EVESHAM ace Ronnie Baxter blasted into the darts stratosphere by thrashing legend Phil ‘The Power’ Taylor 6-2 to win the Las Vegas Players Championship.

‘The Rocket’ picked up his first tournament win of 2009 with the £6,000 title at the Mandalay Bay Resort, condemning Taylor to only his second Players Championship loss of the year with a fine display.

Having been pushed all the way to a deciding leg by Japan's Morihiro Hashimoto in the first round, he then defeated Davis Snider, Wayne Mardle, Kevin Painter and John Part to reach the semi-finals.

He then overcame Lowestoft-based qualifier Peter Wright - a player with dyed pink hair nicknamed ‘Snakebite’ - 6-3 before taking victory against Taylor.

Baxter opened the final with a 121 finish and also led 2-0 before Taylor took out 104 to get off the mark.

Double eight and double 16 put Baxter 4-1 up before a 13-darter saw him move a leg away from victory.

Taylor fired in a 128 checkout for a 12-darter to stay in the game, but a 180 from Baxter sent him clear in the next - and he had enough breathing space to miss seven match darts before landing double one for the title.

Taylor, making his first outing since winning the Blue Square UK Open in Bolton recently after struggling with a bad back since, warmed up nicely for the defence of his PartyPoker.net Las Vegas Desert Classic title.

Baxter is set to meet Dutch ace Jelle Klaasen later today in the Desert Classic, while Ledbury’s Terry Jenkins, the number five seed, has been drawn against Australia's Simon Whitlock.