Barnsley glory for Joe Cullen

The Yorkshireman, a three-time Development Tour event winner in 2011 during his emergence, had made three previous ranking finals but April 9 2017 will be remembered as the day he finally got over the line at senior level.

Cullen began the day by surviving two match darts against Yordi Meeuwisse in round one, before going on to win in a deciding leg, and 6-3 wins over Robert Owen, Steve Beaton and John Michael booked the 27-year-old a place in the quarter-finals.

James Richardson was Cullen’s opponent in the last eight where he secured a solid 6-4 victory.

Mervyn King, who had reached his second ProTour semi-final in as many weeks, was waiting for Cullen in the last four, where the 2016 UK Open quarter-finalist had to wait until the tenth leg to break and claim a 6-4 win.

The final saw Cullen come up against Daryl Gurney, who had won his maiden PDC title in Saturday's Players Championship Seven and would prove a difficult obstacle as he chased back-to-back wins.

Gurney firstly saw off David Pallett, Ronnie Baxter and Kirk Shepherd, and Dave Chisnall waited in the fourth round, where the 31-year-old overcame the Premier League player in a 6-4 victory.

Stuart Kellett and finally James Wade were beaten 6-4 by Gurney as he moved in to the last two.

The final began with Cullen opening the match with a maximum before hitting seven perfect darts in the third leg to take a 2-1 lead.

A 14-dart leg then followed as Cullen broke the Gurney throw before holding to move 4-1 ahead.

The pair then traded holds, with Cullen moving to within a leg of the match at 5-3, however an 11-dart break from Gurney kept the contest alive.

Gurney held his throw to take the match to a deciding leg, where he then missed the bullseye to claim a second title in as many days.

Cullen stepped in to pin double four to claim the £10,000 prize, and spoke of his delight at claiming a maiden title.

“Im so happy," he said. "Daryl missed nothing so I had to take my chances.

"I always believe I can win. I used to think I could rely on my natural talent but now I’m putting the work in. Now if I fall I can look at it and think I’ve worked for it in the right way."

The day also saw world number five Wade produce a strong showing as he reached the semi-finals for the first time since February alongside King, who battled through to the last four for a second successive Sunday.

Gerwyn Price followed up a run to Saturday's semi-finals by reaching the last eight 24 hours later, alongside Robbie Green, James Richardson and Stuart Kellett, who enjoyed his best finish on the ProTour for nearly three years.

The Easter weekend sees the PDC European Tour return with the HappyBet German Darts Masters from April 15-17 in Jena, Germany.

Players Championship Eight

First Round

Wayne Jones 6-4 Peter Wright
Terry Roach 6-5 Diogo Portela
John Henderson 6-3 Jonny Clayton
Mick Todd 6-1 Zoran Lerchbacher
Steve West 6-5 Tony Newell
Robbie Green 6-3 Ryan Palmer
Stephen Bunting 6-2 Ross Twell
Antonio Alcinas 6-0 Andy Boulton
Alan Norris 6-4 Ritchie Edhouse
Andy Hamilton 6-2 Richie Burnett
Jamie Bain 6-3 Darren Webster
Chris Quantock 6-5 Dennis Smith
James Wade 6-3 Brendan Dolan
Rob Hewson 6-4 Wes Newton
Mark Barilli 6-4 Christian Kist
Sven Groen 6-5 Jeffrey de Graaf
Paul Nicholson 6-2 Kim Huybrechts
Ricky Williams 6-5 Vincent Kamphuis
Raymond van Barneveld 6-3 Jeffrey de Zwaan
Matthew Dennant 6-5 Mark Walsh
Warrick Scheffer 6-3 Michael Smith
Stuart Kellett 6-5 Dirk van Duijvenbode
James WIlson 6-3 Brian Woods
Haruki Muramatsu 6-2 John Bowles
Dave Chisnall 6-0 Jamie Lewis
Mick McGowan 6-3 Terry Temple
Ronny Huybrechts 6-3 Steve Hine
Ricky Evans 6-3 Stephen Burton
Daryl Gurney 6-2 David Pallett
Ronnie Baxter 6-3 Matt Clark
Kyle Anderson 6-4 Jan Dekker
Kirk Shepherd 6-2 Mike De Decker
Mensur Suljovic 6-5 Peter Jacques
Richard North 6-4 Lee Bryant
Josh Payne 6-5 Adam Hunt
Martin Schindler 6-4 Devon Petersen
Cristo Reyes 6-3 Prakash Jiwa
Darren Johnson 6-1 Darron Brown
Mervyn King 6-0 Andy Jenkins
Peter Hudson 6-4 Joe Murnan
Benito van de Pas 6-3 John Norman Jnr
Rob Cross 6-4 Keegan Brown
Robert Thornton 6-1 Harry Robinson
Jamie Caven 6-1 Ted Evetts
Gerwyn Price 6-0 Jim Brown
Mickey Mansell 6-2 Mark Webster
Adrian Lewis 6-3 Scott Taylor
Steve Lennon 6-4 Berry van Peer
Vincent van der Voort 6-4 Ian White
Jimmy Hendriks 6-5 Jonathan Worsley
Jermaine Wattimena 6-4 Bryan De Hoog
James Richardson 6-5 Kevin Painter
Richie Corner 6-4 Jelle Klaasen
Ron Meulenkamp 6-3 Ryan Meikle
Chris Dobey 6-2 Aden Kirk
Maik Langendorf 6-3 Simon Preston
Craig Gilchrist 6-5 Simon Whitlock
John Michael 6-1 Andy Parsons
Justin Pipe 6-5 Colin Roelofs
Rowby-John Rodriguez 6-2 Ray Campbell
Joe Cullen 6-5 Yordi Meeuwisse
Robert Owen 6-5 Dimitri Van den Bergh
Steve Beaton 6-2 William O'Connor
Madars Razma 6-4 Scott Darbyshire

