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MERVYN KING won his first tournament since 2008 with 6-3 victory over Andy Hamilton in the final of Saturday's Players Championship.

The world number four ended a 15-month gap between victories to claim the £6,000 winner's cheque at the Oasis Leisure Centre in Swindon.

Having won both his Whyte & Mackay Premier League Darts matches so far this season, King continued his form to sweep through the 156-player field in the third Players Championship of the year.

Having edged past Steve Evans in a deciding leg in the first round, he took 6-2 wins against Andy Callaby, Vincent van der Voort and Steve Hine to reach the quarter-finals.

There, he saw off in-form Adrian Lewis 6-4 before blowing away another Premier League rival, Ronnie Baxter, 6-1 to reach the final.

In the decider, he took out 101 in the opening leg to break Hamilton's throw before the Stoke man punished two misses from King to level with a 76 finish.

King returned the favour in the third leg on double 12 before holding throw in the next to lead 3-1.

Hamilton hit a 174 in a 13-darter to win the fifth leg, which was bettered by King as he moved 4-2 up with a 12-dart finish.

Hamilton took out 76 for the second time in the game in taking leg seven, but missed the bull for a 164 in the next and two darts at double eight as King finished on double two to move a leg away from the win.

He then wrapped up victory in style, hitting a 180 to leave a 99 finish, which he took out on double 16 for the title.

Hamilton had rode his luck at times during his best run since October, as he took the £3,000 runner-up prize.

Steve Brown saw 11 darts at a double to defeat him in the last 16 go begging, while Jamie Caven missed one chance to take a 6-4 victory in the semis, as Hamilton took out 120 to force a decider and produced a 13-dart winning leg.

Baxter, who had been defeated by Phil Taylor in the Premier League on Thursday, bounced back to reach the last four, taking wins against Mark Walsh, Kevin McDine and Peter Wright on the day

The two winners of Players Championships in Gibraltar a fortnight ago, Colin Lloyd and Denis Ovens, clashed at the last 16 stage, with Lloyd taking a narrow 6-4 win, before losing out to Caven in the quarters.

Australian Simon Whitlock, the Ladbrokes.com World Darts Championship runner-up in January, defeated Tony Eccles and Wes Newton in hs run to the last 16 as he begins his full-time challenge on the PDC ProTour.

Players Championship Three

Preliminary Round

Wayne Atwood 6-1 Anton Liscsey

Steve Farmer 6-5 John MaGowan

Wayne Mardle 6-2 Keith Rooney

Chris Loudon 6-1 Jon Archer

Chris Allen 6-1 Carlos Rodriguez

Barrie Bates 6-2 Ron Atwill

Nick Fullwell 6-2 Daz Mawer

Stuart Bousfield 6-1 Lee Hayes

Nigel Heydon 6-3 Anthony Urmston-Toft

Adrian Gray 6-3 Shaun Dring

Arron Monk 6-2 Dylan Duo

John Quantock 6-3 Ian McFarlane

Andy Callaby 6-2 Andy Relf

Dave Honey 6-4 Martyn Bevan

Joe Cullen 6-0 Mark Hylton

Patrick Pace 6-2 Steven Pearson

Jason Clark 6-0 Dave Ahmet

Roland Scholten 6-3 Simon Burt

Peter Hudson 6-2 Mark Lawrence

Simon Craven 6-5 Rick Lowther

Steve Grubb 6-2 Alex Tinsley

Simon Whitlock 6-0 Tommy McIntosh

James Barton 6-2 Robert Alford

Louis Blundell 6-3 John Part

Chris Daglish 6-5 Jamie Atkins

Tony Randall 6-4 Darren Latham

Dennis Smith 6-1 Steve Maish

Tony Martin 6-3 Nicholas Ogier

First Round

Mark Walsh (1) 6-1 Dave Smith

Stephen Hardy 6-1 Dave Ansell

Matt Clark (32) 6-3 Robert Parker

Wayne Atwood 6-0 Adam Ward

Alan Tabern (16) 6-0 Mick McGowan

Mark Jodrill 6-3 Sean White

Andy Smith (17) 6-2 Adam Huckvale

Wayne Mardle 6-3 Steve Farmer

Kevin McDine 6-5 Steve Beaton (8)

