Kyle Anderson hits nine-dart finish en route to winning Players Championship 17

The Australian, who had made semi-finals on six previous occasions on the PDC Tour, finally got over the line as he defeated Kevin Painter 6-2 in the final.

It capped off a superb day which had earlier seen him achieve the perfect leg in a 6-3 victory over Ronny Huybrechts while Jamie Lewis also managed one during a second-round victory over John Part.

The final began with Anderson in scintillating form, taking out 148 for an early break and setting the tone for the rest of the encounter.

Back-to-back two dart 64 finishes gave Anderson yet another break and a commanding 3-0 lead over his rival. The gap was to widen further as the 29-year-old from Perth, Australia, took out yet another ton-plus finish, this time 108 on tops for a 4-0 advantage.

The Australian followed that with another break of throw, first missing double 14 for a second 148 finish before eventually finding the same target on the next visit.

Anderson then looked set to complete an impressive whitewash win going off 180, 180 in the sixth leg before Painter took out 128 on the bull to get his first leg on the board.

The Englishman, playing in his first final for almost four years, then followed that with a convincing hold of throw, checking out 52 on double ten to extend the contest further.

The eighth leg was to be the final one of the match though as Kyle Anderson wrapped up a 6-2 win and claimed his first PDC title.

Anderson told the PDC website: "Today it all came together. I said to myself, I have to take the chances I make for myself and today I took my chance. I’ve never doubted myself, everybody on the tour can do what I did today and it’s the one’s who don’t get nervous who come through in the end."

The world number 29, who is based in Nottingham and has to spend the majority of the year without his wife and son also spoke of how having them around for the last five weeks has benefitted him.

He said: "My boy was with me and I feel comfortable, It’s been so good to see him and I can’t wait to see him again. Having them around has made it so much easier recently.

"This is not a one off, I have to win again, there has to be more!"

The day began for the Australian with a commanding 6-3 victory over Tony Newell, before needing a last leg decider to overcome Nathan Aspinall.

The last 32 saw Anderson brush Ryan Meikle aside, coming through 6-1 before going on to achieve a perfect leg in his 6-3 win over Huybrechts.

The quarter-finals saw Anderson beat Stephen Bunting, a man desperately trying to rediscover so form 6-3 to progress in to the last four.

Michael Smith, a good friend of Anderson awaited in the semi-finals, where once again the Australian proved too strong, defeating his rival 6-3 to set up a decider with Kevin Painter.

Painter, a former World Championship finalist, who was looking to win his first PDC title since the 2011 Players Championship finals began his route to the final with a 6-2 win over Mike de Decker.

A pair of 6-4 wins over Vincent van der Voort and another nine-dart hero, Jamie Lewis followed as Painter progressed in to the last 16.

Mervyn King was powerless to resist as Painter advanced yet again, this time with a 6-2 win.

Gerwyn Price provided 'The Artist' with his toughest pre-final test, taking the 50-year-old to a last leg decider, where he had to survive match darts from the Welshman.

A scrappy 6-3 win over Jermaine Wattimena meant Painter would face Anderson in the final but it was to be the Australian who would end his run as the highest ranked player without a PDC title.

Players Championship 18 takes place in Barnsley on Sunday with 128 players competing for the £10,000 prize.

