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JOE MURNAN won his first PDC ranking title with a brilliant 6-4 victory over Dave Chisnall in Sunday's Players Championship in Crawley.

The Bolton ace picked up the £10,000 first prize and put himself in line to qualify for July's BetVictor World Matchplay as he went all the way to glory on the PDC ProTour for the first time.

Ranked 73rd in the world going into the weekend, Murnan had lost his PDC Tour Card at the end of 2014 but bounced back by reaching the German Darts Championship quarter-finals in February.

He will now move into the world's top 64 following this triumph, although more significantly jumps up the ProTour Order of Merit into the provisional qualifying places for the World Matchplay this summer - and in line to compete in other major tournaments during 2015.

Murnan, who had been a first round victim of Gerwyn Price in Saturday's Players Championship, opened Sunday's tournament with a 6-4 win over number seven seed Vincent van der Voort.

He then saw off youngsters Adam Hunt, Dimitri Van den Bergh and Josh Payne to reach the quarter-finals, where he was a 6-3 winner against Betway Premier League star Stephen Bunting.

Murnan then overcame Daryl Gurney 6-3 in the semi-finals before recording an impressive triumph over another Premier League ace, high-flying Chisnall.

Murnan held his own with a 121 checkout and legs of 12, 14 and 15 darts to share the final's opening six legs, before breaking throw with a 14-dart leg, which featured a 180, to lead 4-3.

He then finished 67 for a 15-dart leg to lead 5-3, and though Chisnall hit back with a 14-darter it was the Bolton ace tho finished tops in the next to complete the finest day of his career to date.

Chisnall's defeat denied him a first ranking victory for 18 months as he bidded to win a ninth PDC title, although the run to the decider was another confidence boost ahead of Thursday's Premier League Play-Offs in London.

His run included brilliant victories over the world's top two players - Michael van Gerwen and Phil Taylor - and saw him pick up £5,000 prize money.

After opening the day with wins over Wayne Jones and Gary Stone, he then overcame Taylor 6-5 in the last 32, and after seeing off Andy Smith and PDC Unicorn World Youth Champion Keegan Brown - sealing the win with a 167 finish - he then defeated van Gerwen 6-4 in the semis.

Van Gerwen took out legs of 12 and 11 darts to pull back from 4-1 to 4-3 only for Chisnall to halt his fightback with a 152 checkout before completing the win with a 130 finish.

Van Gerwen's defeat saw him miss out in the semi-finals for a second successive day, despite his wins over Jamie Robinson, Joe Cullen, Ronny Huybrechts, Benito van de Pas and Andrew Gilding.

Northern Ireland's Daryl Gurney won through to his second PDC ProTour semi-final of the year, as he defeated Curtis Hammond, Steve Brown, Jelle Klaasen, Mark Webster and his compatriot Brendan Dolan.

Dolan had pushed Gurney all the way to a deciding leg in the last eight, where he was joined by Gilding, Brown and Bunting.

Three-time World Champion John Part enjoyed his best result of 2015 as he reached the last 16, where he was joined by Gary Anderson, Mark Webster, Ian Moss, Andy Smith, Benito van de Pas and Josh Payne.

The PDC ProTour continues with another double-header of Players Championship events at the Barnsley Metrodome next weekend.

Players Championship Ten.

Sunday May 17, K2 Centre, Crawley

First Round.

Michael van Gerwen (1) 6-1 Jamie Robinson.

Joe Cullen 6-4 Jeffrey De Zwaan.

Ronny Huybrechts (32) 6-2 Jyhan Artut.

Max Hopp 6-2 Dennis Smith.

Jamie Caven (16) 6-3 Michael Barnard.

Connie Finnan 6-4 Rowby-John Rodriguez.

Benito van de Pas (17) 6-3 Andy Jenkins.

Matt Clark 6-3 Dave Ladley.

Mervyn King (8) 6-3 Joey Ten Berge.

Mickey Mansell 6-4 Johnny Haines.

Andrew Gilding (25) 6-3 Mark Walsh.

Ricky Evans 6-1 Jason Lovett.

Jim Walker 6-4 Ian White (9).

Prakash Jiwa 6-5 Paul Milford.

Tony Newell 6-4 John Henderson (24).

Jermaine Wattimena 6-3 Shaun Griffiths.

Simon Whitlock (5) 6-2 Lee Evans.

Nathan Aspinall 6-4 Brian Woods.

Keegan Brown (28) 6-4 Mark Barilli.

Andy Boulton 6-1 Luke Woodhouse.

Terry Jenkins (12) 6-2 Tomas Seyler.

Ian Moss 6-1 Roxy-James Rodriguez.

Gerwyn Price (21) 6-5 Colin Lloyd.

Stuart Kellett 6-2 Mark Dudbridge.

Michael Smith (4) 6-3 Stuart Harding.

Jamie Bain 6-4 Nathan Derry.

Andy Smith (29) 6-4 Alan Norris.

Cristo Reyes 6-4 Terry Temple.

Dave Chisnall (13) 6-3 Wayne Jones.

Gary Stone 6-3 Jan Dekker.

Phil Taylor (20) 6-1 Barrie Bates.

Alan Tabern 6-2 Lee Palfreyman.

Gary Anderson (2) 6-1 William O'Connor.

Devon Petersen 6-4 Steve Hine.

Darren Johnson 6-4 Kevin Painter (31).

