Gerwyn Price claimed his first title of the year with a thrilling 8-7 defeat of Michael van Gerwen in the final of Players Championship 6 in Wigan on Sunday.
Having lost out to Peter Wright with an average of 109 in the final of Players Championship 5 on Saturday, Price found the bullseye for a 94 checkout in the deciding leg to land his tenth PDC title.
With both players seeking a maiden title of 2020 in their first meeting of the year, Price started the stronger in the all-Premier League final to take a commanding 4-1 lead.
Van Gerwen, who hit a nine-darter in his semi-final win over Krzysztof Ratajski, fought back to trail 5-4 but was unable to find the lead as Price went 7-4 ahead.
Two 11 dart legs either side of a 15-darter saw Van Gerwen take an enthralling contest all the way to a deciding leg, and with the Dutchman waiting on 36 for the match, Price took out 94 to claim a second ever win over the world number one.
“Going into the deciding leg, with Michael throwing first, it looked like the game was gone,” admitted Price, who became the sixth different winner from six Players Championship events so far in 2020.
“I just wanted to make sure I gave myself a shot for the match and I made sure I took it.
“I truly believe now that if I hit my doubles I will win matches against Michael, Peter [Wright] or whoever; my scoring game is up there, if not better than them.
“If you go back to when I started out I threw the towel in and lost games like this but I stuck in there today.
“I’ve played five events this year and I’ve got to three finals so I’m doing alright so far in 2020.”
Van Gerwen, meanwhile, will enter March without a PDC title for the first time since 2011, having lost out to Ryan Searle in the final of Players Championship Three.
The 2020 PDC ProTour continues with the first European Tour event of 2020, the Belgian Darts Championship, which will take place in Hasselt from February 28-March 1, with live streaming on PDCTV.
See full Players Championship 6 results in the Match Centre.
Players Championship Six
Sunday February 23
Last 16
Michael van Gerwen 6-5 Cristo Reyes
James Wade 6-2 Ricky Evans
Peter Wright 6-3 Adrian Lewis
Krzysztof Ratajski 6-4 Devon Petersen
Ian White 6-3 Jermaine Wattimena
Stephen Bunting 6-2 Simon Whitlock
Gerwyn Price 6-4 Jamie Hughes
Steve Beaton 6-3 Daryl Gurney
Quarter-Finals
Michael van Gerwen 6-2 James Wade
Krzysztof Ratajski 6-2 Peter Wright
Stephen Bunting 6-4 Ian White
Gerwyn Price 6-4 Steve Beaton
Semi-Finals
Michael van Gerwen 7-6 Krzysztof Ratajski
Gerwyn Price 7-3 Stephen Bunting
Final
Gerwyn Price 8-7 Michael van Gerwen
