ALAN NORRIS won his third PDC ranking title with a 6-1 victory over newcomer Peter Jacques in the final of Players Championship One.

Norris picked up the £10,000 top prize in the first of the PDC's 22 Players Championship tournaments which will be held this year, as 128 players competed in Barnsley on Saturday.

Norris' previous PDC titles had come at a Players Championship in Dublin and a European Tour event in Germany, but he enjoyed success on UK soil for the first time as he saw off Jacques in the decider.

Jacques, a 43-year-old postman from Huddersfield, tested himself on the PDC circuit by competing in five Unicorn Challenge Tour events in 2016 before competing in Qualifying School in January, and though he failed to win a Tour Card put himself in a strong position to top up the field for Players Championship events.

He made his PDC ProTour debut in style by taking home £6,000 - and came within one game of emulating 2015 Players Championship winner Joe Murnan by taking a title without holding a Tour Card.

Early wins over Paul Nicholson and Josh Payne were followed by a narrow 6-5 victory over William O'Connor as Jacques moved into the last 16.

There, he saw off two-time World Champion Gary Anderson 6-3, overcame former World Youth Champion Michael Smith 6-4 in the quarter-finals and came from two legs down to defeat world number five James Wade in the semis.

However, the task proved too great as Jacques' fairytale run was finally ended in the final by Norris, who claimed a 6-1 triumph.

The Yeovil-born ace opened the final with a 180 and took the lead with a 13-darter before punishing missed doubles from Jacques to claim the next two legs.

Double six saw Jacques get off the mark at 3-1, but tops restored Norris' cushion before he hit the same bed to complete combinations of 74 and 72 to seal the win.

Norris' day began with victories over the 2016 Challenge Tour's top two, Rob Cross and Ryan Searle, before he overcame Belgian youngster Mike De Decker, former World Youth Champion Keegan Brown and Australian pair Kyle Anderson and Simon Whitlock to reach the final.

Whitlock's run to the last four saw him maintain the form which has earned him two wins in Coral UK Open Qualifiers recently, while Wade followed up his run to the final of UK Open Qualifier Six with a semi-final appearance.

Michael Smith and Kyle Anderson were joined in the quarter-finals by Steve West and Spain's Cristo Reyes, while Betway Premier League stars Gary Anderson, Peter Wright, and Dave Chisnall all reached the last 16.

Austria's Mensur Suljovic also won through to the last 16 on his return to action after missing the UK Open Qualifiers for family reasons, while Northern Irish pair Brendan Dolan and Daryl Gurney, Keegan Brown and Mervyn King also won through their boards.

Sunday sees a second £75,000 Players Championship held at the Barnsley Metrodome, with action from two boards streamed throughout the event at www.livepdc.tv and a series of bookmakers' websites.