Australian Paul Nicholson claimed the Totesport.com Players Championship at the Circus Tavern on Sunday night with a 13-11 victory over Mervyn King.
The native Geordie had earlier taken out the 15 times World Champion Phil Taylor with a peerless display of finishing, including a maximum 170 check out and became the first man since June 2008, other than Taylor, to take a TV ranking title.
Available at 80/1 before a dart was thrown, Nicholson also distinguished the hopes of much-fancied Adrian Lewis in the first game of the day. Puntinplay followers were inevitably rewarded as Colin Osborne (4/1) & Mervyn King (11/2) reached the semi final stage and landed their respective quarters (31/1 double).
Bookmakers reacted by trimming Nicholson for next year's World Championship to a general 33/1. The £60,000 first prize catapults the Aussie into the world's top 16 for the first time - 2 places above compatriot Simon Whitlock.
The PDC tour now heads to Gibraltar for the first weekend of the new season with the weekly Premier League also getting underway on February 11 in front of a record crowd of up to 10,000 at London's O2 Arena.
