COLIN LLOYD won the Irish Regional Final for the Budweiser UK Open, defeating Andy Smith 2-1 in the final at Dublin's Citywest Hotel.
Lloyd, who begins the defence of his Sky Bet World Grand Prix title on Monday, prepared for the tournament in style with a classy display.
He defeated Ray Cornibert, Adrian Gray, Alan Caves, Chris Mason and Alex Roy before edging out Alan Warriner in the semis.
The world number one roared out of the blocks in the final, opening up a one-set lead with three successive legs.
He also took the first leg of the second set in just 12 darts but then paid for missing darts to take the next, Smith stepping in to level matters before taking the set 3-1.
The duo shared the first two legs of the final set before Lloyd once more hit top gear, another 12-dart leg putting him within touching distance of the match.
He needed little time to wrap up victory, landing double ten to take the title and effectively assure a place in the televised UK Open finals next June.
"I'm very pleased," said Lloyd. "I know that I'm playing pretty well and I had to battle to get some of the wins today too, so I'll go into the World Grand Prix in good shape."
Smith, who has had great success in the UK Open during the past two years, produced a superb display to defeat Kevin Painter 2-0 in his semi-final.
Painter had earlier seen off Mark Dudbridge 5-1 in the quarter-finals, while UK Open finalists Phil Taylor and Mark Walsh exited at the last 16 stage.