MICHAEL VAN GERWEN won his second ranking title of 2012 with a 6-1 defeat of Simon Whitlock in Sunday's Players Championship in Birmingham.
The young Dutchman followed up February's triumph in a Speedy Services UK Open Qualifier in Crawley by taking the £6,000 first prize at the NIA Community Hall.
Having been pushed all the way to an 11th leg in his first round game with John Bowles, van Gerwen then saw off Welsh youngster Jamie Lewis and Mark Walsh before enjoying a 6-3 win over double World Champion Dennis Priestley to reach the quarter-finals.
Van Gerwen then powered past in-form Justin Pipe 6-1 with a near-109 average and defeated last weekend's UK Open champion Robert Thornton 6-2 with another fine display in the semis.
He continued the form in the final against Whitlock, winning the first five legs without reply to leave the Australian reeling, including a 78 finish and an 11-darter to break throw twice, along with a 96 finish for a 14-darter which featured his second 180 of the game.
Whitlock landed his second maximum in leg six before taking out 73 to keep the game alive, but a missed bullseye in the next leg allowed van Gerwen to step in and seal the triumph on double 16.
"It feels great," said van Gerwen, the world number 35. "It's the third ProTour event I've won since I joined the PDC and I played some good darts today.
"I'm very happy to have won and it should help me qualify for the World Grand Prix as well as the World Matchplay, which is great.
"I showed that I can play against slower players like Justin Pipe, Mark Walsh and Dennis Priestley and that will give me a lot of confidence."
Whitlock enjoyed his first run to a ranking final since October 2010 with his display in Birmingham, as he maintained the form which saw him reach the McCoy's Premier League Darts final last month.
He dropped only three legs in wins over Roland Scholten and Mark Dudbridge before seeing off Premier League rival Andy Hamilton 6-3 to reach the last 16.
After surviving an 11-leg battle with Andy Smith, Whitlock then defeated Mervyn King 6-1 in the quarter-finals and Wes Newton 6-3 in the semis as he earned £3,000 prize money on the day.
Thornton's run to the semis earned him £2,000, and that prize money could prove crucial in earning him a World Matchplay place through the ProTour Order of Merit.
Newton was a semi-finalist for the second successive day as he completed a strong weekend's form in Birmingham, which included a narrow quarter-final win over Darren Webster which was only sealed by a 95 finish on the bullseye in the deciding leg.
Steve Beaton's run to the last eight helped his chance of earning a World Matchplay qualifying spot, and he was joined in the quarter-finals by Pipe, King and Webster.
Webster - who is competing on the circuit this year as an Associate Member after missing out on a Tour Card in January - continued his impressive return to the professional ranks by reaching his second quarter-final of the year.
Priestley was joined by two other former World Champions, Raymond van Barneveld and Richie Burnett, in losing out at the Last 16 stage, alongside Dave Chisnall, Premier League star Kevin Painter, Andy Smith, Richie Howson and John Henderson.
World Champion Adrian Lewis was defeated by Pipe in the third round, while world number four Gary Anderson lost out at the same stage to Thornton, who repeated his victory from last week's UK Open against his Scottish rival.
Players Championship 8
Sunday June 17, NIA Community Hall, Birmingham
First Round
Justin Pipe (1) Bye
Kevin McDine 6-3 Ted Hankey
Adrian Lewis 6-3 Mark Hylton (32)
Joe Cullen 6-5 Andrew Gilding
Vincent van der Voort (16) 6-2 John Scott
Matt Clark 6-4 Ian Jopling
Kevin Painter (17) 6-5 Johnny Haines
Ian Moss 6-4 Andy Relf
Mark Webster (8) 6-1 Paul Barham
Dennis Priestley 6-3 Barrie Bates
Ian White (25) 6-0 Michael Mansell
Alex Roy 6-4 Stuart Kellett
Michael van Gerwen (9) 6-5 John Bowles
Jamie Lewis 6-3 Jeff Smith
Mark Walsh (24) 6-5 Les Wallace
James Hubbard 6-4 Dave Ladley
Gary Anderson (5) Bye
Adrian Gray 6-5 Paul Rowley
Ross Smith 6-5 Co Stompe (28)
Robert Thornton 6-3 Mick Todd
Colin Lloyd (12) 6-2 Arron Monk
Steve Brown 6-4 Joe Murnan
Richie Burnett (21) 6-5 Nigel Heydon
Mark Frost 6-2 Matt Padgett
Raymond van Barneveld (4) Bye
Matthew Edgar 6-2 Mareno Michels
