Mervyn King claimed his first PDC title in almost four years with a 6-2 win over James Wade in the final of Players Championship 15 at The Barnsley Metrodome on Tuesday.
Having last tasted victory at the European Darts Grand Prix in September 2014, King produced a stunning 105.2 average to run out a comfortable winner in his first ProTour final of the year.
King recorded wins over Simon Preston, Matthew Edgar, Rowby-John Rodriguez, Robert Marijanovic, Ian White, Mark Webster and Wade en route to clinching the £10,000 top prize.
“It’s a massive day for me, I’m really happy with that result,” said King, who reached the quarter-finals of the Danish Darts Open last weekend.
“James is a fantastic player and a great friend who gives me a lot of advice in life and darts, so I knew I would have to play well to beat him.
“I upped my level in every game I played today, which was pleasing. There’s a bit more left in the tank but I’m really happy with how today went.”
King took out a magnificent 127 finish to break throw in the opening leg, before Wade broke back straight away with a stunning 126 checkout on the bull.
The world number 21 found double two with his last dart in hand to break the Wade throw for a second time, and then pinged double four to extend his lead to 3-1.
Wade found his favourite double 10 to reduce the deficit to one leg, before King rattled off the final three legs, including a magnificent 104 finish, to seal a sixth career Players Championship title.
Despite defeat in the final, it was a positive day for Wade who won through to his third ranking final of 2018 and produced three ton-plus averages over the course of the event.
The former World Matchplay champion defeated Ryan Joyce, Robert Thornton, Paul Rowley, Chris Dobey, Rob Cross and Steve Beaton as he went close to racking up a 12th Players Championship win of his career.
Elsewhere, world number two Peter Wright was defeated by Robert Marijanovic in round three, while Daryl Gurney lost to Beaton in the last 16.
Simon Whitlock suffered a second round exit at the hands of Prakash Jiwa, Dave Chisnall also went down to Devon Petersen at the second round stage and Michael Smith lost to Beaton in the quarter-finals.
The Players Championship mid-week action will continue tomorrow with Players Championship 16 at The Barnsley Metrodome and will be streamed live on PDCTV-HD.
Players Championship 15 Results
- Peter Wright 6-2 Adam Huckvale
- Cristo Reyes 6-1 Terry Temple
- Brendan Dolan 6-0 Jamie Caven
- Robert Marijanovic 6-4 George Killington
- Mervyn King 6-2 Simon Preston
- Matthew Edgar 6-4 Arron Monk
- Ronnie Baxter 6-5 Jermaine Wattimena
- Rowby-John Rodriguez 6-5 Peter Hudson
- Simon Whitlock 6-3 Kevin Burness
- Prakash Jiwa 6-2 Jan Dekker
- Keegan Brown 6-2 Robert Owen
- Benito van de Pas 6-3 Danny Noppert
- Ian White 6-1 Darren Johnson
- Peter Jacques 6-1 Luke Humphries
- Steve Lennon 6-4 Alan Tabern
- Paul Nicholson 6-2 Dirk van Duijvenbode
- Joe Cullen 6-4 Zoran Lerchbacher
- Stephen Burton 6-3 Dave Prins
- Yordi Meeuwisse 6-3 Jelle Klaasen
- David Pallett 6-3 Kirk Shepherd
- Dave Chisnall 6-4 Tytus Kanik
- Devon Petersen 6-3 Ryan Harrington
- Mark Webster 6-1 Kim Huybrechts
- Nathan Aspinall 6-3 Jamie Lewis
- Jonny Clayton 6-3 Luke Woodhouse
- Ricky Evans 6-5 Sven Groen
- Jarred Cole 6-5 Vincent van der Voort
- Scott Taylor 6-4 Andrew Gilding
