WORLD CHAMPION Michael van Gerwen sealed his eighth PDC title of 2014 as he defeated Michael Smith to win the 14th Players Championship event of the year in Crawley.
After struggling at The K2 Centre in the first event of the weekend, where he was knocked out by Richie Burnett, van Gerwen returned to form on Sunday as he swept through the field before beating Smith 6-4 in the final.
Van Gerwen fired through the first three rounds as he saw off Glenn Spearing, Pete Dyos and John Henderson, only dropping three legs in the process.
Back-to-back 6-3 wins over Kurt Parry and Dean Winstanley followed for the world number one to set up a tasty semi-final matchup with Adrian Lewis.
Lewis had edged a tight quarter-final against Dave Chisnall 6-5 to seal his second semi-final spot of the weekend, but after being whitewashed by Gary Anderson 24 hours earlier, the Stoke ace once again faltered in the last four as van Gerwen sealed a 6-2 success over his great rival.
Smith had also enjoyed a good run to the final having beaten Steve Hine, Magnus Caris, John Bowles and Andy Smith in the first four rounds.
The St Helens ace then disposed of in-form youngster Benito van de Pas with a stunning average of 107.93 to seal a place in the semi-finals against Ian White, another man who had enjoyed an impressive day at the oche.
PDC Unicorn World Youth Championship runner-up Rowby-John Rodriguez had already beaten Saturday's champion Gary Anderson, as well as Paul Nicholson and Jamie Caven before being knocked out 6-1 by White in the quarter-finals.
However, it would be Smith who maintained his form as he quickly disposed of Stoke star White, running out a 6-2 victor to make it through to his second final in a week, having also reached the last two in Singelfingen last weekend.
But as was the case in Germany against Mervyn King and in two previous PDC ProTour finals this year, Smith missed out at the final hurdle as another senior title eluded him ahead of his 24th birthday on Thursday.
Although Smith took the final's opening leg, van Gerwen produced legs of 12, 15, 14 and 14 darts as he stormed into a 4-1 lead in the final.
He extended that to 5-2 before Smith took out 114 as he pulled back to 5-4, but van Gerwen hit his second 180 of the final before finishing double 16 for a 13-darter to secure the title and the £10,000 winner’s cheque.
Players Championship 14
September 14 2014, K2 Centre, Crawley
First Round
Gary Anderson Bye
Rowby-John Rodriguez 6-3 Marc Dewsbury
Paul Nicholson 6-1 Gary Stone
Antonio Alcinas 6-5 Ryan De Vreede
Jamie Caven 6-4 Kevin Dowling
Matt Padgett 6-5 Shaun Narain
Terry Jenkins 6-3 Jeff Batham
Andy Jenkins 6-3 Mark Barilli
Ian White 6-2 Keegan Brown
Scott Mackenzie 6-0 Stuart White
Raymond van Barneveld 6-2 Jyhan Artut
Joe Cullen 6-2 Kevin Thomas
Simon Whitlock 6-2 Michael Mansell
Paul Amos 6-0 Darron Brown
Brian Woods 6-4 Darren Webster
Ronny Huybrechts 6-2 Tony Newell
Brett Claydon 6-4 Peter Wright
Connie Finnan 6-3 Joey Palfreyman
Andy Smith 6-3 Matt Clark
Darren Johnson 6-4 Steve Douglas
Michael Smith 6-3 Steve Hine
Magnus Caris 6-4 William O'Connor
Kevin Painter 6-3 Jason Lovett
John Bowles 6-2 Adam Hunt
Robert Thornton 6-4 Nigel Heydon
Ron Meulenkamp 6-2 David Dodds
Richie Burnett 6-3 Mark Walsh
Peter Hudson 6-4 Joe Murnan
