Lewis beat Nathan Aspinall in the semi-finals before seeing off Boris Koltsov in the final to secure his first title since March 2019, earning himself a place at the World Matchplay.
Monday 11 July 2022 16:31, UK
Adrian Lewis won his first ranking title for over three years as he took victory in Players Championship 20 in Barnsley on Sunday.
The two-time world champion enjoyed a welcome return to the winners' enclosure, defeating Boris Koltsov 8-4 in the final.
Lewis has endured a turbulent time since his last Players Championship success in March 2019, dropping out of the world's top 32.
However, he showed his class with seven wins to scoop the £12,000 title on Sunday in the third of four days of action at the Barnsley Metrodome.
The win secures Lewis' place in the Betfred World Matchplay, which begins in Blackpool next Saturday, with the 2013 runner-up set to return for an 18th appearance after missing out last year for the first time since his debut in 2004.
"I've worked hard for this, so I'm really happy," he said. "It's been amazing - I made a semi on the first day and that gave me the confidence to turn it on today.
"It's more important, because I thought I might not make the Matchplay - it was hard. After the first day when I got to the semis, it takes a bit of pressure off.
"I played alright yesterday and lost to Matt Campbell, and then today I thought 'right, come on, just give it what you've got'.
"I always believe in myself. If everything clicks, I've got a great chance - I can lose to anybody and I can beat anybody!"
Lewis was forced to battle hard in the day's early rounds, defeating Shaun Wilkinson in a deciding leg before seeing off Martijn Kleermaker and Nick Fullwell by 6-4 scorelines.
He then averaged over 102 in a defeat of Pete Burgoyne, and produced a 99.97 average in seeing off reigning World Grand Prix champion Jonny Clayton 6-4 in the quarter-finals.
Lewis proved too strong for Nathan Aspinall in the semi-finals as he came from a leg down to win 7-2, before seeing off Koltsov in the decider.
Danny Noppert claimed his third PDC ranking title at Players Championship 19 on Saturday, coming from behind to defeat Andrew Gilding 8-6 in the final.
With Noppert trailing 6-3, Gilding looked on course for a long-awaited maiden PDC title in his fourth ranking final only to be denied by the UK Open champion.
A late rally from Noppert saw him reel off consecutive legs to take home his first Players Championship title since 2018.
"It was a long time ago since I last won one a Players Championship title," said Noppert, who takes home the £12,000 winner's prize.
"I won this title through fighting and never giving up, if you believe in something then you can achieve it.
"I am a happy man to finally have my moment on the floor. There are 128 fantastic players here so to win this means a lot.
"Now, I am looking forward to all the tournaments coming up."
The series of four Players Championship events conclude on Monday with Event 21, which is the final tournament before the cut-off for World Matchplay qualification.
Check out daily Darts news on skysports.com/darts, our app for mobile devices and our Twitter account @skysportsdarts. We're back for the World Matchplay at the Winter Gardens in Blackpool on Saturday, July 16 - live on Sky Sports Action.