Matt Draper 6-1 Anastasia Dobromyslova

Jelle Klaasen (25) 6-2 Steve Musson

Chris Loudon 6-3 Chris Allen

Ronnie Baxter (9) 6-1 Darren Webster

Kevin Dowling 6-1 Tony Blundell

Peter Wright (24) 6-4 Darren Johnson

Nick Fullwell 6-5 Barrie Bates

Adrian Lewis (5) 6-4 Bryan de Hoog

Dave Ladley 6-1 Jim Leighton

Mark Dudbridge (28) 6-0 Henry Zapata

Nigel Heydon 6-4 Stuart Bousfield

Robert Thornton (12) 6-1 Tony Ayres

Mark Frost 6-2 Mareno Michels

Terry Jenkins (21) 6-1 Jimmy O'Regan

Adrian Gray 6-4 Arron Monk

Gary Anderson (4) 6-1 Colin Monk

Alex Roy 6-4 Chris Thompson

Steve Hine (29) 6-4 Steven Perry

John Quantock 6-2 Andy Pearce

Vincent van der Voort (13) 6-0 Ian Lever

Stuart Dutton 6-4 Matt Padgett

Mervyn King (20) 6-5 Steve Evans

Andy Callaby 6-3 Dave Honey

Colin Osborne (2) 6-4 Andy Hutchings

Sam Allen 6-3 Tom Martin

Steve Brown (31) 6-3 Mark Jones

Joe Cullen 6-3 Lee Williams

Michael van Gerwen (15) 6-3 Aodhagan O'Neill

Jimmy Mann 6-5 Matthew Wenham

Andy Hamilton (18) 6-5 Mark Webster

Jason Clark 6-3 Patrick Pace

James Wade (7) 6-0 Par Riihonen

Darren Weaver 6-4 Steve Perkins

Brendan Dolan (26) 6-2 Mark Cox

Roland Scholten 6-2 Peter Hudson

Wayne Jones (10) 6-3 Justin Pipe

Kirk Shepherd 6-2 Paul Williams

Co Stompe (23) 6-1 Dean Allsopp

Steve Grubb 6-4 Simon Craven

Wes Newton (6) 6-1 Geoff Whitworth

Nigel Birch 6-2 Tony Clark

Tony Eccles (27) 6-0 Jimmy Dunlop

Simon Whitlock 6-2 James Barton

Jamie Caven (11) 6-0 Mark Carter

Michael Barnard 6-3 Ian Jopling

Kevin Painter (22) 6-4 Richie Burnett

Louis Blundell 6-1 Chris Daglish

Colin Lloyd (3) 6-2 Paul Rowley

Dave Askew 6-3 Mark Stephenson

Peter Manley (30) 6-3 Kevin Harris

Tony Randall 6-3 Billy Meakins

Denis Ovens (14) 6-0 Chris Mason

Jyhan Artut 6-2 Andy Fordham

Paul Nicholson (19) 6-2 Gary Welding

Dennis Smith 6-3 Tony Martin

Second Round

Mark Walsh 6-3 Stephen Hardy

Wayne Atwood 6-0 Matt Clark

Alan Tabern 6-2 Mark Jodrill

Andy Smith 6-2 Wayne Mardle

Kevin McDine 6-4 Matt Draper

Jelle Klaasen 6-3 Chris Loudon

Ronnie Baxter 6-1 Kevin Dowling

Peter Wright 6-4 Nick Fullwell

Adrian Lewis 6-1 Dave Ladley

Mark Dudbridge 6-1 Nigel Heydon

Mark Frost 6-1 Robert Thornton

Terry Jenkins 6-2 Adrian Gray

Gary Anderson 6-3 Alex Roy

Steve Hine 6-0 John Quantock

Vincent van der Voort 6-4 Stuart Dutton

Mervyn King 6-2 Andy Callaby

Colin Osborne 6-4 Sam Allen

Steve Brown 6-3 Joe Cullen

Michael van Gerwen 6-4 Jimmy Mann

Andy Hamilton 6-4 Jason Clark

James Wade 6-1 Darren Weaver

Brendan Dolan 6-4 Roland Scholten

Wayne Jones 6-1 Kirk Shepherd

Co Stompe 6-3 Steve Grubb

Wes Newton 6-2 Nigel Birch

Simon Whitlock 6-2 Tony Eccles

Jamie Caven 6-2 Michael Barnard

Kevin Painter 6-2 Louis Blundell

Colin Lloyd 6-2 Dave Askew

Peter Manley 6-5 Tony Randall

Denis Ovens 6-3 Jyhan Artut

Dennis Smith 6-4 Paul Nicholson

Losers £200

Third Round

Mark Walsh 6-1 Wayne Atwood

Alan Tabern 6-3 Andy Smith

Kevin McDine 6-5 Jelle Klaasen

Ronnie Baxter 6-3 Peter Wright

Adrian Lewis 6-2 Mark Dudbridge

Terry Jenkins 6-1 Mark Frost

Steve Hine 6-5 Gary Anderson

Mervyn King 6-2 Vincent van der Voort

Steve Brown 6-5 Colin Osborne

Andy Hamilton 6-3 Michael van Gerwen

James Wade 6-1 Brendan Dolan

Wayne Jones 6-1 Co Stompe

Simon Whitlock 6-3 Wes Newton

Jamie Caven 6-0 Kevin Painter

Colin Lloyd 6-5 Peter Manley

Denis Ovens 6-2 Dennis Smith

Losers £300

Fourth Round

Mark Walsh 6-3 Alan Tabern

Ronnie Baxter 6-2 Kevin McDine

Adrian Lewis 6-4 Terry Jenkins

Mervyn King 6-2 Steve Hine

Andy Hamilton 6-5 Steve Brown

Wayne Jones 6-4 James Wade

Jamie Caven 6-3 Simon Whitlock

Colin Lloyd 6-4 Denis Ovens

Losers £500

Quarter-Finals

Ronnie Baxter 6-5 Mark Walsh

Mervyn King 6-4 Adrian Lewis

Andy Hamilton 6-5 Wayne Jones

Jamie Caven 6-5 Colin Lloyd

Losers £1,000

Semi-Finals

Mervyn King 6-1 Ronnie Baxter

Andy Hamilton 6-5 Jamie Caven

Losers £1,500

Final

Mervyn King 6-3 Andy Hamilton

Winner £6,000

Runner-Up £3,000

Story By: Editor

Date : 22-02-2010