RONNIE BAXTER won his second Players Championship of 2011 with a 6-2 defeat of Kevin Painter in the Canadian Masters final at the Hilton London Ontario on Sunday night.
The 50-year-old followed up January's victory in Germany with a second £6,000 winner's cheque of the year with his run in Canada, reviving memories of his success on the north American circuit in the 1980s.
The Blackpool-based ace swept past four of his seven opponents in style in the event, whitewashing Charlie Vandenakker, Dan Lauby Jnr and Mareno Michels and dropping only one leg against Norm Tremblay.
He was pushed to a deciding leg by Steve Maish in the last 32, and had to withstand a strong challenge from Michael van Gerwen in the semi-finals before the Dutch youngster succumbed to a 6-4 loss.
Baxter, though, would not be denied and took five of the opening six legs of the final to assert command at 5-1, with Painter taking the seventh but unable to continue the fightback as his opponent secured victory.
Painter's display was his best on the circuit for almost a year, and comes under two months since he underwent laser eye surgery.
The £3,000 prize money will cement his qualifying place for next month's World Grand Prix, while his displays on the day included a comeback victory over Simon Whitlock and whitewashes of Sean Boussen and Augustus Collins.
He also defeated regular practice partner Matthew Edgar 6-4 in the third round, fellow Essex-born ace Colin Lloyd and Holland's Co Stompe in reaching the decider.
Both Stompe and van Gerwen enjoyed their best runs of 2011 on the PDC ProTour with semi-final appearances as they boosted their own hopes of qualifying for the World Grand Prix.
Stompe overcame Saturday's champion John Part in a deciding leg in the quarter-finals, while van Gerwen saw off in-form Wes Newton and Bristol's Steve Brown in his run as the pair earned £2,000 apiece.
Calgary's Norm Tremblay joined fellow Canadian Part in the last eight, winning five games on the day and including Roland Scholten, Jamie Caven and Denis Ovens amongst his victims.
Justin Pipe and Whitlock were the other quarter-finalists, while the last 16 featured several players battling to qualify for October's World Grand Prix, with Brown, John Henderson, Michels, Ovens, Andy Hamilton, Steve Beaton and Ian White claiming £600 apiece alongside Lloyd.
Canadian Masters Players Championship
Preliminary Round
David Kerr 6-3 Stanley Minogue
Ron Miller 6-2 Kory Nicholls
John Morrison 6-0 Ron K Smith
James Hind 6-5 Glenn Faser
Stuart Brown 6-2 Keon Neilsen
Norm Tremblay 6-3 Wayne Fick
Sean McGinnity 6-4 Lynn Marshall
Brian Jackson 6-5 Jim Newman
Martin Tremblay 6-0 Mark Neilsen
Gary Broomhead 6-0 Rick Harris
Chris White 6-0 Gil Nash
Robert Sinnaeve 6-0 Jason Roker
John Kuczynski 6-0 Guy Masse
First Round
Wes Newton (1) 6-1 Chris Locke
Nick Fullwell 6-0 John Briggs
Michael van Gerwen (32) 6-1 John Henderson (Can)
Bruce Davey 6-0 David Kerr
Steve Brown (16) 6-2 Jared Sullivan
Michael Sheridan 6-1 Aaron Le Blanc
Mark Hylton (17) 6-2 Ken MacNeil
Ross Snook 6-3 Todd Harrington
Justin Pipe (8) 6-5 Paul Lim
Andrew F McDonald 6-4 Tyler Jacobs
Mark Dudbridge (25) 6-1 Robert Heckman
Barrie Bates 6-1 Ron Miller
Alan Tabern (9) 6-3 Shaun Narain
Dave Cameron 6-3 Joe Clements
John Henderson (24) 6-0 Aaron Talbot
Jim Long 6-1 John Morrison
Ronnie Baxter (5) 6-0 Charlie Vandenakker
Dan Lauby Jnr 6-1 Mark Harris
Steve Maish (28) 6-0 Matt Cuthbertson
Paul Bolduc 6-1 James Hind
Colin Osborne (12) 6-2 John Patterson