Second Round

Wayne Jones 6-1 Terry Roach
John Henderson 6-3 Mick Todd
Robbie Green 6-3 Steve West
Antonio Alcinas 6-4 Stephen Bunting
Alan Norris 6-1 Andy Hamilton
Jamie Bain 6-3 Chris Quantock
James Wade 6-3 Rob Hewson
Sven Groen 6-5 Mark Barilli
Paul Nicholson 6-3 Ricky Williams
Raymond van Barneveld 6-4 Matthew Dennant
Stuart Kellett 6-5 Warrick Scheffer
James Wilson 6-4 Haruki Muramatsu
Dave Chisnall 6-5 Mick McGowan
Ricky Evans 6-4 Ronny Huybrechts
Daryl Gurney 6-1 Ronnie Baxter
Kirk Shepherd 6-2 Kyle Anderson
Richard North 6-2 Mensur Suljovic
Josh Payne 6-3 Martin Schindler
Cristo Reyes 6-1 Darren Johnson
Mervyn King 6-3 Peter Hudson
Rob Cross 6-4 Benito van de Pas
Robert Thornton 6-1 Jamie Caven
Gerwyn Price 6-2 Mickey Mansell
Adrian Lewis 6-3 Steve Lennon
Jimmy Hendriks 6-5 Vincent van der Voort
James Richardson 6-4 Jermaine Wattimena
Richie Corner 6-2 Ron Meulenkamp
Maik Langendorf 6-2 Chris Dobey
John Michael 6-2 Craig Gilchrist
Rowby-John Rodriguez 6-3 Justin Pipe
Joe Cullen 6-3 Robert Owen
Steve Beaton 6-1 Madars Razma

Third Round

Wayne Jones 6-2 John Henderson
Robbie Green 6-2 Antonio Alcinas
Alan Norris 6-0 Jamie Bain
James Wade 6-2 Sven Groen
Raymond van Barneveld 6-2 Paul Nicholson
Stuart Kellett 6-4 James Wilson
Dave Chisnall 6-4 Ricky Evans
Daryl Gurney 6-2 Kirk Shepherd
Josh Payne 6-4 Richard North
Mervyn King 6-4 Cristo Reyes
Robert Thornton 6-4 Rob Cross
Gerwyn Price 6-5 Adrian Lewis
James Richardson 6-5 Jimmy Hendriks
Richie Corner 6-4 Maik Langendorf
John Michael 6-3 Rowby-John Rodriguez
Joe Cullen 6-3 Steve Beaton

Fourth Round

Robbie Green 6-2 Wayne Jones
James Wade 6-4 Alan Norris
Stuart Kellett 6-4 Raymond van Barneveld
Daryl Gurney 6-4 Dave Chisnall
Mervyn King 6-3 Josh Payne
Gerwyn Price 6-1 Robert Thornton
James Richardson 6-3 Richie Corner
Joe Cullen 6-3 John Michael

Quarter-Finals

James Wade 6-0 Robbie Green
Daryl Gurney 6-4 Stuart Kellett
Mervyn King 6-4 Gerwyn Price
Joe Cullen 6-4 James Richardson

Semi-Finals

Daryl Gurney 6-4 James Wade
Joe Cullen 6-4 Mervyn King

Final

Joe Cullen 6-5 Daryl Gurney