Whitlock triumphs on ProTour again

UNIBET WORLD GRAND PRIX CONVENTION CENTRE,CITY WEST, DUBLIN,IRELAND PIC;LAWRENCE LUSTIG ROUND 1 Joe Cullen v Simon Whitlock SIMON WHITLOCK IN ACTION

SIMON WHITLOCK secured back-to-back Players Championship successes when he took victory in the penultimate ProTour event of the year in Barnsley on Friday.

The Australian ace, who had won the previous PDC floor tournament earlier this month in Dublin, continued his return to form with a final defeat of exciting prospect Chris Dobey.

‘The Wizard’ began his day with a magical nine-dart-leg in his opening 6-0 victory against Par Riihonen. He then claimed a 6-2 win over Nathan Aspinall before sealing another whitewash, this time taking six legs off Mervyn King without reply.

A 6-3 defeat of James Wade saw the former European Champion reach the quarter-finals, where he edged out Jamie Lewis 6-5.

Whitlock then saw off Mark Frost, winning 6-3 to reach the final, where he enjoyed a 6-4 victory over Dobey.

Whitlock returns to action next weekend when he faces world number on Michael van Gerwen in the first round of the European Championship, which will be shown live on ITV Sport.