By Alex Moss
1 APRIL 2017 • 9:52PM
Adrian Lewis clinched his first PDC ranking title in more than a year as he beat Dave Chisnall 6-2 to win Players Championship 5 at Arena MK in Milton Keynes today.
The two-time world champion fired in a 164 checkout as he stormed into a 3-0 lead, before Chisnall hit back with a 122 checkout to close the gap.
With a 5-2 lead and throwing for the title, Lewis kicked off with eight perfect darts before missing double 12 to win the tournament in style.
The world number four eventually wrapped up the title on double one to secure the £10,000 top prize and his first ranking title since February of 2016.
Lewis’ best performance of the day came in a stunning 6-5 victory over Michael van Gerwen in the semi-finals, a game which saw an incredible 13 180s and another miss at double 12 for a nine darter – this time from van Gerwen.
The Stoke ace began the day with a narrow 6-5 win over Benito van de Pas, before beating Andy Hamilton and Justin Pipe to reach the last 16.
A 6-3 victory over Peter Jacques followed, before another last-leg success, this time over Richard North – who was enjoying one of his best runs on the PDC Pro Tour – put Lewis through to the semi-finals.
Chisnall’s run to the final – his first of 2017 – saw him narrowly edge past Ritchie Edhouse 6-5 in the opening round, before getting the better of Andy Jenkins and John Henderson to advance to the last 16.
There he defeated Mickey Mansell before whitewashing Mark Webster to reach the semi-finals.
A dominant 6-3 victory over Alan Norris meant Chisnall booked his place in his first final of the season, where he was beaten by Lewis.
It was another strong run for world number one van Gerwen on the floor, but his wait for a first Players Championship title in 2017 goes on, having now lost out in the semi-final stage on two occasions.
Norris’ good form continued, with the Players Championship 1 winner, who also made the last four at the Coral UK Open, reaching the semi-finals in Milton Keynes.
The PDC Pro Tour continues on Sunday, with another £75,000 prize fund up for grabs as Players Championship 6 gets underway at Arena MK.
Players Championship 5
Saturday April 1, Arena MK, Milton Keynes
First Round
Michael van Gerwen 6-3 Sven Groen
Vincent van der Voort 6-2 Haruki Muramatsu
Brendan Dolan 6-3 Jamie Caven
Simon Stevenson 6-1 Craig Gilchrist
Cristo Reyes 6-1 Darron Brown
Mick Todd 6-4 Martin Schindler
Steve Hine 6-1 Steve West
Aden Kirk 6-4 Ryan Palmer
Ian White 6-5 Ryan Searle
Matthew Dennant 6-1 Dennis Smith
Robbie Green 6-3 Richie Corner
Jamie Bain 6-4 Berry van Peer
Kim Huybrechts 6-5 Kirk Shepherd
Rob Cross 6-2 Lee Bryant
Christian Kist 6-2 Paul Harvey
Scott Taylor 6-4 Jamie Lewis
Dirk van Duijvenbode 6-4 Simon Whitlock
Richard North 6-3 Harry Robinson
Josh Payne 6-2 Jeffrey de Zwaan
Jimmy Hendriks 6-4 Mick McGowan
Shaun Griffiths 6-5 Michael Smith
Dimitri van den Bergh 6-4 Jonny Clayton
Kyle Anderson 6-5 Warrick Scheffer
Kevin Painter 6-5 Stephen Burton
Adrian Lewis 6-5 Benito van de Pas
Andy Hamilton 6-4 Terry Roach
Justin Pipe 6-2 Maik Langendorf
Joe Murnan 6-1 Ross Twell
Gary Anderson 6-1 Ray Campbell
Peter Hudson 6-4 Max Hopp
