Nathan Aspinall delighted his home crowd in Manchester as he claimed his first nightly win of the year to move into the Premier League play-off places.
The 33-year-old from Stockport came back from 3-0 down to beat world number one Luke Humphries 6-4 in the final.
After Humphries missed a dart to go 4-0 up, Aspinall came roaring back to win the next five legs on the spin before completing victory in the 10th leg.
A lively night at the AO Arena also saw a nine-darter from Gerwyn Price and the sixth-highest average in PDC televised history – 118.43 – from Humphries in the quarter-finals.
It was more of a battle for Humphries in the semi-finals as he ground out a 6-4 win over world champion Luke Littler with neither player at their best.
Meanwhile, Aspinall put in a superb performance to beat three-time world champion Michael van Gerwen in the semi-finals, averaging 101.31 in a convincing 6-2 win.
He started slowly in the final, though, and Humphries raced into a 3-0 lead.
But Aspinall hung in and an 11-dart break of throw for 3-2 started the comeback.
The 2023 World Matchplay champion dragged his average up from the mid-70s to 93.29 and threatened to seal victory in style with six perfect darts to start the leg at 5-4.
But nerves hit at the crucial moment, the nine-darter came and went with Humphries even having darts to force a deciding leg before Aspinall finally hit double four to clinch it.
“It wasn’t a pretty game in the final but I have never, ever, ever been so nervous as on those last darts,” Aspinall told Sky Sports.
“I am in Manchester. What support I’ve had tonight. They were absolutely unreal. I wanted to win so much for the crowd.
“I’ve been through an horrendous two years but I am a fighter, I am a warrior and people like Michael van Gerwen call me a Jack Russell.
“I don’t know when I’m beaten and at the end of the day I am in a privileged position and I respect that. I’ll keep fighting till the end I will never ever give up.”
Aspinall is up to fourth in the standings, level on points with Price in third and Van Gerwen in fifth.
Littler remains top but his lead has been trimmed to five points by Humphries.
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exeter.one newsbite last confirmed 1 week ago by Sam Drury
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