Steve Beaton shocks Gary Anderson to win the Players Championship 13 title in Wigan

The Bronzed Adonis has been waiting for a third title on the PDC circuit since he triumphed at the German Darts Masters back in 2013.

Beaton had earlier defeated Matthew Dennant (6-0), Keegan Brown (6-4) Robert Owen (6-2) , Dave Chisnall (6-4) , Kirk Shepherd (6-0) and Rob Cross en route to his first final since July 2016.

And the 53-year-old made a flying start against Anderson as he took out 125 in the opening leg, before a 12 dart leg gave him a 2-0 lead.

Anderson then missed the bullseye in the third leg to close the gap allowing Beaton to pin double 16 for a 3-0 advantage.

The Flying Scotsman eventually got on the board in the fourth leg with a 12-darter but Beaton again extended his lead in the fifth despite Anderson hitting a fourth maximum.

The pair then held throw with Beaton moving 5-3 ahead and one leg away from the title before finishing the job with an average of 107.09 to claim the £10,000 first prize.

He told the PDC website: "I fancied this today. Ive been trying so hard this year and I’ve played really well today and I’m delighted to win.

"I went to bed last night thinking I want to be in the Matchplay so hopefully this will take me a long way to getting there. Everyone wants to win but maybe I tried that bit harder today."

Anderson was hot favourite to land his third Players Championship crown of the season having scraped past Rowby-John Rodriguez 6-5 before enjoying more convincing victories over Adam Hunt (6-2), Harry Robinson (6-4), Michael Smith (6-2), Kim Huybrechts (6-0) and Daryl Gurney.

But despite averaging 108 in the final, the Flying Scotsman had no answer to the clinical finishing of the veteran Englishman, who hit six of his nine attempts at doubles.

Players Championship 13 results (June 17)