- Adam Hunt 6-5 Gerwyn Price
- Ross Twell 6-5 Chris Quantock
- Steve West 6-4 Scott Darbyshire
- Jeffrey de Graaf 6-1 Tony Newell
- Rob Cross 6-5 Mickey Mansell
- Justin Pipe 6-2 Mario Robbe
- Josh Payne 6-4 Lee Bryant
- Mark Wilson 6-2 Robbie Green
- Stephen Bunting 6-5 Steve Hine
- Terry Jenkins 6-2 Bradley Brooks
- Gabriel Clemens 6-5 Kyle Anderson
- Christian Kist 6-3 Mark Dudbridge
- James Wade 6-1 Ryan Joyce
- Robert Thornton 6-2 Joe Murnan
- William O'Connor 6-2 Jeffrey de Zwaan
- Paul Rowley 6-4 Gary Eastwood
- Adrian Lewis 6-2 Diogo Portela
- Aden Kirk 6-1 Ryan Searle
- Chris Dobey 6-5 James Wilson
- Cameron Menzies 6-2 Dawson Murschell
- Daryl Gurney 6-1 Jamie Bain
- Dimitri Van den Bergh 6-5 Vincent Kamphuis
- Richard North 6-1 Jose Justicia
- Ryan Meikle 6-4 Ritchie Edhouse
- Darren Webster 6-5 Davy Van Baelen
- Robert Rickwood 6-2 Simon Stevenson
- Steve Beaton 6-2 Madars Razma
- Ronny Huybrechts 6-3 Richie Burnett
- Michael Smith 6-3 Wayne Jones
- Jimmy Hendriks 6-5 Ron Meulenkamp
- Ross Smith 6-3 Alan Norris
- Toni Alcinas 6-3 Jason Cullen
- Martin Schindler 6-3 Max Hopp
- Michael Barnard 6-3 Eddie Dootson
- John Henderson 6-4 Kevin Painter
- Ted Evetts 6-3 James Richardson
Last 64
- Peter Wright 6-3 Cristo Reyes
- Robert Marijanovic 6-3 Brendan Dolan
- Mervyn King 6-2 Matthew Edgar
- Rowby-John Rodriguez 6-5 Ronnie Baxter
- Prakash Jiwa 6-5 Simon Whitlock
- Keegan Brown 6-2 Benito van de Pas
- Ian White 6-3 Peter Jacques
- Steve Lennon 6-4 Paul Nicholson
- Stephen Burton 6-3 Joe Cullen
- Yordi Meeuwisse 6-4 David Pallett
- Devon Petersen 6-3 Dave Chisnall
- Mark Webster 6-3 Nathan Aspinall
- Jonny Clayton 6-2 Ricky Evans
- Jarred Cole 6-5 Scott Taylor
- Adam Hunt 6-5 Ross Twell
- Jeffrey de Graaf 6-5 Steve West
- Rob Cross 6-5 Justin Pipe
- Josh Payne 6-1 Mark Wilson
- Stephen Bunting 6-4 Terry Jenkins
- Gabriel Clemens 6-4 Christian Kist
- James Wade 6-2 Robert Thornton
- Paul Rowley 6-3 William O'Connor
- Adrian Lewis 6-1 Aden Kirk
- Chris Dobey 6-4 Cameron Menzies
- Daryl Gurney 6-4 Dimitri Van den Bergh
- Richard North 6-2 Ryan Meikle
- Darren Webster 6-3 Robert Rickwood
- Steve Beaton 6-2 Ronny Huybrechts
- Michael Smith 6-0 Jimmy Hendriks
- Ross Smith 6-3 Toni Alcinas
- Michael Barnard 6-4 Martin Schindler
- John Henderson 6-3 Ted Evetts
Last 32
- Robert Marijanovic 6-2 Peter Wright
- Mervyn King 6-3 Rowby-John Rodriguez
- Prakash Jiwa 6-4 Keegan Brown
- Ian White 6-0 Steve Lennon
- Stephen Burton 6-2 Yordi Meeuwisse
- Mark Webster 6-3 Devon Petersen
- Jarred Cole 6-3 Jonny Clayton
- Adam Hunt 6-2 Jeffrey de Graaf
- Rob Cross 6-5 Josh Payne
- Stephen Bunting 6-4 Gabriel Clemens
- James Wade 6-4 Paul Rowley
- Chris Dobey 6-2 Adrian Lewis
- Daryl Gurney 6-0 Richard North
- Steve Beaton 6-1 Darren Webster
- Michael Smith 6-5 Ross Smith
- John Henderson 6-2 Michael Barnard
Last 16
- Mervyn King 6-3 Robert Marijanovic
- Ian White 6-3 Prakash Jiwa
- Mark Webster 6-2 Stephen Burton
- Jarred Cole 6-3 Adam Hunt
- Rob Cross 6-2 Stephen Bunting
- James Wade 6-3 Chris Dobey
- Steve Beaton 6-5 Daryl Gurney
- Michael Smith 6-4 John Henderson
Quarter-Finals
- Mervyn King 6-4 Ian White
- Mark Webster 6-4 Jarred Cole
- James Wade 6-3 Rob Cross
- Steve Beaton 6-3 Michael Smith
Semi-Finals
- Mervyn King 6-3 Mark Webster
- James Wade 6-4 Steve Beaton
Final
- Mervyn King 6-2 James Wade