TERRY Jenkins bounced back from his surprise first-round defeat in the PDC World Darts Championships to win the Bobby Bourn Players Championship in Doncaster, beating Mark Dudbridge by six legs to three in the final.

The tournament has taken place at Blackpool in the summer until this year, with Phil Taylor lifting the title on each of the six occasions. The World Champion opted out this year.

Jenkins won the first two legs in the final, but Dudbridge pegged him back to 2-2 to leave the match in the balance. Finishes of 96 and 104 put ‘The Bull’ back in control of the game.

Dudbridge took the seventh leg, but a second century finish left Jenkins on the brink of victory. He took the next leg with a double 18 finish to lift the title and claim the £6,000 winner’s cheque.

Earlier in the tournament, Jenkins produced the comeback of the day to beat Colin Lloyd at the quarter-final stage, pipping his opponent 6-5 after trailing 4-0 in the early stages. He also beat Vincent van der Voort (6-4), and the in-form Scotsman Robert Thornton (6-4) in the semi-final.

Jenkins failed to produce a repeat performance in the first UK Open Regional Qualifier on Sunday. He reached the last 16 but then went out to Adrian Lewis (6-2).

He will have a busy schedule over the next three months, competing in the Whyte & Mackay Premier Darts League in midweek on top of his involvement in weekend tournaments.

Qualifying for the Premier League as the PDC World number five, the top six gain automatic entry, Jenkins will be joined by Phil Taylor, Raymond van Barneveld, James Wade, John Part and newcomer Mervyn King plus two Wildcard selections, Jelle Klaasen and Wayne Mardle.

This will be his third year in the Premier League which starts at Liverpool’s Echo Arena on Thursday, February 5.

The eight players will play each other twice at venues across the UK over 14 weeks, and the top four will then meet in the play-offs at the Wembley Arena on Monday May 25, with a total of nearly 80,000 fans anticipated at the 15 locations.