James Wilson 6-5 Mick Todd.

Ross Smith 6-4 Steve Beaton (15).

Kevin Bambrick 6-2 Pete Dyos.

Stephen Bunting (18) 6-4 Robbie Green.

Kevin Thomas 6-5 Jason Marriott.

Joe Murnan 6-4 Vincent van der Voort (7).

Adam Hunt 6-2 Eddie Dootson.

Christian Kist 6-4 Dean Winstanley (26).

Dimitri Van den Bergh 6- 1 Tim Martin.

Matthew Edgar Bye (Justin Pipe (10) withdrew).

Josh Payne 6-2 Jay Foreman..

Jonny Clayton 6-5 Andy Hamilton (23).

Kevin McDine 6-2 Ben Ward.

Brendan Dolan (6) 6-3 Steve Douglas.

Ken MacNeil 6-2 Conan Whitehead.

Stephen Willard 6-4 Jamie Lewis (27).

Magnus Caris 6-5 Kirk Shepherd.

John Part 6-5 Robert Thornton (11).

Steve McNally 6-5 John Bowles.

Mensur Suljovic (22) 6-1 Mark Hylton.

Darren Webster 6-0 Matt Padgett.

Nigel Heydon 6-4 Peter Wright (3).

Aden Kirk 6-1 Mike Zuydwijk.

Mark Webster (30) 6-0 Wes Newton.

David Pallett 6-5 Dirk van Duijvenbode.

Steve Brown 6-2 Kim Huybrechts (14).

Daryl Gurney 6-2 Curtis Hammond.

Jelle Klaasen (19) 6-3 Mark Frost.

Nick Fullwell 6-4 Ronnie Baxter.

Second Round.

Michael van Gerwen 6-1 Joe Cullen.

Ronny Huybrechts 6-5 Max Hopp.

Jamie Caven 6-4 Connie Finnan.

Benito van de Pas 6-5 Matt Clark.

Mervyn King 6-4 Mickey Mansell.

Andrew Gilding 6-5 Ricky Evans.

Jim Walker 6-4 Prakash Jiwa.

Tony Newell 6-3 Jermaine Wattimena.

Simon Whitlock 6-2 Nathan Aspinall.

Keegan Brown 6-4 Andy Boulton.

Ian Moss 6-4 Terry Jenkins.

Stuart Kellett 6-5 Gerwyn Price.

Jamie Bain 6-5 Michael Smith.

Andy Smith 6-5 Cristo Reyes.

Dave Chisnall 6-2 Gary Stone.

Phil Taylor 6-3 Alan Tabern.

Gary Anderson 6-2 Devon Petersen.

James Wilson 6-1 Darren Johnson.

Ross Smith 6-3 Kevin Bambrick.

Stephen Bunting 6-3 Kevin Thomas.

Joe Murnan 6-1 Adam Hunt.

Dimitri Van den Bergh 6-5 Christian Kist.

Josh Payne 6-5 Matthew Edgar.

Jonny Clayton 6-5 Kevin McDine.

Brendan Dolan 6-4 Ken MacNeil.

Stephen Willard 6-4 Magnus Caris.

John Part 6-1 Steve McNally.

Mensur Suljovic 6-1 Darren Webster.

Aden Kirk 6-3 Nigel Heydon.

Mark Webster 6-3 David Pallett.

Daryl Gurney 6-5 Steve Brown.

Jelle Klaasen 6-2 Nick Fullwell.

Losers £250.

Third Round.

Michael van Gerwen 6-2 Ronny Huybrechts.

Benito van de Pas 6-2 Jamie Caven.

Andrew Gilding 6-3 Mervyn King.

Jim Walker 6-5 Tony Newell.

Keegan Brown 6-4 Simon Whitlock.

Ian Moss 6-2 Stuart Kellett.

Andy Smith 6-1 Jamie Bain.

Dave Chisnall 6-5 Phil Taylor.

Gary Anderson 6-5 James Wilson.

Stephen Bunting 6-1 Ross Smith.

Joe Murnan 6-2 Dimitri Van den Bergh.

Josh Payne 6-4 Jonny Clayton.

Brendan Dolan 6-2 Stephen Willard.

John Part 6-1 Mensur Suljovic.

Mark Webster 6-1 Aden Kirk.

Daryl Gurney 6-1 Jelle Klaasen.

Losers £750.

Fourth Round.

Michael van Gerwen 6-2 Benito van de Pas.

Andrew Gilding 6-5 Jim Walker.

Keegan Brown 6-2 Ian Moss.

Dave Chisnall 6-5 Andy Smith.

Stephen Bunting 6-3 Gary Anderson.

Joe Murnan 6-5 Josh Payne.

Brendan Dolan 6-1 John Part.

Daryl Gurney 6-4 Mark Webster.

Losers £1,500.

Quarter-Finals.

Michael van Gerwen 6-2 Andrew Gilding.

Dave Chisnall 6-4 Keegan Brown.

Joe Murnan 6-3 Stephen Bunting.

Daryl Gurney 6-5 Brendan Dolan.

Losers £2,000.

Semi-Finals.

Dave Chisnall 6-4 Michael van Gerwen.

Joe Murnan 6-3 Daryl Gurney.

Losers £2,500.

Final.

Joe Murnan 6-4 Dave Chisnall.

Winner £10,000.

Runner-Up £5,000.