Wednesday 5 September 2018 19:36, UK
Nathan Aspinall claimed his first PDC ranking title with a 6-4 win over Ryan Searle in the final of Players Championship 18 at The Barnsley Metrodome on Wednesday.
Previously a winner on both the Challenge Tour and Development Tour, the 27-year-old edged past Searle in a match which saw both players appearing in their first PDC ranking finals.
Aspinall bounced back from Tuesday's first-round defeat to Searle at Players Championship 17 to overcome Diogo Portela, Danny Noppert, Ritchie Edhouse, James Wilson, Steve Beaton and Ian White en route to clinching the £10,000 top prize.
"This is massive for me and my family, I am so happy," said Aspinall, who had previously failed to reach the quarter-finals of a ProTour event in 2018.
"When you have an opportunity you've got to take it and I've done that today - it all clicked together.
"Everyone always said I had potential but I've always just come up short. I know I've got the game and I knew my time would come and today is that day."
Elsewhere, Tuesday's Players Championship 17 winner Peter Wright suffered a first-round exit at the hands of Arron Monk, while World Champion Rob Cross went out in round two to Simon Stevenson.
Tuesday's runner-up Daryl Gurney also lost in the first round to Andy Boulton, Simon Whitlock went out in the second round to Cody Harris and Dave Chisnall went down to Luke Woodhouse in round one.
The next Players Championship events will be held on September 28-29 at the Citywest Hotel, Dublin.
Join us for coverage of the World Grand Prix from Dublin, which will be held from September 30-October 6 at the Citywest Hotel, Dublin. The unique Double in, Double out format will be shown live and starts on Sunday, September 30 on Sky Sports Arena from 7pm.
Stick with us for news, views and interviews and expert analysis. Get all the latest at www.skysports.com/darts and join in the conversation @SkySportsDarts - don't forget to use #LoveTheDarts.
