GIANT-KILLER Paul Nicholson claimed his first major title with victory at the totesport.com Players Championship, dethroning Phil Taylor before overcoming Mervyn King in the final at the Circus Tavern in Purfleet.Nicholson produced the greatest form of his life to claim the £60,000 first prize and mark his rise to 16th in the PDC Order of Merit with a superb finale to the Essex-based event.
Following wins over former World Champions Dennis Priestley and Steve Beaton in the opening two rounds, he saw off Adrian Lewis in Sunday afternoon's quarter-finals before then ending Phil Taylor's hopes of retaining the title in an incredible semi-final.
Nicholson hit four ton-plus finishes - including a 170 - in coming from 3-1 down to lead against Taylor, and held his nerve in a deciding leg to reach the final.
There, he defeated King in a tight battle, eventually prevailing 13-11 after the pair shared the opening 20 legs of the final.
Nicholson continued his superb finishing with a 105 checkout to claim the opening leg against the darts, but King hit back immediately to take the second.
The next two were shared, with Nicholson landing a 96 checkout in the fourth leg, before double 16 gave King the cushion at the first break.
Nicholson won the next two to edge back in front, only for King to reply with finishes of double 16 and double ten to put himself 5-4 up, although double 12 ensured parity once more for the Geordie.
King lifted again to take the next two legs, including a 14-darter against the throw, to hold a 7-5 advantage, but Nicholson broke back and then took out 108 to square the game.
Another double-burst from King took him 9-7 up and in a strong position, but Nicholson showed no signs of tiring despite his efforts by claiming the next three, with finishes of 76, 90 and 68.
King stemmed the tide to win the 20th leg and effectively make the match a best-of-five leg contest, with Nicholson producing superb legs of 14 and 11 darts to move a leg away from the title.
King rallied with an 80 checkout in the next, but his usual high scoring deserted him to allow Nicholson in on double eight to claim the title.
"It's absolutely incredible and means a massive amount to me," said Nicholson. "I had a lot of my energy sapped from the semi-final against Phil, but I was desperate to win the final.
"It was hard playing Mervyn because he's been a good friend to me since I came through, particularly with some advice he gave me last year in June when I was at a low ebb following a Players Championship in Barnsley.
"That put me back on the right track, and now I can say I'm the Players Champion for the next year, which is a great achievement."
Newcastle-born Nicholson only emerged in 2008 when, based in Melbourne, he dominated the DartPlayers Australia circuit and qualified for the Grand Slam of Darts and World Championship, before being based for much of the past year in the UK during his rise up the rankings.
"I've put in a lot of hard work to get where I am and this may take a bit of time to sink in," said Nicholson. "I've got to thank my family and friends and my sponsors for backing me, and they've all been really supportive of me.
"But I won't rest on this now. I'll have Monday off but be back on the practice board on Tuesday because I'm playing in Gibraltar in Players Championships next weekend.
"I may have reached 16th in the world but I don't want to settle for that, and the top ten will be my next aim."
King was denied his first major title since joining the PDC by Nicholson, but claimed £24,000 for his weekend's work in Essex and also moves up to fourth in the PDC Order of Merit.
He had come from 5-2 down to win against world number three James Wade in round one, and swept past Jelle Klaasen and Wayne Jones to reach the semi-finals before edging out Colin Osborne 10-8 to book his spot in the decider.
"I'm a little bit gutted because I feel I saved my worst game for the final," said King. "I tried my best but it didn't quite happen and Paul took advantage.
"He's a good friend and it was hard to play against him, but my game and mentality are there to be a winner and hopefully on another day the title will be mine."
