Nathan Aspinall held aloft a makeshift trophy made out of a dinner plate as he celebrated overall victory in the PDC Home Tour.
The Stockport player held his nerve to beat Jonny Clayton 6-4 in the deciding finale after putting himself in pole position for the crown with a final-leg victory over world number nine and tournament favourite Gary Anderson.
And, determined to get full value for his win despite being stuck at home, Aspinall scribbled his name on a dinner plate and celebrated at the end of the night by diving into his hot tub.
Hear from your CHAMPION... 🏆 He's won on the big stage, he's won on the World Series and now he's won from his kitchen! Hear what the World Number 7 had to say after being crowned the winner of the Low6 Home Tour Play-Offs! pic.twitter.com/LrQQoFYl3u — PDC Darts (@OfficialPDC) June 5, 2020
"I've just won something so here we go," he said. "It's permanent marker so it's going in the bin after this, but there's my little trophy for the night."
The 28-year-old won all three of his matches on the night, opening with a 6-3 win over Jelle Klaasen before edging out Anderson, who suffered his first defeat in the home format.
That put it all on the final match, but Aspinall lost three legs in a row to blow a 2-0 lead before reeling off the next three.
The final standings of the Championship Group make pretty reading for Nathan Aspinall. The Asp picked up a trio of wins on the night to become the PDC's first ever Home Tour champion! pic.twitter.com/XnSfLnixsj — PDC Darts (@OfficialPDC) June 5, 2020
A 104 checkout from Clayton extended the match, but a fourth maximum helped Aspinall hold his throw and take the trophy.
"To be fair, I didn't play well at all the start," he said. "People say playing at home is not that important but we play each other week in, week out, and it's nice to get something over another player, and any tournament, you want to win it.
"Anyone who says there's no pressure in this is lying, I felt the nerves there."
Really enjoyed every minute of the Pdc home tour, but wasn't to be at the end. Congratulations to the champ @NathanAspi 👍 well deserved mate. Stay safe everyone 👍👍 — Jonny Clayton (@JonnyClay9) June 5, 2020
Following the announcement earlier on Friday that the Betfred World Matchplay will take place from July 18-26 in Blackpool, players can look forward to emerging from their basements and garages to get back to something approaching normality soon – though it remains to be seen if fans can attend.
"Hopefully I'll be the one and only winner of the Home Tour," Aspinall added.
"Hopefully the fans enjoyed it. It's difficult times for everyone. With the Matchplay announced today, I can't wait to get back on the stage."
