Fordham picked up �50,000 as the winner

Third seed King rarely found his best form in the match and had to settle for the runner-up position for the second time in his career.

King seemed to have given himself a chance of victory when he fought back from 3-1 down to level at 3-3.

But as he continued to struggle, Fordham rattled off three straight sets to claim the biggest prize in darts.

Profile: Andy 'The Viking' Fordham

"I can hardly talk, I'm just over the moon," a tearful Fordham told the BBC after the match.

"When you get to four semis and you lose them all, you think your chance might have gone.

"On the outside I might have looked cool, but when I knew it was getting close I was nearly bursting into tears."

King took the first set as Fordham made a nervous start.

A rueful King said he felt way below his best in the final.

"I don't think it was a fantastic game. I just did not turn up," he said.

"Andy played well, but I was lucky to get the sets I did. I played like a pub player to begin with."

The final: as it happened

Fordham lost the first set and looked nervous, but settled well and opened a 3-1 lead as King failed to find the form that had taken him to the final.

King got himself back into the match by taking the fifth set, and after the mid-session break he levelled the match at 3-3.

But Fordham claimed the seventh set against the darts, and took the eighth, in which all five legs went against serve, to open up a 5-3 lead.

'The Viking' was not unsettled, even when King went two legs up in the ninth set, and he came back with three straight legs to seal his 6-3 win.