Raymond van Barneveld is back in the winners circle, as he has secured his first title in three years in Players Championship 5 in Hildesheim.

An achievement that should never go unnoticed, as he proves any doubters wrong on whether he could win another title in the PDC.

A relatively straight forward 6-1 victory over Oskar Lukasiak occurred in the opening round, winning 6-1 with an average just over 91

Wins against fellow Dutchman Jermaine Wattimena and Englishman Graham Hall followed, upping his average in each game.

His best performance of the day average wise (99.48) happened in the following game against Michael Smith. Barney raced into a three leg lead before Smith reduced his lead to one, with one of those legs a perfect nine. Smith kept on piling on the pressure with his high scoring, but Barney was able to win the three legs he needed in 15 darts or less to reach the quarter-finals.

The Dutchman took on James Hurrell next, where he established a two leg advantage early on. While Hurrell came back to lead 3-2, Barney ploughed his way through to win the remaining four legs to set up a tie against Gary Anderson in the semis.

Up until this semi-final clash, the Scotsman averaged 101.7, 105.6, 101.5, 113.9 and 97 in his matches throughout the day. Barney looked unfazed by these extravagant Ando performances as he held his nerve on his throw. The opening 10 legs both players held their throw and with the score being 5-5 in a first to 7, Barney made a crucial 13 dart break to lead 6-5. Anderson broke straight back with a 14 darter and had the darts on his throw to go through to yet another final, but Barney’s 14 darter sealed the deal to progress through.

The final was against Stephen Bunting where he well and truly dominated the match. An excellent display of finishing on combination outshots allowed Barney to go on to win it 8-1 to win the title and the £15,000 prize.

Last 16

James Hurrell 6-4 Joe Cullen

Raymond van Barneveld 6-3 Michael Smith

Gary Anderson 6-1 Daryl Gurney

Stephen Bunting 6-2 Ian White

Danny Noppert 6-3 Jeffrey de Zwaan

Ross Smith 6-5 William O’Connor

Cameron Menzies 6-5 Jonny Clayton

Quarter-Finals

Raymond van Barneveld 6-3 James Hurrell

Gary Anderson 6-4 Peter Wright

Stephen Bunting 6-2 Danny Noppert

Ross Smith 6-3 Cameron Menzies

Semi-Finals

Raymond van Barneveld 7-6 Gary Anderson

Stephen Bunting 7-5 Ross Smith

Final

Raymond van Barneveld 8-1 Stephen Bunting