Vincent van der Voort 6-0 Richie Howson
Ting Chi Royden Lam 6-0 Daryl Gurney
Benito van de Pas 6-2 Wes Newton
Ross Twell 6-4 Kevin Voornhout
Brendan Dolan Bye
Kevin McDine 6-5 Aden Kirk
Jamie Lewis 6-1 Mick Todd
James Richardson 6-5 Robert Owen
Dave Chisnall 6-1 Conan Whitehead
Gerwyn Price 6-5 Mark Webster
Stephen Bunting 6-0 Arron Monk
Johnny Haines 6-1 Stuart Anderson
Steve Beaton 6-3 Dan Russell
Michael Barnard 6-5 Dennis Smith
Andrew Gilding 6-4 Ben Ward
Stuart Kellett 6-3 Colin Osborne
Adrian Lewis 6-2 Chris Aubrey
Kyle Anderson 6-3 Steve Grubb
Ronnie Baxter 6-4 Ricky Evans
Alex Roy 6-2 Denis Ovens
Kim Huybrechts 6-4 Jim Walker
Colin Lloyd 6-4 Adrian Gray
Wayne Jones 6-3 Mark Dudbridge
Josh Payne 6-3 John Newland
James Wade 6-4 John Part
Campbell Jackson 6-1 Ryan Harrington
Dean Winstanley 6-4 James Hubbard
Steve West 6-5 Jamie Bain
Michael van Gerwen 6-1 Glenn Spearing
Pete Dyos 6-5 Mareno Michels
Jelle Klaasen 6-1 Jamie Robinson
John Henderson 6-2 Ross Smith
David Pallett 6-4 Justin Pipe
Kurt Parry 6-5 Ian Moss
Andy Hamilton 6-1 Dave Ladley
Terry Temple 6-3 Steve Brown
Second Round
Rowby-John Rodriguez 6-4 Gary Anderson
Paul Nicholson 6-2 Antonio Alcinas
Jamie Caven 6-0 Matt Padgett
Andy Jenkins 6-5 Terry Jenkins
Ian White 6-5 Scott Mackenzie
Joe Cullen 6-3 Raymond van Barneveld
Simon Whitlock 6-3 Paul Amos
Ronny Huybrechts 6-1 Brian Woods
Connie Finnan 6-3 Brett Claydon
Andy Smith 6-5 Darren Johnson
Michael Smith 6-1 Magnus Caris
John Bowles 6-3 Kevin Painter
Robert Thornton 6-2 Ron Meulenkamp
Richie Burnett 6-3 Peter Hudson
Vincent van der Voort 6-2 Ting Chi Royden Lam
Benito van de Pas 6-2 Ross Twell
Brendan Dolan 6-3 Kevin McDine
Jamie Lewis 6-4 James Richardson
Dave Chisnall 6-4 Gerwyn Price
Stephen Bunting 6-2 Johnny Haines
Steve Beaton 6-4 Michael Barnard
Stuart Kellett 6-5 Andrew Gilding
Adrian Lewis 6-1 Kyle Anderson
Alex Roy 6-3 Ronnie Baxter
Kim Huybrechts 6-4 Colin Lloyd
Wayne Jones 6-2 Josh Payne
James Wade 6-3 Campbell Jackson
Dean Winstanley 6-3 Steve West
Michael van Gerwen 6-1 Pete Dyos
John Henderson 6-3 Jelle Klaasen
Kurt Parry 6-4 David Pallett
Andy Hamilton 6-3 Terry Temple
Losers: £250
Third Round
Rowby-John Rodriguez 6-3 Paul Nicholson
Jamie Caven 6-2 Andy Jenkins
Ian White 6-2 Joe Cullen
Simon Whitlock 6-4 Ronny Huybrechts
Andy Smith 6-2 Connie Finnan
Michael Smith 6-2 John Bowles
Robert Thornton 6-3 Richie Burnett
Benito van de Pas 6-3 Vincent van der Voort
Jamie Lewis 6-3 Brendan Dolan
Dave Chisnall 6-2 Stephen Bunting
Steve Beaton 6-2 Stuart Kellett
Adrian Lewis 6-4 Alex Roy
Kim Huybrecths 6-4 Wayne Jones
Dean Winstanley 6-5 James Wade
Michael van Gerwen 6-1 John Henderson
Kurt Parry 6-5 Andy Hamilton
Losers: £500
Last 16
Rowby-John Rodriguez 6-2 Jamie Caven
Ian White 6-4 Simon Whitlock
Michael Smith 6-4 Andy Smith
Benito van de Pas 6-4 Robert Thornton
Dave Chisnall 6-2 Jamie Lewis
Adrian Lewis 6-3 Steve Beaton
Dean Winstanley 6-4 Kim Huybrechts
Michael van Gerwen 6-3 Kurt Parry
Losers: £1,000
Quarter-Finals
Ian White 6-1 Rowby-John Rodriguez
Michael Smith 6-4 Benito van de Pas
Adrian Lewis 6-5 Dave Chisnall
Michael van Gerwen 6-3 Dean Winstanley
Losers: £1,500
Semi-Finals
Michael Smith 6-2 Ian White
Michael van Gerwen 6-2 Adrian Lewis
Losers: £2,500
Final
Michael van Gerwen 6-4 Michael Smith
Winner: £10,000
Runner-Up: £5,000