Daryl Gurney 6-2 Mark Barilli
Peter Jacques 6-1 Paul Nicholson
Peter Wright 6-1 Mike De Decker
Wayne Jones 6-3 Diogo Portela
Steve Lennon 6-5 Raymond van Barneveld
Terry Temple 6-1 Paul Rowley
Stephen Bunting 6-2 Simon Preston
John Bowles 6-2 Devon Petersen
Steve Beaton 6-2 Zoran Lerchbacher
John Part 6-4 Ricky Williams
Alan Norris 6-5 Rowby-John Rodriguez
Ronnie Baxter 6-5 Ted Evetts
Ronny Huybrechts 6-3 Chris Quantock
Adam Hunt 6-5 Darren Johnson
Gerwyn Price 6-2 Madars Razma
Yordi Meeuwisse 6-3 Tony Newell
Chris Dobey 6-3 James Richardson
Ricky Evans 6-2 Colin Roelofs
Dave Chisnall 6-5 Ritchie Edhouse
Andy Jenkins 6-1 Jim Brown
Darren Webster 6-2 William O’Connor
John Henderson 6-5 Jeffrey de Graaf
Richie Burnett 6-0 Jelle Klaasen
Keegan Brown 6-2 Ryan Meikle
James Wilson 6-3 Ron Meulenkamp
Mickey Mansell 6-1 David Pallett
Jan Dekker 6-3 Mensur Suljovic
Jonathan Worsley 6-1 Brian Woods
Robert Thornton 6-4 Prakash Jiwa
Mark Webster 6-2 Robert Owen
Andrew Gilding 6-5 Joe Cullen
Vincent Kamphuis 6-5 Andy Boulton
Wes Newton 6-3 Mervyn King
Matt Clark 6-5 Antonio Alcinas
Second Round
Michael van Gerwen 6-3 Vincent van der Voort
Simon Stevenson 6-2 Brendan Dolan
Cristo Reyes 6-3 Mick Todd
Steve Hine 6-4 Aden Kirk
Ian White 6-2 Matthew Dennant
Jamie Bain 6-1 Robbie Green
Rob Cross 6-4 Kim Huybrechts
Scott Taylor 6-0 Christian Kist
Richard North 6-4 Dirk van Duijvenbode
Jimmy Hendriks 6-3 Josh Payne
Dimtiri van den Bergh 6-1 Shaun Griffiths
Kyle Anderson 6-5 Kevin Painter
Adrian Lewis 6-2 Andy Hamilton
Justin Pipe 6-3 Joe Murnan
Peter Hudson 6-3 Gary Anderson
Peter Jacques 6-3 Daryl Gurney
Peter Wright 6-1 Wayne Jones
Steve Lennon 6-3 Terry Temple
Stephen Bunting 6-1 John Bowles
Steve Beaton 6-0 John Part
Alan Norris 6-1 Ronnie Baxter
Adam Hunt 6-2 Ronny Huybrechts
Gerwyn Price 6-5 Yordi Meeuwisse
Ricky Evans 6-4 Chris Dobey
Dave Chisnall 6-3 Andy Jenkins
John Henderson 6-1 Darren Webster
Keegan Brown 6-5 Richie Burnett
Mickey Mansell 6-4 James Wilson
Jan Dekker 6-0 Jonathan Worsley
Mark Webster 6-1 Robert Thornton
Andrew Gilding 6-2 Vincent Kamphuis
Matt Clark 6-3 Wes Newton
Third Round
Michael van Gerwen 6-3 Simon Stevenson
Cristo Reyes 6-5 Steve Hine
Ian White 6-5 Jamie Bain
Rob Cross 6-2 Scott Taylor
Richard North 6-1 Jimmy Hendriks
Dimitri van den Bergh 6-4 Kyle Anderson
Adrian Lewis 6-5 Justin Pipe
Peter Jacques 6-5 Peter Hudson
Peter Wright 6-2 Steve Lennon
Steve Beaton 6-5 Stephen Bunting
Alan Norris 6-2 Adam Hunt
Gerwyn Price 6-2 Ricky Evans
Dave Chisnall 6-3 John Henderson
Mickey Mansell 6-2 Keegan Brown
Mark Webster 6-2 Jan Dekker
Matt Clark 6-1 Andrew Gilding
Last 16
Michael van Gerwen 6-1 Cristo Reyes
Ian White 6-3 Rob Cross
Richard North 6-4 Dimitri van den Bergh
Adrian Lewis 6-3 Peter Jacques
Steve Beaton 6-4 Peter Wright
Alan Norris 6-2 Gerwyn Price
Dave Chisnall 6-2 Mickey Mansell
Mark Webster 6-2 Matt Clark
Quarter-Finals
Michael van Gerwen 6-1 Ian White
Adrian Lewis 6-5 Richard North
Alan Norris 6-5 Steve Beaton
Dave Chisnall 6-0 Mark Webster
Semi-Finals
Adrian Lewis 6-5 Michael van Gerwen
Dave Chisnall 6-3 Alan Norris
Final
Adrian Lewis 6-3 Dave Chisnall
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