Scott Williams clinched his fourth Winmau Challenge Tour title of 2022 with victory at Event 20 in Leicester on Sunday.
Williams extended his lead at the top of the Challenge Tour Order of Merit with a 5-2 win over Thibault Tricole in the fifth and final event of the weekend at the Morningside Arena.
The 32-year-old won three of the first six events in 2022, and he returned to winning ways in emphatic style to establish a £3,700 lead over Robert Owen in the overall standings.
Williams relinquished just four legs in his opening three matches - including a comprehensive 5-1 win over Event 19 winner Christian Kist – before recovering from 3-1 down to deny Raymond Marshall in a last-leg decider in round four.
Williams, a winner at Players Championship 17 in June, then posted a ton-plus average to whitewash John Cook, and resounding wins over Kai Fan Leung and Dan Read saw him progress to Sunday’s showpiece.
Tricole converted classy 126 and 96 checkouts to move into a 2-0 lead in the final, but the Englishman responded by winning the next five legs without reply to clinch the £2,000 top prize.
Earlier in the day, Tricole produced a series of impressive displays to become the first ever Frenchman to feature in a Challenge Tour final, kicking off his campaign with a 5-1 win over Event 18 runner-up Patrick Peters.
He also dumped out Paul Hogan, David Pallett and Owen Roelofs to claim the £1,000 runner-up prize, which catapults him up to 17th on the Challenge Tour Order of Merit.
Elsewhere, Lukas Wenig, who landed a nine-darter in Event 17 on Friday, produced the performance of the day, averaging 104.38 in his opening round whitewash of Derek Grazier.
The Winmau Challenge Tour returns from October 15-16, with Events 21-24 taking place at the Morningside Arena.
The top two players from the final 2022 Challenge Tour Order of Merit will secure a PDC Tour Card for 2023/24 and a place in the 2022/23 Cazoo World Darts Championship.
The Challenge Tour Order of Merit winner will also secure a spot at November’s Cazoo Grand Slam of Darts in Wolverhampton.
Click here to view Event 20 results
Live match stats can be viewed through DartConnect
2022 Winmau Challenge Tour
Sunday September 18, Event 20
Morningside Arena, Leicester
Quarter-Finals
Dan Read 5-2 Darryl Pilgrim
Scott Williams 5-2 Kai Fan Leung
Owen Roelofs 5-2 Danny Lauby
Thibault Tricole 5-3 David Pallett
Semi-Finals
Scott Williams 5-1 Dan Read
Thibault Tricole 5-2 Owen Roelofs
Final
Scott Williams 5-2 Thibault Tricole