JOE CULLEN secured his first PDC ProTour title as he claimed victory in Players Championship Eight in Barnsley with a 6-5 win over Daryl Gurney in the final.

The Yorkshireman, a three-time Development Tour event winner in 2011 during his emergence, had made three previous ranking finals but April 9 2017 will be remembered as the day he finally got over the line at senior level.

Cullen began the day by surviving two match darts against Yordi Meeuwisse in round one, before going on to win in a deciding leg, and 6-3 wins over Robert Owen, Steve Beaton and John Michael booked the 27-year-old a place in the quarter-finals.

James Richardson was Cullen’s opponent in the last eight where he secured a solid 6-4 victory.

Mervyn King, who had reached his second ProTour semi-final in as many weeks, was waiting for Cullen in the last four, where the 2016 UK Open quarter-finalist had to wait until the tenth leg to break and claim a 6-4 win.

The final saw Cullen come up against Daryl Gurney, who had won his maiden PDC title in Saturday's Players Championship Seven and would prove a difficult obstacle as he chased back-to-back wins.

Gurney firstly saw off David Pallett, Ronnie Baxter and Kirk Shepherd, and Dave Chisnall waited in the fourth round, where the 31-year-old overcame the Premier League player in a 6-4 victory.

Stuart Kellett and finally James Wade were beaten 6-4 by Gurney as he moved in to the last two.

The final began with Cullen opening the match with a maximum before hitting seven perfect darts in the third leg to take a 2-1 lead.

A 14-dart leg then followed as Cullen broke the Gurney throw before holding to move 4-1 ahead.

The pair then traded holds, with Cullen moving to within a leg of the match at 5-3, however an 11-dart break from Gurney kept the contest alive.

Gurney held his throw to take the match to a deciding leg, where he then missed the bullseye to claim a second title in as many days.

Cullen stepped in to pin double four to claim the £10,000 prize, and spoke of his delight at claiming a maiden title.

“Im so happy," he said. "Daryl missed nothing so I had to take my chances.

"I always believe I can win. I used to think I could rely on my natural talent but now I’m putting the work in. Now if I fall I can look at it and think I’ve worked for it in the right way."

The day also saw world number five Wade produce a strong showing as he reached the semi-finals for the first time since February alongside King, who battled through to the last four for a second successive Sunday.

Gerwyn Price followed up a run to Saturday's semi-finals by reaching the last eight 24 hours later, alongside Robbie Green, James Richardson and Stuart Kellett, who enjoyed his best finish on the ProTour for nearly three years.

The Easter weekend sees the PDC European Tour return with the HappyBet German Darts Masters from April 15-17 in Jena, Germany.

PDCTV-HD Subscribers will be able to watch worldwide, with coverage also available through a series of bookmakers' websites.