Mareno Michels 6-0 Chris Cadeau
Tony Eccles (21) 6-2 Doug Boehm
Stuart Brown 6-3 Phil King
Jamie Caven (4) 6-0 Paul Cockings
Jeff Noble 6-4 James McGuire
Roland Scholten (29) 6-3 Adrian Gray
Norm Tremblay 6-4 Jayson Barlow
Denis Ovens (13) 6-0 Paul Addison
Pete Hewetson 6-2 Mark Derosiers
Darin Young 6-2 Dennis Priestley (20)
Collin McInnis 6-0 Sean McGinnity
Simon Whitlock (2) 6-3 Shawn Brenneman
Garry Glidden 6-4 Rick Tesselaar
Magnus Caris (31) 6-3 Chris Greenwood
Goby Logan 6-1 Brian Jackson
Peter Wright (15) 6-2 Dan Olson
Russell Jasinski 6-2 Nicholas Findlay
Andy Hamilton (18) 6-0 Victor Dewilde
Chris Scutt 6-2 Steven Wilcox
Colin Lloyd (7) 6-0 Jim Doohan
Fred Morgenroth 6-3 Bill Gibson
Kevin McDine (26) 6-2 Dan Lauby
Martin Tremblay 6-1 Andrew N McDonald
Kevin Painter (10) 6-0 Sean Boussen
Augustus Collins 6-1 Preston Noonan
Matthew Edgar 6-3 Robert Thornton (23)
Andy Hutchings 6-5 Gary Broomhead
John Part (6) 6-0 Mike Magee
Paul Carlson 6-1 Ed Lewanick
Steve Hine (27) 6-0 Dave Hodgson
Chris White 6-4 Bill Neilson
Steve Beaton (11) 6-0 Dave Switzer
Nick Holmes 6-5 Wayne Smith
Jelle Klaasen (22) 6-5 James Graton
Robert Sinnaeve 6-0 Daniel Mailloux
Paul Nicholson (3) 6-3 Chuck Pankow
Jeff Smith 6-0 Jennifer Briggs
Ian White (31) 6-5 Royden Lam
John Kuczynski 6-0 Doug Mead
Dennis Smith (14) 6-0 David Batterton
Lee McGuire 6-2 Greg Wright
Co Stompe (19) 6-1 Al Moskwyn
Dennis Latimer 6-1 Alex Earl
Second Round
Wes Newton 6-1 Nick Fullwell
Michael van Gerwen 6-4 Bruce Davey
Steve Brown 6-0 Michael Sheridan
Mark Hylton 6-1 Ross Snook
Justin Pipe 6-0 Andrew F McDonald
Mark Dudbridge 6-2 Barrie Bates
Alan Tabern 6-2 Dave Cameron
John Henderson 6-1 Jim Long
Ronnie Baxter 6-0 Dan Lauby Jnr
Steve Maish 6-3 Paul Bolduc
Mareno Michels 6-3 Colin Osborne
Tony Eccles 6-0 Stuart Brown
Jamie Caven 6-2 Jeff Noble
Norm Tremblay 6-3 Roland Scholten
Denis Ovens 6-0 Pete Hewetson
Darin Young 6-1 Collin McInnis
Simon Whitlock 6-1 Gary Glidden
Magnus Caris 6-0 Goby Logan
Peter Wright 6-1 Russell Jasinski
Andy Hamilton 6-0 Chris Scutt
Colin Lloyd 6-1 Fred Morgenroth
Kevin McDine 6-2 Martin Tremblay
Kevin Painter 6-0 Augustus Collins
Matthew Edgar 6-3 Andy Hutchings
John Part 6-1 Paul Carlson
Steve Hine 6-5 Chris White
Steve Beaton 6-1 Nick Holmes
Jelle Klaasen 6-5 Robert Sinnaeve
Jeff Smith 6-2 Paul Nicholson
Ian White 6-2 John Kuczynski
Dennis Smith 6-2 Lee McGuire
Co Stompe 6-1 Dennis Latimer
Losers £200
Third Round
Michael van Gerwen 6-5 Wes Newton
Steve Brown 6-0 Mark Hylton
Justin Pipe 6-5 Mark Dudbridge
John Henderson 6-2 Alan Tabern
Ronnie Baxter 6-5 Steve Maish
Mareno Michels 6-3 Tony Eccles
Norm Tremblay 6-2 Jamie Caven
Denis Ovens 6-5 Darin Young
Simon Whitlock 6-3 Magnus Caris
Andy Hamilton 6-5 Peter Wright
Colin Lloyd 6-0 Kevin McDine
Kevin Painter 6-4 Matthew Edgar
John Part 6-5 Steve Hine
Steve Beaton 6-5 Jelle Klaasen
Ian White 6-5 Jeff Smith
Co Stompe 6-5 Dennis Smith
Losers £400
Fourth Round
Michael van Gerwen 6-3 Steve Brown
Justin Pipe 6-0 John Henderson
Ronnie Baxter 6-0 Mareno Michels
Norm Tremblay 6-5 Denis Ovens
Simon Whitlock 6-4 Andy Hamilton
Kevin Painter 6-2 Colin Lloyd
John Part 6-3 Steve Beaton
Co Stompe 6-4 Ian White
Losers £600
Quarter-Finals
Michael van Gerwen 6-3 Justin Pipe
Ronnie Baxter 6-1 Norm Tremblay
Kevin Painter 6-5 Simon Whitlock
Co Stompe 6-5 John Part
Losers £1,000
Semi-Finals
Ronnie Baxter 6-4 Michael van Gerwen
Kevin Painter 6-3 Co Stompe
Losers £2,000
Final
Ronnie Baxter 6-2 Kevin Painter
Winner £6,000
Runner-Up £3,000