ROBERT THORNTON won his second title in the space of 24 hours after defeating Terry Jenkins 6-4 to win the eighth Players Championship of the year on Sunday, at the Robin Park Tennis Centre in Wigan.
The Premier League star continued his excellent form of Saturday as he took the second £10,000 winners prize across the weekend for his third title of the year - increasing his earnings for the weekend to £20,000.
The 2012 UK Open champion dropped just three legs in his opening two games against Ryan Palmer and James Richardson before winning his last 32 clash against Yorkshire’s Dean Winstanley by a 6-4 margin.
Thornton’s last 16 encounter proved to be tough battle against Justin Pipe, where he emerged victorious by taking a deciding leg before claiming a semi-final berth following a 6-3 win over Darren Webster with a 101 average.
The Scotsman recorded another 101 average in his semi-final win over Stephen Bunting and continued that form at the start of the final as he won the opening two legs of the final against Terry Jenkins with 11, and 12-dart-finishes.
The next two legs where shared before Thornton hit a 110 finish in the fifth leg to move 4-1 clear and look on course for back-to-back Pro Tour titles.
Jenkins, though fought back with a 14-darter in the sixth leg, and then took the seventh on double ten to reduce the gap to 4-3.
Thornton hit double top to move a leg away from victory before Jenkins hit double seven to win the ninth leg, which saw both players hit 180s.
That left Jenkins just a leg behind at 5-4 but Thornton crossed the finish line in brilliant style as he landed the bullseye for a 121 checkout, to round-off a brilliant two days for the Scotsman.
Jenkins started his run to a second final of 2014 with a comfortable win Ben Ward before having to fight in his next matches over Tony Newell and Jim Walker, which were both won in deciding legs.
Jenkins dismissed his last 16 opponent Mervyn King by a 6-1 margin and then won his quarter-final against Andrew Gilding, winning three straight legs from 4-3 down to progress.
The seven-time major finalist produced a fantastic last four performance against Simon Whitlock, where he averaged 105.38 in a 6-1 win, which featured a 146 checkout.
The Ledbury ace kept up that superb standard in the final as he averaged over 105 for a second game running but it was not to defeat the brilliant Thornton, who edged a high-quality final by a 6-4 margin.
2014 Lakeside Champion Stephen Bunting followed up his semi-final appearance in the German Darts Masters a fortnight ago, with another strong run to the last four in Wigan on Sunday.
The St Helens ace - who captured his first PDC title in just his second event back in February - defied a 107 average from Ian White in a brilliant quarter-final encounter, which he won in a deciding leg, before losing at the last four stage to Thornton by a 6-2 margin, despite averaging over 102.
World number three Simon Whitlock found some good form on Sunday as he reached the semi-finals for the first time since his World Championship run last Christmas.
The former European Champion recorded an impressive 6-4 third round win over James Wade before dropping just two legs in his next two games against the Dutch duo of Benito van de Pas and Christian Kist.
That put Whitlock through to the last four but his hopes of competing in the final were dashed as he fell to a 6-1 loss against an inspired Jenkins, having to settle for £2,500 in prize money.
2014 Lakeside Champion Stephen Bunting followed up his semi-final appearance in the German Darts Masters a fortnight ago, with another strong run to the last four in Wigan on Sunday.
The St Helens ace - who captured his first PDC title in just his second event back in February - defied a 107 average from Ian White in a brilliant quarter-final encounter, which he won in a deciding leg, before losing at the last four stage to Thornton by a 6-2 margin, despite averaging over 102.
Former Lakeside Champion Christian Kist continued his good form by reaching the last eight for the third time in 2014 while Ian White fell at the same stage despite hitting a 107 average in a high-quality quarter-final clash against Bunting, which he lost in a deciding leg.
Norwich’s Darren Webster reached his third quarter final of the year before falling victim to Thornton while Andrew Gilding produced another eye-catching display in his run to the last eight, including wins over Brendan Dolan and Raymond van Barneveld.
Holland’s Benito van de Pas enjoyed his best performance in a PDC event since securing his Tour Card in January, with a fine run to the last 16 stage before falling to Whitlock by a 6-1 margin.
Widnes’ John Bowles produced his best result since last September by reaching the reaching the fourth round while 2010 Players Championship Finals winner Paul Nicholson also reached the last 16, recording his best performance of the year so far.
Saturday’s runner-up Keegan Brown, who produced a wonderful performance to go a leg away from £10,000 first prize, fell at the first hurdle 24 hours on to Northern Ireland’s Brendan Dolan.
