Power lights up Vegas

Taylor: Vegas win

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Phil Taylor started his Desert Classic campaign by winning the Las Vegas Players Championship on Sunday with a 3-1 defeat of Ronnie Baxter in the final.

The PDC stars got used to the conditions at the Mandalay Bay Resort & Casino with Sunday's Players Championship - and it resulted in a ninth PDC Pro Tour title of the year for 'The Power'.

Taylor never lost a set in his run to the quarter-finals of the Players Championship - but he faced a fight in the last eight as Michael van Gerwen went a set ahead, but for the 13-time world champion to come back to win 3-1.

Mark Walsh was defeated 3-1 in the semis before Taylor had to knuckle down once again to see-off Ronnie Baxter's stern challenge in the final before eventually triumphing 3-1 again.

The victory was the perfect way for Taylor to warm-up for the big one, which starts for him and the other top 12 players in the PDC rankings on Wednesday, live on Sky Sports.

Barney blow

It was the worst possible preparation for defending champion Raymond van Barneveld, who was knocked out in the first round in a deciding set by German Michael Rosenauer - who went on to make the semi-finals.

James Wade and Terry Jenkins both had decent runs into the last eight before being beaten by Walsh and Baxter respectively.

Reigning world champion John Part was knocked out by Steve Beaton in round three, while Adrian Lewis and UK Open runner-up Gary Mawson were both first round losers.

Players Championship finalist Baxter will be one of 200 hopefuls looking to battle through two days of qualifying for the final 16 places in the Las Vegas Desert Classic which kicks-off on Wednesday.

The Rocket will be in high spirits after Sunday's display but he faces a tough opener against former BDO world champion Jelle Klaasen.

The likes of Mervyn King, Denis Ovens, Kevin Painter and World Championship runner-up Kirk Shepherd will all be fighting it out for a place in the tournament proper in front of the Sky Sports cameras from Wednesday.