Denis Ovens (29) 6-1 Mark Jones
Jelle Klaasen 6-4 Daniel Starkey
Steve Beaton (13) 6-2 Antonio Alcinas
Devon Petersen 6-5 Keith Stephen
Terry Temple 6-1 Peter Wright (20)
Scott Coleman 6-2 Ryan Harrington
Dave Chisnall (2) Bye
Alan Tabern 6-1 Gareth Cousins
Dennis Smith 6-5 James Richardson (31)
Steve Grubb 6-3 Liam Kelly
Mervyn King (15) 6-0 Paddy Meaney
Darren Whittingham 6-3 Tony Littleton
Michael Smith (18) 6-4 William O'Connor
Kevin Dowling 6-2 Darren Johnson
Simon Whitlock (7) 6-1 Roland Scholten
Mark Dudbridge 6-4 Gino Vos
Andy Hamilton (26) 6-4 Tony West
Shaun Griffiths 6-4 Steve Maish
John Part (10) 6-3 Wayne Jones
Kurt Van De Rijck 6-4 Magnus Caris
Andy Smith (23) 6-5 Gareth Pass
Sam Hill 6-3 Mike Veitch
Ronnie Baxter (6) 6-4 Prakash Jiwa
Gary Butcher 6-5 Peter Hudson
Richie Howson 6-2 Brendan Dolan (27)
Nick Fullwell 6-3 Chris Thompson
Colin Osborne (11) 6-4 Steve Evans
Dean Winstanley 6-5 Steve Farmer
Andy Jenkins 6-5 Kim Huybrechts (22)
Darren Webster 6-0 Chris Aubrey
Wes Newton (3) Bye
Stephen Hardy 6-2 Adam Smith-Neale
Scott Rand (30) 6-4 Keegan Brown
Michael Barnard 6-5 Jim Walker
Terry Jenkins (14) 6-3 Steve Hine
John Henderson 6-2 Reece Robinson
Brian Woods 6-4 Jamie Caven (19)
Jerry Hendriks 6-5 Damien Sherwood
Second Round
Justin Pipe 6-2 Kevin McDine
Adrian Lewis 6-5 Joe Cullen
Matt Clark 6-1 Vincent van der Voort
Kevin Painter 6-4 Ian Moss
Dennis Priestley 6-5 Mark Webster
Ian White 6-2 Alex Roy
Michael van Gerwen 6-4 Jamie Lewis
Mark Walsh 6-4 James Hubbard
Gary Anderson 6-2 Adrian Gray
Robert Thornton 6-3 Ross Smith
Steve Brown 6-2 Colin Lloyd
Richie Burnett 6-1 Mark Frost
Raymond van Barneveld 6-3 Matthew Edgar
Denis Ovens 6-1 Jelle Klaasen
Steve Beaton 6-4 Devon Petersen
Terry Temple 6-0 Scott Coleman
Dave Chisnall 6-2 Alan Tabern
Dennis Smith 6-3 Steve Grubb
Mervyn King 6-2 Darren Whittingham
Michael Smith 6-3 Kevin Dowling
Simon Whitlock 6-2 Mark Dudbridge
Andy Hamilton 6-1 Shaun Griffiths
John Part 6-2 Kurt Van De Rijck
Andy Smith 6-3 Sam Hill
Ronnie Baxter 6-1 Gary Butcher
Richie Howson 6-2 Nick Fullwell
Dean Winstanley 6-3 Colin Osborne
Darren Webster 6-2 Andy Jenkins
Wes Newton 6-3 Stephen Hardy
Michael Barnard 6-5 Scott Rand
John Henderson 6-3 Terry Jenkins
Brian Woods 6-2 Jerry Hendriks
Losers £200
Third Round
Justin Pipe 6-2 Adrian Lewis
Kevin Painter 6-5 Matt Clark
Dennis Priestley 6-5 Ian White
Michael van Gerwen 6-3 Mark Walsh
Robert Thornton 6-4 Gary Anderson
Richie Burnett 6-1 Steve Brown
Raymond van Barneveld 6-3 Denis Ovens
Steve Beaton 6-5 Terry Temple
Dave Chisnall 6-2 Dennis Smith
Mervyn King 6-2 Michael Smith
Simon Whitlock 6-3 Andy Hamilton
Andy Smith 6-4 John Part
Richie Howson 6-3 Ronnie Baxter
Darren Webster 6-2 Dean Winstanley
Wes Newton 6-1 Michael Barnard
John Henderson 6-2 Brian Woods
Losers £400
Fourth Round
Justin Pipe 6-3 Kevin Painter
Michael van Gerwen 6-3 Dennis Priestley
Robert Thornton 6-0 Richie Burnett
Steve Beaton 6-4 Raymond van Barneveld
Mervyn King 6-4 Dave Chisnall
Simon Whitlock 6-5 Andy Smith
Darren Webster 6-2 Richie Howson
Wes Newton 6-1 John Henderson
Losers £600
Quarter-Finals
Michael van Gerwen 6-1 Justin Pipe
Robert Thornton 6-2 Steve Beaton
Simon Whitlock 6-1 Mervyn King
Wes Newton 6-5 Darren Webster
Losers £1,000
Semi-Finals
Michael van Gerwen 6-2 Robert Thornton
Simon Whitlock 6-3 Wes Newton
Losers £2,000
Final
Michael van Gerwen 6-1 Simon Whitlock
Winner £6,000
Runner-Up £3,000
Final - Leg-By-Leg
Michael van Gerwen v Simon Whitlock
0-0 - Michael van Gerwen wins the bull and will throw first.
1-0 - van Gerwen wins the opening leg by landing tops for a 15-darter.
2-0 - Whitlock hits a 180 but fails to take out 120 and van Gerwen finishes 78 on double six to break.
3-0 - Whitlock misses two darts at tops to break, and van Gerwen finishes 64 on the same bed to lead by three legs.
4-0 - van Gerwen opens with a 180 and follows that with two 140s before landing double 16 for an 11-darter to break throw again.
5-0 - van Gerwen lands another maximum and takes out 96 for a 14-darter to move to the brink of victory.
5-1 - Whitlock replies with a 180 and finishes 73 in two darts to reply in kind as he wins his first leg of the game in 14 darts.
6-1 - van Gerwen hits two 140s before punishing a missed bullseye from Whitlock by sealing victory on double 16.