Players Championship 1: Alan Norris wins in Barnsley

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' fairy-tale 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.

Players Championship One Results

Saturday February 25
Barnsley Metrodome
First Round 

Peter Wright (1) 6-1 Kirk Shepherd

Vincent Kamphuis 6-2 Simon Preston

Joe Murnan 6-3 Jamie Caven (32)

Terry Temple 6-3 Simon Stevenson 

Kyle Anderson (16) 6-2 Richie Corner

Mick McGowan 6-5 Jonathan Worsley

James Wilson (17) 6-4 Andy Jenkins

Peter Hudson 6-5 James Richardson

Kim Huybrechts (8) 6-2 Jim Brown

Richie Burnett 6-4 Mark Walsh

Justin Pipe (25) 6-4 Bryan De Hoog

Keegan Brown 6-4 Kevin Painter

Alan Norris (9) 6-4 Rob Cross

Ryan Searle 6-4 Jonny Clayton 

Robert Thornton (24) 6-1 Devon Petersen

Mike De Decker 6-2 Dimtiri Van den Bergh 

Simon Whitlock (5) 6-3 Rowby-John Rodriguez

Andy Boulton 6-4 Paul Harvey

Darren Webster (28) 6-2 Ryan Palmer

Maik Langendorf 6-3 Berry van Peer 

Ryan Meikle 6-3 Joe Cullen (12) 

Steve Hine 6-5 Mick Todd 

Daryl Gurney (21) 6-1 Diogo Portela

Wayne Jones 6-1 Martin Schindler

Dave Chisnall (4) 6-4 Shaun Griffiths

Jimmy Hendriks 6-5 Stuart Kellett

Jermaine Wattimena (29) 6-0 Yordi Meeuwisse

Jan Dekker 6-1 Harry Robinson

Wes Newton 6-4 Stephen Bunting (13)  

Zoran Lerchbacher 6-5 Prakash Jiwa 

Steve West (20) 6-4 Andy Parsons

John Bowles 6-2 Scott Derbyshire

Mensur Suljovic (2) 6-4 Raymond van Barneveld 

Matthew Dennant 6-4 Jamie Bain 

Christian Kist (31) 6-5 Dirk van Duijvenbode

Aden Kirk 6-4 Ron Meulenkamp 

Steve Beaton (15) 6-3 Ricky Evans

Mickey Mansell 6-2 Darren Johnson 

Cristo Reyes (18) 6-1 Jeffrey De Graaf

Robert Owen 6-4 Andrew Gilding 

James Wade (7) 6-4 Ted Evetts

Adam Hunt 6-3 Ricky Williams 

Chris Quantock 6-5 Ronny Huybrechts (26) 

Ross Twell 6-3 Darron Brown

Jelle Klaasen (10) 6-3 Matt Clark

David Pallet 6-3 Matthew Edgar

Mervyn King (23) 6-5 Jeffrey De Zwaan

Richard North 6-4 Andy Hamilton

Ian White (6) 6-5 Mark Webster 

Brendan Dolan 6-5 Vincent van der Voort 

Robbie Green (27) 6-2 Ray Campbell

Stephen Burton 6-2 Sven Groen 

Michael Smith (11) 6-5 Lee Bryant 

Dennis Smith 6-4 Tony Newell

Adrian Lewis (22) 6-3 John Jnr Norman

Ronnie Baxter 6-3 Max Hopp

Benito van de Pas (3) 6-4 Mark Barilli 

William O'Connor 6-4 Ritchie Edhouse

Josh Payne (30) 6-3 Paul Rowley

Peter Jacques 6-2 Paul Nicholson 

Gary Anderson (14) 6-4 Brian Woods

Antonio Alcinas 6-4 John Henderson

Chris Dobey (19) 6-5 Steve Lennon

Scott Taylor 6-5 Jamie Lewis

Second Round 

Peter Wright 6-0 Vincent Kamphuis

Joe Murnan 6-0 Terry Temple

Kyle Anderson 6-2 Mick McGowan

Peter Hudson 6-3 James Wilson 

Kim Huybrechts 6-5 Richie Burnett

Keegan Brown 6-5 Justin Pipe 

Alan Norris 6-1 Ryan Searle

Mike De Decker 6-5 Robert Thornton 

Simon Whitlock 6-3 Andy Boulton

Darren Webster 6-4 Maik Langendorf

Ryan Meikle 6-4 Steve Hine

Daryl Gurney 6-4 Wayne Jones

Dave Chisnall 6-3 Jimmy Hendriks

Jan Dekker 6-4 Jermaine Wattimena 

Zoran Lerchbacher 6-1 Wes Newton

Steve West 6-2 John Bowles

Mensur Suljovic 6-3 Matthew Dennant

Aden Kirk 6-3 Christian Kist 

Steve Beaton 6-4 Mickey Mansell

Cristo Reyes 6-4 Robert Owen

James Wade 6-2 Adam Hunt 

Chris Quantock 6-3 Ross Twell

David Pallett 6-2 Jelle Klaasen 

Mervyn King 6-2 Richard North

Brendan Dolan 6-2 Ian White 

Stephen Burton 6-5 Robbie Green 

Michael Smith 6-3 Dennis Smith

Adrian Lewis 6-4 Ronnie Baxter

William O'Connor 6-5 Benito van de Pas 

Peter Jacques 6-3 Josh Payne 

Gary Anderson 6-0 Antonio Alcinas

Chris Dobey 6-3 Scott Taylor

Third Round 

Peter Wright 6-5 Joe Murnan

Kyle Anderson 6-3 Peter Hudson

Keegan Brown 6-4 Kim Huybrechts 

Alan Norris 6-2 Mike De Decker

Simon Whitlock 6-3 Darren Webster

Daryl Gurney 6-1 Ryan Meikle 

Dave Chisnall 6-1 Jan Dekker

Steve West 6-4 Zoran Lerchbacher

Mensur Suljovic 6-1 Aden Kirk

Cristo Reyes 6-4 Steve Beaton 

James Wade 6-4 Chris Quantock

Mervyn King 6-4 David Pallet

Brendan Dolan 6-5 Stephen Burton

Michael Smith 6-3 Adrian Lewis

Peter Jacques 6-5 William O'Connor 

Gary Anderson 6-0 Chris Dobey

Fourth Round 

Kyle Anderson 6-3 Peter Wright 

Alan Norris 6-1 Keegan Brown 

Simon Whitlock 6-5 Daryl Gurney

Steve West 6-1 Dave Chisnall 

Cristo Reyes 6-5 Mensur Suljovic 

James Wade 6-2 Mervyn King 

Michael Smith 6-5 Brendan Dolan

Peter Jacques 6-3 Gary Anderson

Quarter-Finals 

Alan Norris 6-1 Kyle Anderson 

Simon Whitlock 6-2 Steve West

James Wade 6-5 Cristo Reyes 

Peter Jacques 6-4 Michael Smith

Semi-Finals 

Alan Norris 6-4 Simon Whitlock

Peter Jacques 6-4 James Wade

Final 

Alan Norris 6-1 Peter Jacques