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