John Part overcame Phil Taylor en route to a whitewash of Denis Ovens to win the final of the Players Championship event in Austria.
Canadian takes second title of the year to book Blackpool spot
John Part overcame Phil Taylor en route to a whitewash of Denis Ovens to win the final of the Players Championship event in Austria on Saturday.
The Canadian claimed his second Players Championship title of the year with his 6-0 win over Ovens in the final of the Austrian Open in Wiener Neustadt.
Former world champion Part picked up the £6,000 first prize and also more importantly ensured his qualification for July's World Matchplay, as well as the year's other televised major championships.
World number 30 Part took out 15-time world champion Taylor in the last 16 with a brilliant 6-2 victory, before beating home hope Mensur Suljovic 6-1 and Peter Wright 6-4 in the semis.
In the final, it was all Part, as 'Darth Maple' quashed anything 'The Heat' could manage as Ovens failed to win a leg in a 6-0 thrashing.
Whitewash
"To whitewash Denis after what happened with Mark Walsh, I guess I'm pretty good in finals!" said the three-time World Champion, who beat Walsh 6-0 to win in Derby in February. "I've got a nice throw going, I'm scoring well.
"I guess the big game was against Phil [Taylor]. He hit five or six 180s against me and although he tried to bully me, I never let him get far enough ahead to do that and I scored pretty well and didn't miss too many shots.
"It's all about making as few mistakes as possible, and you can't make too many and expect to get a win on this tour now.
"I had a silly leg in the semi-final, where both Peter and I missed a lot of darts and he eventually went 4-3 up, but I didn't let it get to me.
"Beating Phil and going on to win an event isn't just special, I can also say I was the best player today, I'm the champion. I'll come back tomorrow and see if I am the champion again."
Ovens' display earned him £3,000 for his efforts, which included a narrow 6-5 win over Kim Huybrechts in the semis and which should be enough for him to earn a World Matchplay qualifying place through the Players Championship Order of Merit.
Huybrechts is now likely to qualify to compete in July's European Championship after reaching the semi-finals with some superb darts, including a quarter-final whitewash of Kevin Painter and wins over Andree Welge, Vincent van der Voort, Michael Smith and Tony Eccles.