Peter Wright 6 5 Aden Kirk

Steve Hine 6 1 Terry Roach

Vincent van der Voort 6 3 Zoran Lerchbacher

Andy Boulton 6 3 Yordi Meeuwisse

Rob Cross 6 2 Jan Dekker

Vincent Kamphuis 6 3 Jeffrey de Zwaan

Mervyn King 6 4 Kevin Painter

Ryan Searle 6 4 Steve Lennon

Andy Jenkins 6 4 Alan Norris

Ryan Meikle 6 2 Michael Rasztovits

Robert Thornton 6 2 Ronnie Baxter

Mickey Mansell 6 5 Dirk van Duijvenbode

Jelle Klaasen 6 3 Brian Woods

Tony Newell 6 2 Haruki Muramatsu

Darren Johnson 6 2 Ronny Huybrechts

Jonathan Worsley 6 4 Jim Brown

Dave Chisnall 6 0 Mick Todd

James Richardson 6 2 Mark Barilli

Andrew Gilding 6 4 Chris Dobey

Matt Clark 6 2 Peter Jacques

Joe Cullen 6 4 Ricky Evans

Robert Owen 6 4 Diogo Portela

Steve Beaton 6 0 Matthew Dennant

Keegan Brown 6 4 Mark Walsh

Ian White 6 1 Paul Rowley

Jamie Lewis 6 1 Sven Groen

Jonny Clayton 6 5 Callan Rydz

William O'Connor 6 4 Ron Meulenkamp

Kirk Shepherd 6 5 Cristo Reyes

Paul Harvey 6 4 Chris Quantock

James Wilson 6 3 Warrick Scheffer

Mike De Decker 6 3 Dennis Smith

Mensur Suljovic 6 4 Mark Webster

Antonio Alcinas 6 5 David Pallett

Berry van Peer 6 2 Robbie Green

Paul Nicholson 6 2 Devon Petersen

Stephen Bunting 6 3 Richie Burnett

Richard North 6 4 Peter Hudson

Jermaine Wattimena 6 4 James Wade

Ted Evetts 6 1 John Bowles

Richie Corner 6 5 Benito van de Pas

Joe Murnan 6 5 Scott Taylor

Darren Webster 6 2 Simon Preston

Ross Twell 6 5 Ryan Palmer

Daryl Gurney 6 3 Josh Payne

John Michael 6 1 Scott Darbyshire

Christian Kist 6 5 Ritchie Edhouse

Terry Temple 6 2 Shaun Griffiths

Kim Huybrechts 6 2 Ricky Williams

Jamie Caven 6 5 Darron Brown

John Henderson 6 3 Jeffrey de Graaf

Madars Razma 6 3 Bryan de Hoog

Gerwyn Price 6 5 Jimmy Hendriks

Wes Newton 6 1 Jamie Bain

Kyle Anderson 6 1 Dimitri Van den Bergh

Stuart Kellett 6 4 Martin Schindler

Michael Smith 6 2 Prakash Jiwa

Andy Hamilton 6 4 Wayne Jones

Justin Pipe 6 3 Maik Langendorf

Brendan Dolan 6 4 Mick McGowan

Gary Anderson 6 5 Rowby-John Rodriguez

Adam Hunt 6 5 Ray Campbell

Harry Robinson 6 0 Steve West

Stephen Burton 6 5 Simon Stevenson

Last 64

Peter Wright 6 1 Steve Hine

Vincent van der Voort 6 5 Andy Boulton

Rob Cross 6 2 Vincent Kamphuis

Mervyn King 6 2 Ryan Searle

Ryan Meikle 6 3 Andy Jenkins

Robert Thornton 6 5 Mickey Mansell

Tony Newell 6 4 Jelle Klaasen

Darren Johnson 6 5 Jonathan Worsley

Dave Chisnall 6 1 James Richardson

Matt Clark 6 3 Andrew Gilding

Robert Owen 6 5 Joe Cullen

Steve Beaton 6 4 Keegan Brown

Jamie Lewis 6 5 Ian White

Jonny Clayton 6 2 William O'Connor

Kirk Shepherd 6 5 Paul Harvey

Mike De Decker 6 1 James Wilson

Mensur Suljovic 6 2 Antonio Alcinas

Paul Nicholson 6 5 Berry van Peer

Richard North 6 4 Stephen Bunting

Ted Evetts 6 5 Jermaine Wattimena

Richie Corner 6 4 Joe Murnan

Darren Webster 6 3 Ross Twell

Daryl Gurney 6 4 John Michael

Terry Temple 6 1 Christian Kist

Kim Huybrechts 6 5 Jamie Caven

John Henderson 6 5 Madars Razma

Wes Newton 6 5 Gerwyn Price

Stuart Kellett 6 4 Kyle Anderson

Michael Smith 6 4 Andy Hamilton

Brendan Dolan 6 5 Justin Pipe

Gary Anderson 6 2 Adam Hunt

Harry Robinson 6 0 Stephen Burton

Last 32

Peter Wright 6 3 Vincent van der Voort

Rob Cross 6 1 Mervyn King

Robert Thornton 6 1 Ryan Meikle

Tony Newell 6 3 Darren Johnson

Dave Chisnall 6 3 Matt Clark

Steve Beaton 6 2 Robert Owen

Jamie Lewis 6 4 Jonny Clayton

Kirk Shepherd 6 1 Mike De Decker

Mensur Suljovic 6 0 Paul Nicholson

Richard North 6 4 Ted Evetts

Darren Webster 6 5 Richie Corner

Daryl Gurney 6 3 Terry Temple

Kim Huybrechts 6 5 John Henderson

Stuart Kellett 6 2 Wes Newton

Michael Smith 6 3 Brendan Dolan

Gary Anderson 6 4 Harry Robinson

Last 16

Rob Cross 6 4 Peter Wright

Robert Thornton 6 3 Tony Newell

Steve Beaton 6 4 Dave Chisnall

Kirk Shepherd 6 5 Jamie Lewis

Mensur Suljovic 6 3 Richard North

Daryl Gurney 6 5 Darren Webster

Kim Huybrechts 6 3 Stuart Kellett

Gary Anderson 6 2 Michael Smith

Last Eight

Rob Cross 6 1 Robert Thornton

Steve Beaton 6 0 Kirk Shepherd

Daryl Gurney 6 5 Mensur Suljovic

Gary Anderson 6 0 Kim Huybrechts

Last Four

Steve Beaton 6 3 Rob Cross

Gary Anderson 6 1 Daryl Gurney

Final

Steve Beaton 6 3 Gary Anderson