PDC Players Championship- 4

PHIL TAYLOR won his second PDC ProTour title of 2014 with an imperious showing to claim victory in Players Championship 4 in Crawley on Sunday, whitewashing Ian White in the final of the £50,000 event.
The 16-time World Champion was in stunning form throughout the day, winning six of his seven matches with ton-plus averages and ending the day with an overall average of 106.59 - not to mention missing double 18 for a nine-dart finish against Michael Smith.

Taylor opened the day with a 109.98 average as he whitewashed Brian Woods, and then overcame Mareno Michels and Paul Nicholson before defeating Vincent van der Voort with a stunning 118.42 average to reach the quarter-finals.

There, he avenged his World Championship defeat to Michael Smith with a 6-1 win, which included missing double 18 for a nine-darter before he returned to land double nine for a ten-dart winning leg.

He then saw off Mervyn King in the semi-finals with a 6-2 triumph before sweeping past Stoke rival White in the decider to take the £10,000 first prize.

Taylor hit a 168 score in a 14-darter to open the final before posting a 177 as he doubled his lead with a 13-dart finish, which was bettered when he took the third leg in 12 darts with the aid of a 174.

White missed two darts at double 16 as Taylor hit the same bed to win the fourth leg in 13 darts, and the world number two capitalised on a missed bullseye from his opponent in the next as he followed a 180 with double two to move five legs clear.

White was also first to a finish in leg six, but missed double 16 to take out 110 as Taylor sealed victory with a bullseye, double eight finish to check out 66 for a 14-darter in completing the triumph.

The win for Taylor followed up his run to Saturday's final, where he lost to Gary Anderson, as he took home £15,000 in prize money for his weekend in Crawley.

 White's run to the final saw him win his opening three games 6-3, as he defeated Keegan Brown, Scott Rand and Andy Smith, before he edged out Dutch left-hander Ron Meulenkamp in a deciding leg in the last 16.

He then overcame Dave Chisnall 6-2 and completed his semi-final victory over Magnus Caris with checkouts of 118 and 121 after the Swede had hit back from 4-1 down to level, and he took home £5,000 in prize money as the runner-up.

Mervyn King's run to the semi-finals continued his bright start to the year, as he saw off Terry Temple, Denis Ovens, Stuart Kellett, Peter Wright and Adrian Lewis on his way to the last four.

Swedish veteran Magnus Caris won through to only his second PDC semi-final, opening his day with victory over a player who reached the same stage 24 hours earlier - Nigel Heydon - before then defeating Peter Hudson, Justin Pipe, Adam Hunt and Stephen Bunting.

Lewis was a quarter-final loser for the second successive day, although he produced some fine darts along the way, notably averaging 113.24 in a 6-1 victory in the third round against Kevin Painter, whose only leg came courtesy of a 164 finish.

Reigning Lakeside Champion Bunting, Betway Premier League Darts star Dave Chisnall and PDC Unicorn World Youth Champion Michael Smith completed a trio of St Helens-born quarter-finalists alongside Lewis.

County Durham's Hunt, a product of the PDC's Youth Tour system, enjoyed a memorable win over World Champion Michael van Gerwen on his way to the last 16, with Dutchman Ron Meulenkamp enjoying his best PDC ProTour performance as he reached the same stage.


Players Championship 4
K2 Centre, Crawley - Sunday March 23
First Round
Michael van Gerwen (1) Bye
Darron Brown 6-1 John Newland
Adam Hunt 6-2 Richie Burnett (32)
Kevin Voornhout 6-2 Darren Whittingham
Justin Pipe (16) 6-0 Dave Ladley
Connie Finnan 6-1 Marc Dewsbury
Peter Hudson 6-2 Andy Hamilton (17)
Magnus Caris 6-3 Nigel Heydon
Ronny Huybrechts 6-3 Robert Thornton (8)
Zoran Lerchbacher 6-3 Steve Brown
Terry Jenkins (25) 6-1 Jerry Hendriks
John Henderson 6-1 Andy Parsons
Dennis Smith 6-5 Wes Newton (9)
Stephen Bunting 6-3 Steve West
Colin Osborne 6-5 Jelle Klaasen (24)
Ben Ward 6-2 Tony Newell
Jim Walker 6-5 Brendan Dolan (5)
David Pallett 6-5 Colin Lloyd
Ron Meulenkamp 6-4 James Wade (28)
Kevin McDine 6-1 Daryl Gurney
Ian White (12) 6-3 Keegan Brown
Scott Rand 6-5 Dan Russell
Andy Smith (21) 6-1 Jamie Bain
Chris Aubrey 6-5 Joe Cullen
Dave Chisnall (4) 6-1 John Bowles
Andrew Gilding 6-1 Tomas Seyler
Wayne Jones (29) 6-4 Mick Todd
Paul Amos 6-3 Ian Moss
Mark Webster 6-4 Simon Whitlock (13)
Mark Barilli 6-4 Ricky Evans
Ronnie Baxter (20) 6-4 Benito van de Pas
William O'Connor 6-4 Martyn Turner
Gary Anderson (2) 6-3 Johnny Haines
Steve Maish 6-4 Adrian Gray
Vincent van der Voort 6-0 Michael Barnard
Wayne Pepper 6-2 Darren Johnson
Phil Taylor (15) 6-0 Brian Woods
Mareno Michels 6-3 Arron Monk
Paul Nicholson (18) 6-4 Steve Grubb
Josh Payne 6-5 Gary Stone
Steve Beaton (7) 6-4 Matt Padgett
Joe Murnan 6-5 Campbell Jackson
Dean Winstanley (26) 6-1 Kirk Shepherd
Stuart White 6-5 James Hubbard
Jamie Caven (10) 6-4 Kyle Anderson
Matt Clark 6-1 Antonio Alcinas
Michael Smith (23) 6-3 Gerwyn Price
Ross Smith 6-5 Mark Dudbridge
Peter Wright (6) 6-2 Ryan De Vreede
Mark Walsh 6-5 Kurt Parry
Jamie Lewis (27) 6-2 Robert Owen
Andy Jenkins 6-5 James Richardson
Mervyn King (11) 6-2 Terry Temple
Denis Ovens 6-4 Joey Ten Berge
Stuart Kellett (22) 6-1 Jason Lovett
Michael Mansell 6-5 Conan Whitehead
Gino Vos 6-5 Kim Huybrechts (3)
John Part 6-5 Steve Hine
Darren Webster (30) 6-4 Jonathan Worsley
Jyhan Artut 6-1 Kevin Dowling
Adrian Lewis (14) 6-2 Pete Dyos
Mark Cox 6-3 Kevin Thomas
Kevin Painter (19) 6-5 Glenn Spearing
Christian Kist 6-2 Steve Douglas

