PETER WRIGHT bounced back from his Betway Premier League disappointment to win Players Championship 11 in Milton Keynes on Saturday, defeating Daryl Gurney 6-3 with a brilliant performance in the final.

Wright had seen his hopes of Premier League glory slip away on Thursday when he missed six match darts in the final against Michael van Gerwen, before falling to an agonising 11-10 win.

However, he regained his finishing touch to claim the £10,000 first prize in Saturday's Players Championship, securing his eighth ranking win of a brilliant 2017 to date.

Ironically, having seen double 16 and double eight cause his woes on Thursday, the same beds were Wright's bedrock as denied Gurney his second PDC title with a superb performance in the final.

Wright won the opening four legs without reply with legs of 13, 14, 15 and 14 darts, before punishing two missed doubles from Gurney to claim a 5-0 advantage - with all ending on either double 16 or eight.

Gurney hit double 16 and took out 80 to keep his hopes alive with back-to-back legs, before a third successive leg pulled him back to 5-3, but Wright regained his composure to hit double five for the win.

Wright's day possibly peaked with a sensational semi-final performance as he overcame Rob Cross 6-3 with a stunning display, hitting a ten-dart finish, four 12-darters and a 14-dart leg as he booked his spot in the decider.

Cross had played his part in a thriller by sharing the first six legs, before Wright pulled clear with a run which included seven perfect darts in one leg.

Having sneaked past Joe Murnan in a deciding leg, Wright then defeated Vincent van der Voort, Ryan Searle and Jeffrey de Graaf to book his semi-final place for the loss of only five further legs.

"I'm glad to have hit double eight and double 16 - it's not a hoodoo anymore!" said Wright.

"In the semi-finals and the beginning of [the final], I must admit I did play some nice darts [but] there's loads of improvement to come."

Of the semi-final, Wright said: "Rob Cross played absolutely fantastic, he was on my tail all the time and he's going to be in the top ten in the world in not long."

Wright is closing in on overtaking Michael van Gerwen on the one-year ProTour Order of Merit, and also has a long-term plan to overtake the world number one on the main PDC Order of Merit.

"Obviously it's going to take a little while, but yes I believe I can get to number one and that's my target," added Wright.

"I want to be number one in the world and Michael's absolutely fantastic, but if you believe in yourself then you can do it.

"I said at the beginning of the year that it's up to the rest of us to take the titles off Michael, but if you let him run away with everything then he's going to."

Gurney had been bidding to win his second Players Championship title of the year and continued his strong form with wins over Dennis Smith, Matt Clark and Josh Payne before edging out Premier League star Dave Chisnall 6-5 in the last 16.

The Northern Irish ace then dropped only one leg in the quarter-finals as he saw off Simon Whitlock, before defeating Andy Boulton 6-2 in the last four.

Boulton had won through to his first semi-final in a PDC-ranked event as he overcame Joe Cullen, Ron Meulenkamp, Steve Hine, Bryan de Hoog and Mensur Suljovic on the day.

Fast-emerging Cross was the other semi-finalist as he fell just short in his bid to win a second Players Championship title in his maiden year on the PDC circuit.

Cross defeated Matthew Edgar, Devon Petersen, Cristo Reyes, Michael Smith and Jonny Clayton in his run on the day, and despite a fine display in the last four was unable to halt Wright's charge.

Whitlock and Suljovic were joined in the last eight by Welsh ace Jonny Clayton - who reached his second successive Players Championship quarter-final - and Dutchman Jeffrey de Graaf, whose performance was his best on the PDC circuit.

Sunday sees the year's 12th Players Championship take place at Arena MK in Milton Keynes, with a further £75,000 in prize money on offer.

Coverage from two boards simultaneously will be streamed for PDCTV-HD Subscribers via www.livepdc.tv and through a series of bookmakers' websites.

NB: From the original field of entries Michael van Gerwen, Maik Langendorf and Max Hopp withdrew, and were replaced by Alan Tabern. As no further PDPA Associate Members who entered were able to play, the event had 126-player field, with the number one and number two seeds receiving a Bye in the first round.