner-Little 3-1 Joe DaVanti
Dennis Priestley 3-0 Martin Burchell
Colin Monk 3-1 Andrew Davies
Dan Zimmerman 3-1 John Kuczynski
Alex Roy 3-0 John Rutherford
Andy Hamilton 3-0 Eddie Lawrence
Bill Davis 3-1 Bobby Peters
Isen Veljic 3-0 Ben Burton
Andy Smith 3-2 Steve Brown
Colin Lloyd 3-1 Ron Colvard
Fred Boddey 3-1 Ian Critchett
Simon Craven 3-1 Tom Jackowski
Dave Askew 3-2 Dave Ladley
Stacy Bromberg 3-1 Andrew Bennett
Ronnie Baxter 3-1 Bob Avenall
Vincent van der Voort 3-1 Gary Mawson
Colin Osborne 3-1 Michael van Gerwen
Round Three (Last 64)
Kevin McDine 3-2 Stephen Panuncialman
Ray Carver 3-1 Richard Espinosa
Andy Jenkins 3-2 Brad Wethington
Mark Dudbridge 3-0 Steve Hine
Wayne Mardle 3-0 Sean Palfrey
David Fatum 3-1 Jim Widmayer
John Part 3-1 Michael Barnard
Mervyn King 3-0 Mark Walsh
Terry Jenkins 3-0 Chris White
Darin Young 3-2 Dennis Smith
James Wade 3-0 Don Campos
Alan Tabern 3-1 Gerry Convery
Adrian Gray 3-2 Peter Manley
Darren Latham 3-0 Mark Nielson
Barrie Bates 3-0 Paul Burke
Wes Newton 3-2 Tom Wilson
Raymond van Barneveld 3-2 Jimmy Mann
Lionel Sams 3-2 Ron Peppers
Kevin Painter 3-2 Scottie Burnett
Denis Ovens 3-0 Larry Butler
Adrian Lewis 3-0 Ryan Barnett
Bob Anderson 3-2 Dan Olson
Roland Scholten 3-0 Alan Caves
Alan Warriner-Little 3-0 Steve Hills
Dennis Priestley 3-0 Colin Monk
Alex Roy 3-1 Dan Zimmerman
Bill Davis 3-1 Andy Hamilton
Andy Smith 3-1 Isen Veljic
Colin Lloyd 3-0 Fred Boddey
Dave Askew 3-0 Simon Craven
Ronnie Baxter 3-0 Stacy Bromberg
Colin Osborne 3-1 Vincent van der Voort
Losers £75
Round Four (Last 32)
Ray Carver 3-0 Kevin McDine
Mark Dudbridge 3-2 Andy Jenkins
Wayne Mardle 3-0 David Fatum
Mervyn King 3-1 John Part
Terry Jenkins 3-2 Darin Young
James Wade 3-1 Alan Tabern
Adrian Gray 3-0 Darren Latham
Barrie Bates 3-2 Wes Newton
Raymond van Barneveld 3-1 Lionel Sams
Kevin Painter 3-1 Denis Ovens
Adrian Lewis 3-1 Bob Anderson
Roland Scholten 3-0 Alan Warriner-Little
Dennis Priestley 3-1 Alex Roy
Bill Davis 3-1 Andy Smith
Colin Lloyd 3-0 Dave Askew
Ronnie Baxter 3-0 Colin Osborne
Losers £150
Round Five (Last 16)
Ray Carver 3-2 Mark Dudbridge
Mervyn King 3-2 Wayne Mardle
Terry Jenkins 3-2 James Wade
Barrie Bates 3-2 Adrian Gray
Raymond van Barneveld 3-0 Kevin Painter
Roland Scholten 3-1 Adrian Lewis
Dennis Priestley 3-0 Bill Davis
Colin Lloyd 3-1 Ronnie Baxter
Losers £300
Quarter-Finals
Mervyn King 3-2 Ray Carver
Terry Jenkins 3-0 Barrie Bates
Raymond van Barneveld 3-0 Roland Scholten
Dennis Priestley 3-2 Colin Lloyd
Losers £600
Semi-Finals
Terry Jenkins 3-0 Mervyn King (2-1, 2-0, 2-0)
Raymond van Barneveld 3-0 Dennis Priestley (2-0, 2-1, 2-0)
Losers £1250
Final
Raymond van Barneveld 3-2 Terry Jenkins (2-1, 0-2, 2-0, 1-2, 2-1)
Winner £5000
Runner-Up £2500
The Dutchman had an ideal warm-up for the Las Vegas Desert Classic at the Mandalay Bay Resort & Casino by winning a fourth PDC Pro Tour event of 2007.