Second Round
Michael van Gerwen 6-3 Darron Brown
Adam Hunt 6-4 Kevin Voornhout
Justin Pipe 6-5 Connie Finnan
Magnus Caris 6-4 Peter Hudson
Ronny Huybrechts 6-1 Zoran Lerchbacher
Terry Jenkins 6-5 John Henderson
Stephen Bunting 6-5 Dennis Smith
Ben Ward 6-4 Colin Osborne
David Pallett 6-1 Jim Walker
Ron Meulenkamp 6-4 Kevin McDine
Ian White 6-3 Scott Rand
Andy Smith 6-1 Chris Aubrey
Dave Chisnall 6-5 Andrew Gilding
Wayne Jones 6-5 Paul Amos
Mark Webster 6-4 Mark Barilli
Ronnie Baxter 6-3 William O'Connor
Gary Anderson 6-5 Steve Maish
Vincent van der Voort 6-1 Wayne Pepper
Phil Taylor 6-1 Mareno Michels
Paul Nicholson 6-2 Josh Payne
Steve Beaton 6-0 Joe Murnan
Dean Winstanley 6-5 Stuart White
Jamie Caven 6-3 Matt Clark
Michael Smith 6-5 Ross Smith
Peter Wright 6-2 Mark Walsh
Jamie Lewis 6-4 Andy Jenkins
Mervyn King 6-4 Denis Ovens
Stuart Kellett 6-2 Michael Mansell
John Part 6-3 Gino Vos
Darren Webster 6-1 Jyhan Artut
Adrian Lewis 6-2 Mark Cox
Kevin Painter 6-4 Christian Kist
Losers £250

Third Round
Adam Hunt 6-5 Michael van Gerwen
Magnus Caris 6-5 Justin Pipe
Terry Jenkins 6-1 Ronny Huybrechts
Stephen Bunting 6-2 Ben Ward
Ron Meulenkamp 6-3 David Pallett
Ian White 6-3 Andy Smith
Dave Chisnall 6-0 Wayne Jones
Mark Webster 6-4 Ronnie Baxter
Vincent van der Voort 6-2 Gary Anderson
Phil Taylor 6-3 Paul Nicholson
Steve Beaton 6-1 Dean Winstanley
Michael Smith 6-5 Jamie Caven
Peter Wright 6-2 Jamie Lewis
Mervyn King 6-2 Stuart Kellett
Darren Webster 6-4 John Part
Adrian Lewis 6-1 Kevin Painter
Losers £500

Fourth Round
Magnus Caris 6-5 Adam Hunt
Stephen Bunting 6-3 Terry Jenkins
Ian White 6-5 Ron Meulenkamp
Dave Chisnall 6-1 Mark Webster
Phil Taylor 6-2 Vincent van der Voort
Michael Smith 6-2 Steve Beaton
Mervyn King 6-1 Peter Wright
Adrian Lewis 6-3 Darren Webster
Losers £1,000

Quarter-Finals
Magnus Caris 6-4 Stephen Bunting
Ian White 6-2 Dave Chisnall
Phil Taylor 6-1 Michael Smith
Mervyn King 6-3 Adrian Lewis
Losers £1,500

Semi-Finals
Ian White 6-4 Magnus Caris
Phil Taylor 6-2 Mervyn King
Losers £2,500

Final
Phil Taylor 6-0 Ian White
Winner £10,000
Runner-Up £5,000