Baxter Wins Second Players Championship of 2011

RONNIE BAXTER won his second Players Championship of 2011 with a 6-2 defeat of Kevin Painter in the Canadian Masters final at the Hilton London Ontario on Sunday night.

The 50-year-old followed up January's victory in Germany with a second £6,000 winner's cheque of the year with his run in Canada, reviving memories of his success on the north American circuit in the 1980s.

The Blackpool-based ace swept past four of his seven opponents in style in the event, whitewashing Charlie Vandenakker, Dan Lauby Jnr and Mareno Michels and dropping only one leg against Norm Tremblay.

He was pushed to a deciding leg by Steve Maish in the last 32, and had to withstand a strong challenge from Michael van Gerwen in the semi-finals before the Dutch youngster succumbed to a 6-4 loss.

Baxter, though, would not be denied and took five of the opening six legs of the final to assert command at 5-1, with Painter taking the seventh but unable to continue the fightback as his opponent secured victory.

Painter's display was his best on the circuit for almost a year, and comes under two months since he underwent laser eye surgery.

The £3,000 prize money will cement his qualifying place for next month's World Grand Prix, while his displays on the day included a comeback victory over Simon Whitlock and whitewashes of Sean Boussen and Augustus Collins.

He also defeated regular practice partner Matthew Edgar 6-4 in the third round, fellow Essex-born ace Colin Lloyd and Holland's Co Stompe in reaching the decider.

Both Stompe and van Gerwen enjoyed their best runs of 2011 on the PDC ProTour with semi-final appearances as they boosted their own hopes of qualifying for the World Grand Prix.

Stompe overcame Saturday's champion John Part in a deciding leg in the quarter-finals, while van Gerwen saw off in-form Wes Newton and Bristol's Steve Brown in his run as the pair earned £2,000 apiece.

Calgary's Norm Tremblay joined fellow Canadian Part in the last eight, winning five games on the day and including Roland Scholten, Jamie Caven and Denis Ovens amongst his victims.

Justin Pipe and Whitlock were the other quarter-finalists, while the last 16 featured several players battling to qualify for October's World Grand Prix, with Brown, John Henderson, Michels, Ovens, Andy Hamilton, Steve Beaton and Ian White claiming £600 apiece alongside Lloyd