The Machine Gun triumphs in Wigan! Jermaine Wattimena doubles his PDC title tally with victory in Players Championship 31

A ruthless Jermaine Wattimena won eight legs on the bounce in the final of Players Championship 31 to defeat nine-dart hero Nathan Aspinall 8-2 in a dramatic day in Wigan.

Wattimena averaged over a ton in five of the seven matches he participated in. He survived match darts in his opening match against Christian Kist (6-5) before defeating Madars Razma (6-4) Niko Springer (6-4), Martin Schindler (6-2), Chris Landman (6-1), and Niels Zonneveld (7-0) for his third Players Championship final of the year.

The Asp took the headlines in Wigan twice after pinning a brace of nine darters against Steve Lennon and Lukas Wenig. Enroute to the final he swept aside Thibaut Tricole (6-2), Lennon (6-4), Ryan Joyce (6-2), Wenig (6-5), James Wade (6-5), and the number one seed Stephen Bunting.

Aspinall pounced on The Machine Gun early, punishing him for missed darts at tops to break the throw before the Dutchman once again fails to find tops, as Aspinall streaked into a 2-0 lead.

Wattimena got an important hold before finally pinning tops to break back and level the final at 2-2. He would go one better and take the lead in the next leg with a 13-darter before pinning double 13 to take out 81 and double his advantage.

Another 13-darter secures his fourth leg in a row, as Aspinall struggled to find his best game. It could have come in handy on the eighth leg where Wattimena missed five darts at double before eventually traversing to double two. A seventh consecutive leg was sealed with a clinical 116 checkout as he went one leg away from his second senior PDC title. He almost did it in a show-stopping manner, missing double 20 for a 142 checkout, but he cleaned up on double 10 to win the title.

While frustrating to lose a final, Aspinall has all-but confirmed his place in the Players Championship Finals, shooting up to 43rd in the list. For the likes of Luke Littler, Luke Humphries and Michael van Gerwen, tomorrow is another chance for them to confirm their places in Minehead.