He had reached the final with four 3-0 whitewashes in his six games, with Jimmy Mann (3-2) and Lionel Sams (3-1) taking sets from the World Champion.
Van Barneveld has opened with a 3-0 victory against Alan Matthews, and three successive wins by the same scoreline against Kevin Painter, Roland Scholten and then in the semis against Dennis Priestley set up a clash with Jenkins.
The Dutchman - last year's Desert Classic runner-up - came from 1-0 down to win the first set, before Jenkins took out a 143 finish on his way to the second.
Two straight legs gave van Barneveld the third, but a 116 finish in the deciding leg of set four sent the match into the final set.
A pressure double nine with his last dart gave van Barneveld leg on, before Jenkins replied against the throw with a fourth 180 of the match to win the second and ensure that the contest went to the last leg.
Jenkins opened with back-to-back 140s but three slack scores allowed van Barneveld in to take out 48 for a 14-darter and the match.
Jenkins had also reached the final by dropping sets in just to matches.
Having opened with whitewashes over Gary Blades and American Chris White, he was taken to a decider by both Darin Young and James Wade.
He then saw off Barrie Bates 3-0 in the quarter-finals and hit back from losing the opening leg in his semi-final against Mervyn King to win six in a row and the match.
Ray Carver was the furthest American, losing to King in a deciding set at the quarter-final stage, while Bill Davis lost in the last 16 to Priestley.
Pictures courtesy FM Harris/Bulls-Eye News
Las Vegas Players Championship Results
Round One
Ray Carver 3-0 Mark Mulkey
Martyn Turner 3-0 Robert Race
Jim Widmayer 3-1 Steve Grubb
Scott Lee 3-1 Chris Peake
Brian Cathcart 3-0 Terry Stewart
Jason Clark 3-0 John McGowan
Darren Latham 3-2 John Ferrell
Richie Burnett 3-2 Matt Clark
Robert Watson-Lang 3-0 Ken Dobson
Steve Smith 3-0 Mark Tiller
John Quantock 3-0 John Blankeship
Joe DaVanti 3-0 Alvin Martin
John Rutherford 3-0 Alexander Plachutin
Steve Brown 3-1 Thomas Trimmer
Dave Ladley 3-1 William Bell
Bob Avenall 3-2 Danny Marineau
Michael van Gerwen 3-0 Bryan Webb
Round Two
Kevin McDine w/o Phil Taylor
Stephen Panuncialman 3-1 Frank Hernandez
Richard Espinosa 3-1 John MaGowan
Ray Carver 3-2 Darren Webster
Andy Jenkins 3-0 Roger Jolliff
Brad Wethington 3-1 Brian Jones
Steve Hine 3-0 Jon Archer
Mark Dudbridge 3-0 Martyn Turner
Wayne Mardle 3-0 Ben Hendon
Sean Palfrey 3-0 Geoff Hubbard
David Fatum 3-0 Gordon Dixon
Jim Widmayer 3-1 Mick McGowan
John Part 3-1 Andy Callaby
Michael Barnard 3-0 Dana Dayton
Mervyn King 3-0 Adrian W Lewis
Mark Walsh 3-0 Scott Lee
Terry Jenkins 3-0 Gary Blades
Chris White 3-0 Karl Hartmann
Darin Young 3-1 Joseph Swick
Dennis Smith 3-0 Brian Cathcart
James Wade w/o Larry McInally
Don Campos 3-2 Dave Watson
Gerry Convery 3-1 Dave Forsyth
Alan Tabern 3-1 Jason Clark
Peter Manley w/o Paul Lim
Adrian Gray 3-0 Jim Howuth
Mark Nielson 3-2 Greg Wheeler
Darren Latham 3-1 Steve Beaton
Barrie Bates 3-2 Jelle Klaasen
Paul Burke w/o Dave Honey
Tom Wilson 3-0 Scott Kirchner
Wes Newton 3-2 Richie Burnett
Raymond van Barneveld 3-0 Alan Matthews
