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COLIN LLOYD claimed victory in the opening Players Championship of 2010, defeating Wayne Jones 6-2 to win the StanJames.com Eddie Cox Memorial Trophy.

The world number eight claimed the £6,000 title in Gibraltar with a strong showing on Saturday, dropping only one leg in his opening two wins, against Dave Ahmet and Julian Sanchez before edging out Tony Eccles 6-5.

Peter Wright was whitewashed in the last 16, while Colin Osborne took out three 100-plus finishes in their quarter final, which Lloyd won 6-3.

He then defeated Mervyn King 6-2 in the semi-finals, having led 5-0, and repeated the scoreline against Jones in the decider.

Lloyd opened the final with a 180 and produced back-to-back 14-darters in leading 3-0, before hitting a 168 score to leave double 12 in the fourth.

Jones won two successive legs to pull back to 4-2, but paid for a missed dart at double top in the seventh as Lloyd posted double 12, before taking out 92 on double eight for victory.
"I'm really happy and it's a great result for me," said Lloyd. "I've had some very tough games throughout the day but I showed a lot of authority on the board.

"I'm relaxed and enjoying myself at the moment, and that's showing on the dartboard. I think I played well in the Players Championship finals in Purfleet last week and continued that in this event."

The tournament was named in memory of the late PDC official Eddie Cox, who died in December 2008, and Lloyd added: "It means a lot to me to win this tournament.

"Eddie was a close friend and we all miss him, so I'm honoured to be the champion of his event."

Jones' display earned him £3,000 and included a semi-final victory over world number two James Wade, as well as wins over Mark Dudbridge, Gary Anderson and Kevin Painter.

Wade had missed double 18 for a nine-dart finish during the early stages of the tournament,

New PDPA members Sam Allen and Peter Hudson both enjoyed successful debuts on the PDC Pro Tour, reaching the last 32, while Andy Smith's recovery from pleurisy continued with a quarter-final finish.

DENIS OVENS won his first PDC Pro tour event since 2007 with victory over Gary Anderson in the final of Sunday's Gibraltar Players Championship.

Ovens claimed the £6,000 title with a fine day of darts in the Tercentenary Sports Hall, picking up his first win in two-and-a-half years and reaching a final for the first time in 16 months.

In a day of steadily improving form, he overcame Tony Blundell, Andy Relf and Par Riihonen in the early stages before blowing away Mark Dudbridge and Andy Hamilton 6-1 and dropping just two legs against Steve Evans.

He enjoyed a thrilling final against Anderson, hitting two 180s in taking a 4-2 lead before the Scot took out 78 and 96 to level.

A 120 finish put Ovens 5-4 up, with Anderson taking the tenth leg but having no answer in the decider, as the Stevenage man hit another 180 and took out 96 for the title.

Anderson was in blistering form in the early rounds, dropping only two legs in victories against Bryan De Hoog, Tab Hunter, Wayne Atwood and Robert Thornton before sweeping past Terry Jenkins 6-3 and seeing off Nigel Heydon 6-2 in the semi-finals.

Heydon, an undertaker from Leamington Spa who competed as an amateur qualifier in the 2007 UK Open, celebrated his debut weekend on the PDC Pro Tour by reaching the semi-finals.

He overcame Darren Johnson, Andy Smith, Paul Nicholson, Kevin McDine and James Wade in an excellent run before losing to Anderson, but takes home the biggest paycheck of his darts career with £1,500.

Hamilton's run to the last four saw him match Anderson in dropping only two legs in his first four games, including a whitewash of Colin Osborne - who he will now practice with on a regular basis after moving to Derby.

Welsh pair Steve Evans and Richie Burnett enjoyed fine runs, with Evans defeating John Part and Colin Lloyd - the winner of Saturday's StanJames.com Eddie Cox Memorial Trophy - in reaching the quarter-finals.

Wade reached the last eight for a second successive day, while Jenkins battled past Whyte & Mackay Premier League Darts rival Adrian Lewis in progressing to the quarters.