Players Championship 8
Robin Park Tennis Centre, Wigan
First Round
Aden Kirk 6-2 Gary Anderson (1)
Steve Brown 6-3 Ricky Evans
Stephen Bunting (32) 6-2 Dan Russell
Mick Todd 6-4 Colin Osborne
Michael Smith (16) 6-5 Kyle Anderson
John Bowles 6-4 Nick Fullwell
Ronnie Baxter (17) 6-1 Joe Murnan
Ting Chi Royden Lam 6-3 Scott Mackenzie
Ian White (8) 6-3 Joe Cullen
Gerwyn Price 6-3 Andy Jenkins
Wayne Jones (25) 6-0 Mark Cox
John Henderson 6-5 Mark Dudbridge
Jamie Caven (9) 6-3 Joey Palfreyman
Colin Lloyd 6-0 Steve Maish
Michael Barnard 6-5 Stuart Kellett (24)
Mark Frost 6-5 Ron Meulenkamp
Robert Thornton (5) 6-1 Ryan Palmer
James Richardson 6-2 Stuart White
Dean Winstanley (28) 6-0 Dave Bird
Pete Dyos 6-0 Ricky Sudale
Justin Pipe (12) 6-5 Joey Ten Berge
Paul Amos 6-3 Kevin McDine
Jamie Lewis (21) 6-2 Mareno Michels
Andy Pearce 6-2 Matt Clark
Peter Wright (4) 6-2 James Hubbard
Mark Barilli 6-3 Kevin Dowling
Darren Webster (29) 6-3 William O'Connor
David Ladley 6-3 Robert Owen
Peter Hudson 6-5 Andy Hamilton (13)
Terry Temple 6-3 Dennis Priestley
Daryl Gurney 6-5 Vincent van der Voort (20)
Wayne Pepper 6-1 Darron Brown
Brendan Dolan (2) 6-4 Keegan Brown
John Part 6-5 Mark Walsh
Andrew Gilding (31) 6-2 Campbell Jackson
Marc Dewsbury 6-5 Matt Padgett
Kevin Painter (15) 6-3 Mark Webster
David Pallett 6-4 Johnny Haines
Raymond van Barneveld (18) 6-2 Chris Aubrey
Kirk Shepherd 6-1 Ian Moss
Jim Walker 6-5 Steve Beaton (7)
Steve West 6-2 Connie Finnan
Terry Jenkins (26) 6-1 Ben Ward
Tony Newell 6-2 Magnus Caris
Mervyn King (10) 6-4 Ryan De Vreede
Ronny Huybrechts 6-1 Steve Hine
Antonio Alcinas 6-5 Jelle Klaasen (23)
Glenn Spearing 6-5 Denis Ovens
Kim Huybrechts (6) 6-4 David Dodds
Benito van de Pas 6-1 Gary Stone
Andy Smith (27) 6-3 John Newland
Ross Smith 6-4 Nigel Heydon
Simon Whitlock (11) 6-2 Kevin Thomas
Scott Rand 6-3 Conan Whitehead
James Wade (22) 6-5 Dennis Smith
Andy Parsons 6-2 Arron Monk
Michael Mansell 6-4 Dave Chisnall (3)
Christian Kist 6-4 Rowby-John Rodriguez
Kevin Voornhout 6-1 Richie Burnett (30)
Jason Lovett 6-5 Kurt Parry
Wes Newton (14) 6-4 Zoran Lerchbacher
Josh Payne 6-4 Darren Johnson
Paul Nicholson (19) 6-1 Adam Hunt
Steve Grubb 6-5 Tomas Seyler
Second Round
Steve Brown 6-5 Aden Kirk
Stephen Bunting 6-0 Mick Todd
John Bowles 6-4 Michael Smith
Ting Chi Royden Lam 6-5 Ronnie Baxter
Ian White 6-4 Gerwyn Price
Wayne Jones 6-4 John Henderson
Jamie Caven 6-1 Colin Lloyd
Michael Barnard 6-5 Mark Frost
Robert Thornton 6-2 James Richardson
Dean Winstanley 6-5 Pete Dyos
Justin Pipe 6-3 Paul Amos
Jamie Lewis 6-4 Andy Pearce
Peter Wright 6-1 Mark Barilli
Darren Webster 6-3 David Ladley
Terry Temple 6-3 Peter Hudson
Daryl Gurney 6-0 Wayne Pepper
Brendan Dolan 6-1 John Part
Andrew Gilding 6-4 Marc Dewsbury
Kevin Painter 6-5 David Pallett
Raymond van Barneveld 6-3 Kirk Shepherd
Jim Walker 6-4 Steve West
Terry Jenkins 6-5 Tony Newell
Mervyn King 6-1 Ronny Huybrechts
Glenn Spearing 6-4 Antonio Alcinas
Benito van de Pas 6-1 Kim Huybrechts
Ross Smith 6-4 Andy Smith
Simon Whitlock 6-3 Scott Rand
James Wade 6-3 Andy Parsons
Christian Kist 6-5 Michael Mansell
Jason Lovett 6-4 Kevin Voornhout
Wes Newton 6-5 Josh Payne
Paul Nicholson 6-0 Steve Grubb
Losers £250
Third Round
Stephen Bunting 6-4 Steve Brown
John Bowles 6-1 Ting Chi Royden Lam
Ian White 6-2 Wayne Jones
Jamie Caven 6-1 Michael Barnard
Robert Thornton 6-4 Dean Winstanley
Justin Pipe 6-1 Jamie Lewis
Darren Webster 6-5 Peter Wright
Terry Temple 6-2 Daryl Gurney
Andrew Gilding 6-5 Brendan Dolan
Raymond van Barneveld 6-4 Kevin Painter
Terry Jenkins 6-5 Jim Walker
Mervyn King 6-5 Glenn Spearing
Benito van de Pas 6-1 Ross Smith
Simon Whitlock 6-4 James Wade
Christian Kist 6-5 Jason Lovett
Paul Nicholson 6-2 Wes Newton
Losers £500
Fourth Round
Stephen Bunting 6-4 John Bowles
Ian White 6-1 Jamie Caven
Robert Thornton 6-5 Justin Pipe
Darren Webster 6-4 Terry Temple
Andrew Gilding 6-4 Raymond van Barneveld
Terry Jenkins 6-1 Mervyn King
Simon Whitlock 6-1 Benito van de Pas
Christian Kist 6-1 Paul Nicholson
Losers £1,000
Quarter-Finals
Stephen Bunting 6-5 Ian White
Robert Thornton 6-3 Darren Webster
Terry Jenkins 6-4 Andrew Gilding
Simon Whitlock 6-2 Christian Kist
Losers £1,500
Semi-Finals
Robert Thornton 6-2 Stephen Bunting
Terry Jenkins 6-1 Simon Whitlock
Losers £2,500
Final
Robert Thornton 6-4 Terry Jenkins
Winner £10,000
Runner-Up £5,000
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