Rocket lands Vegas win

Baxter: Rocket downed Taylor

LIVE ON SKY SPORTS
Las Vegas Desert Classic
Sky Sports 1, 7pm Wednesday

Also see

• Order of Merit
• On Sky TV
• Darts Schedule/Results

Ronnie Baxter made an early mark in Las Vegas when beating Phil Taylor 6-2 to win the Players Championship.

Ahead of the Las Vegas Desert Classic, screened live on Sky Sports, Baxter enjoyed the best possible warm-up as he beat the world number one to bag his first tournament title of 2009.

'The Power' was making his first appearance since winning the UK Open in Bolton, mainly due to a bad back, but he made a decent go of things in reaching the final.

Baxter was too good though and his victory sets him up nicely for his first round clash with Jelle Klaasen at the Mandalay Bay on Wednesday.

'The Rocket' needed a deciding leg to beat Japan's Morihiro Hashimoto in the first round, but then hit his stride to defeat Davis Snider, Wayne Mardle, Kevin Painter and John Part to reach the semi-finals.

After beating Peter Wright 6-3, Baxter started his final with Taylor with a 121 finish and led 2-0 before Taylor took out 104 to get off the mark.

Taylor needed a 128 checkout to win his other only leg of the final and Baxter was so far ahead he was able to miss seven darts for the match before eventually beating the 14-time world champion.

The Players Championship also saw two nine-darters, with Larry Butler and Wes Newton both achieving the feat although they both ironically lost their matches.

Taylor begins the defence of his Las Vegas Desert Classic title with a first round match against Jamie Caven on Wednesday, live on Sky Sports 1.