Players Championship 17 Results

Last 128

Simon Whitlock 6-4 Ricky Evans

Peter Hudson 6-1 Madars Razma

Jermaine Wattimena 6-4 Alan Tabern

Berry van Peer 6-4 William O'Connor

Darren Webster 6-3 Lee Bryant

Paul Harvey 6-5 Wes Newton

Steve Beaton 6-3 Max Hopp

Luke Woodhouse 6-5 Robert Owen

Kim Huybrechts 6-0Scott Darbyshire

Andy Jenkins 6-4 Simon Stevenson

Jamie Bain 6-4 Chris Dobey

Keegan Brown 6-3 Dirk van Duijvenbode

Joe Cullen 6-4 Darren Johnson

Matthew Edgar 6-3 Dennis Smith

Justin Pipe 6-5 Terry Temple

Callan Rydz 6-3 Jonathan Worsley

John Part 6-3 Benito van de Pas

Jamie Lewis 6-3 Josh Payne

Vincent van der Voort 6-4 Jamie Caven

Kevin Painter 6-2 Mike De Decker

Mervyn King 6-2 Prakash Jiwa

Warrick Scheffer 6-2 Steve Hine

Robert Thornton 6-2 Sven Groen

Chris Quantock 6-2 Brian Woods

Alan Norris 6-5 Andy Boulton

Steve Lennon 6-5 James Richardson

Dimitri Van den Bergh 6-3 Rowby-John Rodriguez

Peter Jacques 6-3 John Michael

Gerwyn Price 6-3 Andrew Gilding

David Pallett 6-3 Jim Walker

John Henderson 6-1 Richie Corner

Aden Kirk 6-1 Ray Campbell

Michael Smith 6-3 Jan Dekker

Richie Burnett 6-2 Jim Brown

Mark Webster 6-2 Jimmy Hendriks

Mark Walsh 6-3 Joe Murnan

James Wade 6-2 Bryan de Hoog

Ted Evetts 6-5 Mick McGowan

Devon Petersen 6-4 James Wilson

Harry Robinson 6-1 Wayne Jones

Jelle Klaasen 6-0Michael Barnard

Yordi Meeuwisse 6-1 Vincent Kamphuis

Jonny Clayton 6-5 Ronnie Baxter

Mickey Mansell 6-5 Ritchie Edhouse

Dave Chisnall 6-0Stephen Burton

Kirk Shepherd 6-4 Martin Schindler

Christian Kist 6-3 John Bowles

Zoran Lerchbacher 6-5 Ron Meulenkamp

Jeffrey de Graaf 6-3 Ian White

Matthew Dennant 6-3 Paul Nicholson

Ronny Huybrechts 6-2 Adam Hunt

Ryan Searle 6-2 Ross Twell

Rob Cross 6-0Mick Todd

Ryan Meikle 6-2 Rusty-Jake Rodriguez

Kyle Anderson 6-3 Tony Newell

Nathan Aspinall 6-3 Paul Rowley

Daryl Gurney 6-0Maik Langendorf

Jeffrey de Zwaan 6-2 Matt Clark

Richard North 6-4 Robbie Green

Brendan Dolan 6-3 Andy Hamilton

Stephen Bunting 6-4 Simon Preston

Diogo Portela 6-3 Ryan Palmer

Steve West 6-3 Stuart Kellett

Scott Taylor 6-3 Antonio Alcinas

Last 64

Peter Hudson 6-4 Simon Whitlock

Jermaine Wattimena 6-2 Berry van Peer

Darren Webster 6-5 Paul Harvey

Steve Beaton 6-5 Luke Woodhouse

Kim Huybrechts 6-3 Andy Jenkins

Keegan Brown 6-5 Jamie Bain

Joe Cullen 6-3 Matthew Edgar

Justin Pipe 6-3 Callan Rydz

Jamie Lewis 6-1 John Part

Kevin Painter 6-4 Vincent van der Voort

Mervyn King 6-1 Warrick Scheffer

Chris Quantock 6-3 Robert Thornton

Steve Lennon 6-5 Alan Norris

Peter Jacques 6-1 Dimitri Van den Bergh

Gerwyn Price 6-4 David Pallett

John Henderson 6-2 Aden Kirk

Michael Smith 6-3 Richie Burnett

Mark Walsh 6-5 Mark Webster

Ted Evetts 6-3 James Wade

Devon Petersen 6-5 Harry Robinson

Yordi Meeuwisse 6-3 Jelle Klaasen

Jonny Clayton 6-5 Mickey Mansell

Dave Chisnall 6-1 Kirk Shepherd

Christian Kist 6-1 Zoran Lerchbacher

Jeffrey de Graaf 6-2 Matthew Dennant

Ronny Huybrechts 6-3 Ryan Searle

Ryan Meikle 6-5 Rob Cross

Kyle Anderson 6-5 Nathan Aspinall

Daryl Gurney 6-2 Jeffrey de Zwaan

Brendan Dolan 6-1 Richard North

Stephen Bunting 6-0Diogo Portela

Scott Taylor 6-5 Steve West

Last 32

Jermaine Wattimena 6-1 Peter Hudson

Steve Beaton 6-2 Darren Webster

Kim Huybrechts 6-5 Keegan Brown

Justin Pipe 6-3 Joe Cullen

Kevin Painter 6-4 Jamie Lewis

Mervyn King 6-1 Chris Quantock

Steve Lennon 6-2 Peter Jacques

Gerwyn Price 6-2 John Henderson

Michael Smith 6-3 Mark Walsh

Ted Evetts 6-5 Devon Petersen

Yordi Meeuwisse 6-3 Jonny Clayton

Christian Kist 6-4 Dave Chisnall

Ronny Huybrechts 6-3 Jeffrey de Graaf

Kyle Anderson 6-1 Ryan Meikle

Daryl Gurney 6-2 Brendan Dolan

Stephen Bunting 6-3 Scott Taylor

Last 16

Jermaine Wattimena 6-3 Steve Beaton

Justin Pipe 6-4 Kim Huybrechts

Kevin Painter 6-2 Mervyn King

Gerwyn Price 6-4 Steve Lennon

Michael Smith 6-4 Ted Evetts

Yordi Meeuwisse 6-5 Christian Kist

Kyle Anderson 6-3 Ronny Huybrechts

Stephen Bunting 6-4 Daryl Gurney

Last Eight

Jermaine Wattimena 6-3 Justin Pipe

Kevin Painter 6-5 Gerwyn Price

Michael Smith 6-2 Yordi Meeuwisse

Kyle Anderson 6-3 Stephen Bunting

Last Four

Kevin Painter 6-3 Jermaine Wattimena

Kyle Anderson 6-3 Michael Smith

Final

Kyle Anderson 6-2 Kevin Painter