Gwersyllt arrowsman Michael Warburton says his Welsh Darts Championship success has re-ignited his love for the game.

Warburton, 33, became the became the first Welshman in six years to triumph at the event after recording a string of impressive victories at the WDF tournament in Prestatyn.

The title success, which included a 4-2 quarter-final win over two-time world champion Scott Waites, was made even more impressive by virtue of only recently returning to the sport after a 10-year absence.

Warburton said: "I used to play regularly in local and national competitions, but I'm a busy dad of four and I pretty much gave the game up about nine or 10 years ago.

"I played a little at the Crown in Summerhill, but only started to get back into it regularly in January. I made the semis of the Gwynedd Open and won the Glan Aber Open in Porthmadog after that.

"But to come back and win at the Welsh Championships feels brilliant. It sounds strange, but going into the tournament I knew I was going to do well and I said that to my family who were there to watch me - it was just a great competition for me."

Unseeded heading into the 186-player event, Warburton advanced from the group stage with ease, dispatching Lee Freason, Micky Taylor, Garry Thompson in five-leg contests.

Warburton then eliminated Matthew Dicken with a routine 4-1 success, before a same-score victory against Michael Haynes in the last 32.

A 4-2 win against Englishman Dave Parletti followed before Warburton battled to a 4-2 win over the much-fancied Waites in the quarter-finals.

Warburton secured his final berth with a hard-fought 5-4 result against Chris Landman, his eighth win of the day.

Now in buoyant mood, Warburton stormed into a 5-1 lead in the 10pm final against Andrew Hamilton.

The Stoke player nicknamed 'The Hammer' rallied, clawing back the deficit to move within two legs, before Warburton clinched a 6-3 outright victory with an average of 27.67 in the decider.

With his place at October's BDO Winmau World Masters in October now assured, Warburton is keen to test himself in more competitions.

He said: "That win was for my mum who's gone through a tough time with her health of late.

"All the family were there watching me up on the stage for the semi and the final and it felt brilliant to be competing in front of a crowd again.

"I wasn't that happy with my average, which dropped as the day went on, but I'll be working on that and practising more now.

"In the next few months I'll hopefully be at a few more events. There's one coming up in Selsey soon and after that I've got my eye on a comp in Antwerp and then maybe the Turkish Open."