Gerwyn Price was denied back-to-back Players Championship wins in Hildesheim after being edged out by Joe Cullen in a thrilling last-leg shoot-out.
The Welshman had won Tuesday's final in Germany but, in the 27th edition of the series, he lost 8-7 as Cullen claimed his second title of the year to put himself back in contention for October's World Grand Prix.
"I'm so happy to win this title. Performances like that just reassure me that I can play this game," said the 36-year-old, who averaged 99.78 and registered nine 180s.
"I'm sort of an enigma to myself at the minute. I can produce darts like today, but then you'll watch me in a few weeks and I'll have an 81 average.
"I had not been working anywhere near as hard as I should have been. I got lazy. I wasn't practising. This is a brutal sport and you get what you deserve in this game.
"I have been struggling for the last couple of months, but I've been putting the work in during the last few weeks and today I felt more comfortable."
Cullen went 2-0 up only to be pegged back as Price levelled up with legs of 12 and 11 darts and despite restoring his two-leg advantage he could not pull away and found himself at 7-7.
In the final set he missed two match darts on double four but was let off when Price could not finish on 100 and Cullen returned to close out the final with his fifth match dart.