Jimmy Mann 3-0 Tony Eccles
Ron Peppers 3-0 Justin Mulholland
Lionel Sams 3-0 Robert Watson-Lang
Kevin Painter 3-0 Kjetil Berg
Scottie Burnett 3-0 Mark McGuigan
Larry Butler 3-1 Bruce Graham
Denis Ovens 3-1 Steve Smith
Adrian Lewis 3-0 Tim Nicoll
Ryan Barnett 3-1 Michael Petracelli
Dan Olson 3-1 Paul Harrison
Bob Anderson 3-1 John Quantock
Roland Scholten 3-0 Steve Maish
Alan Caves 3-2 Geoff Wylie
Steve Hills 3-2 Wil Tan
Alan Warriner-Little 3-1 Joe DaVanti
Dennis Priestley 3-0 Martin Burchell
Colin Monk 3-1 Andrew Davies
Dan Zimmerman 3-1 John Kuczynski
Alex Roy 3-0 John Rutherford
Andy Hamilton 3-0 Eddie Lawrence
Bill Davis 3-1 Bobby Peters
Isen Veljic 3-0 Ben Burton
Andy Smith 3-2 Steve Brown
Colin Lloyd 3-1 Ron Colvard
Fred Boddey 3-1 Ian Critchett
Simon Craven 3-1 Tom Jackowski
Dave Askew 3-2 Dave Ladley
Stacy Bromberg 3-1 Andrew Bennett
Ronnie Baxter 3-1 Bob Avenall
Vincent van der Voort 3-1 Gary Mawson
Colin Osborne 3-1 Michael van Gerwen
Round Three (Last 64)
Kevin McDine 3-2 Stephen Panuncialman
Ray Carver 3-1 Richard Espinosa
Andy Jenkins 3-2 Brad Wethington
Mark Dudbridge 3-0 Steve Hine
Wayne Mardle 3-0 Sean Palfrey
David Fatum 3-1 Jim Widmayer
John Part 3-1 Michael Barnard
Mervyn King 3-0 Mark Walsh
Terry Jenkins 3-0 Chris White
Darin Young 3-2 Dennis Smith
James Wade 3-0 Don Campos
Alan Tabern 3-1 Gerry Convery
Adrian Gray 3-2 Peter Manley
Darren Latham 3-0 Mark Nielson
Barrie Bates 3-0 Paul Burke
Wes Newton 3-2 Tom Wilson
Raymond van Barneveld 3-2 Jimmy Mann
Lionel Sams 3-2 Ron Peppers
Kevin Painter 3-2 Scottie Burnett
Denis Ovens 3-0 Larry Butler
Adrian Lewis 3-0 Ryan Barnett
Bob Anderson 3-2 Dan Olson
Roland Scholten 3-0 Alan Caves
Alan Warriner-Little 3-0 Steve Hills
Dennis Priestley 3-0 Colin Monk
Alex Roy 3-1 Dan Zimmerman
Bill Davis 3-1 Andy Hamilton
Andy Smith 3-1 Isen Veljic
Colin Lloyd 3-0 Fred Boddey
Dave Askew 3-0 Simon Craven
Ronnie Baxter 3-0 Stacy Bromberg
Colin Osborne 3-1 Vincent van der Voort
Losers £75
Round Four (Last 32)
Ray Carver 3-0 Kevin McDine
Mark Dudbridge 3-2 Andy Jenkins
Wayne Mardle 3-0 David Fatum
Mervyn King 3-1 John Part
Terry Jenkins 3-2 Darin Young
James Wade 3-1 Alan Tabern
Adrian Gray 3-0 Darren Latham
Barrie Bates 3-2 Wes Newton
Raymond van Barneveld 3-1 Lionel Sams
Kevin Painter 3-1 Denis Ovens
Adrian Lewis 3-1 Bob Anderson
Roland Scholten 3-0 Alan Warriner-Little
Dennis Priestley 3-1 Alex Roy
Bill Davis 3-1 Andy Smith
Colin Lloyd 3-0 Dave Askew
Ronnie Baxter 3-0 Colin Osborne
Losers £150
Round Five (Last 16)
Ray Carver 3-2 Mark Dudbridge
Mervyn King 3-2 Wayne Mardle
Terry Jenkins 3-2 James Wade
Barrie Bates 3-2 Adrian Gray
Raymond van Barneveld 3-0 Kevin Painter
Roland Scholten 3-1 Adrian Lewis
Dennis Priestley 3-0 Bill Davis
Colin Lloyd 3-1 Ronnie Baxter
Losers £300
Quarter-Finals
Mervyn King 3-2 Ray Carver
Terry Jenkins 3-0 Barrie Bates
Raymond van Barneveld 3-0 Roland Scholten
Dennis Priestley 3-2 Colin Lloyd
Losers £600
Semi-Finals
Terry Jenkins 3-0 Mervyn King (2-1, 2-0, 2-0)
Raymond van Barneveld 3-0 Dennis Priestley (2-0, 2-1, 2-0)
Losers £1250
Final
Raymond van Barneveld 3-2 Terry Jenkins (2-1, 0-2, 2-0, 1-2, 2-1)
Winner £5000
Runner-Up £2500