Ross Smith delivered a darting clinic to secure his tenth PDC ranking title with victory in Players Championship 20 last night.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Smith averaged 107.01 and pinned 73% of his attempts at double to defeat William O\u2019Connor 8-5 in Wednesday\u2019s showpiece in Milton Keynes, as he continued his terrific start to 2026.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The 37-year-old also prevailed in Players Championship Five back in February, before celebrating his maiden European Tour title with a memorable triumph at last month\u2019s International Darts Open.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The former European Champion subsequently added to his growing haul at Arena MK, averaging 99.34 across his seven matches to catapult himself up to second on the ProTour rankings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI\u2019m buzzing to be fair,\u201d declared Smith, who has won three titles in a calendar year for the first time in his PDC career.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWillie is a fantastic player and an absolute gentleman. He smashed me yesterday with a 108 average, so that was almost payback there!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI never would have thought I\u2019d get to double figures [in PDC titles], so I\u2019m really happy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe\u2019re in June now and I\u2019ve already won three titles and been runner-up in another European Tour event, so I\u2019m having a great year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cFor me it\u2019s just about staying in that top 16 and pushing towards the higher end of it. You\u2019ve got to give yourself goals and keep pushing, and that\u2019s what I\u2019m doing.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Following a resounding opening round win against Cor Dekker, Smith whitewashed Dominik Gruellich before dispatching Ian White 6-1, averaging 101 and 108 in those respective ties.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Smith then registered another ton-topping average in a 6-2 thumping of Cristo Reyes, before overcoming Andy Boulton by the same scoreline in advancing to the semi-finals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
However, he was then forced to survive three match darts in a remarkable last four tie against Henry Coates, who fought back brilliantly from 6-3 down during his breakthrough campaign.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This set up a decisive clash against O\u2019Connor, who ran out a 6-2 winner when the pair met in the last 16 of Tuesday\u2019s Players Championship 19.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Smith kicked off proceedings with an 11-dart break of throw, and while O\u2019Connor replied with back-to-back legs, the Englishman won the next three in 14, 15 and 13 darts to surge 4-2 ahead.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
O\u2019Connor refused to relent, but Smith was proving infallible on his own throw, holding with legs of 12, 11 and 13 darts to lead 7-5, before converting a clinical two-dart 84 finish to take the title.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Despite missing out on a first PDC title for seven years, O\u2019Connor acquitted himself superbly at Arena MK, defeating a host of big names in pocketing the \u00a310,000 runner-up prize.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Irishman eased past Viktor Tingstrom and Shane McGuirk earlier in the day, although his most notable display saw him whitewash Martin Schindler with an average north of 103.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
O\u2019Connor then defied a ton-plus average from top seed Wessel Nijman to book his place in the quarter-finals, which he backed up with victories against Dave Chisnall and Richard Veenstra.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Veenstra\u2019s run to the last four featured deciding-leg wins against Jermaine Wattimena and Callan Rydz, while he also accounted for Poland\u2019s premier player Krzysztof Ratajski in the quarter-finals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Coates, meanwhile, was arguably the star of the show in Milton Keynes, dumping out Andrew Gilding, Ricardo Pietreczko, Danny Noppert and Joe Cullen in reaching the semi-finals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The 19-year-old \u2013 who received a late call-up courtesy of his Challenge Tour ranking \u2013 underlined his credentials against a series of established names to secure the biggest payday of his PDC career.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Elsewhere, Tuesday\u2019s runner-up Jonny Clayton was a surprise opening round casualty, with Gian van Veen, Damon Heta and Kevin Doets also succumbing at the same stage of the tournament.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The 2026 PDC ProTour season will resume later this month, as Players Championships 21-22 take place at the Robin Park Leisure Centre in Wigan on June 16-17. Quarter-Finals<\/strong> Semi-Finals<\/strong> Final Ross Smith delivered a darting clinic to secure his tenth PDC ranking title with victory in Players Championship<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":13113,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[59],"class_list":["post-13390","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-newsbeat","tag-darts"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t
RESULTS
Last 16
<\/strong>William O’Connor 6-4 Wessel Nijman
Dave Chisnall 6-5 Rob Owen
Krzysztof Ratajski 6-4 Mervyn King
Richard Veenstra 6-5 Callan Rydz
Ross Smith 6-2 Cristo Reyes
Andy Boulton 6-4 Mickey Mansell
Joe Cullen 6-4 Chris Dobey
Henry Coates 6-2 Danny Noppert<\/p>\n\n\n\n
William O’Connor 6-4 Dave Chisnall
Richard Veenstra 6-3 Krzysztof Ratajski
Ross Smith 6-2 Andy Boulton
Henry Coates 6-5 Joe Cullen<\/p>\n\n\n\n
William O’Connor 7-2 Richard Veenstra
Ross Smith 7-6 Henry Coates<\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/strong>Ross Smith 8-5 William O\u2019Connor<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"