Ross Smith powered to a first World Series of Darts Finals crown in Amsterdam, defeating Gerwyn Price 11-5 to lift a second Premier title of his career last night.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Smith became the sixth different winner of the coveted World Series of Darts Finals trophy, scooping the \u00a3100,000 top prize at the AFAS Live to add to his spectacular year in the sport.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The former European Champion impressed against Kevin Doets and Daryl Gurney with consecutive ton-plus averages to reach Finals Day, where he resumed his title pursuit with a 10-7 victory over Josh Rock.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The 37-year-old then shrugged off Dutch number one Gian van Veen 11-8 in the semi-finals to reach just a second Premier event final of his career, aided by seven 180s and two ton-plus finishes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Smith took on Price in the showpiece, and despite superior scoring from the Englishman out of the gates, Price battled level at 5-5 after striking an 11-darter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Nevertheless, the Kent-based star produced back-to-back checkouts of 123 and 127 to kick off a six-leg rampage, sealing the victory with a 14-dart break of throw to secure a memorable win in the Dutch capital.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI\u2019m absolutely made up with the win, I\u2019m just so happy,<\/em>\u201d said Smith, who crashed in 11 maximums and averaged almost 104 in victory.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cYou\u2019re playing Gerwyn Price, he\u2019s one of the best players in the world. You\u2019ve got to up your game, so to beat this man, wow.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI take each game as it comes and play one game at a time. Every game I play is a final and I give it my all, and it\u2019s working for me at the moment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cSince the World Series, on the Euro Tour, everything has clicked since then. Sometimes you need a kick up a backside and maybe that\u2019s what\u2019s done it.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n Runner-up Price fell short of a third World Series of Darts Finals crown despite an admirable campaign in Amsterdam.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The former World Champion missed just one dart at double against Brody Klinge in his opening match on Friday, before brushing aside Canada\u2019s Jim Long to reach Finals Day with relative ease.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Welsh number one then produced a stellar 103.86 average and a 170 finish in seeing off UK Open runner-up James Wade, winning the final four legs on the spin in 13, 13, 10 and 12 darts. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Price impressively dispatched fellow Welshman Jonny Clayton 11-7 in the semi-finals, reeling off six of the last seven legs and concluding the match with an average north of 104 to confirm his spot in a second Premier event final of 2026.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI was absolutely rubbish in that final, but don\u2019t take anything away from Ross, he was brilliant,\u201d assessed Price, who fell short of a first Premier title since lifting the World Series Finals four years ago.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cHe took his opportunities and some big checkouts at the right time. But I\u2019m very disappointed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI\u2019m playing some good darts and earning some good money. I\u2019m absolutely gutted today, but I\u2019m doing well – I think I\u2019ll be fine!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Earlier in the day, Clayton swept aside a profligate Luke Littler to ruin the 19-year-old\u2019s chances of completing an unheralded clean sweep of Premier events, with the Welshman triumphing 10-4 and giving Littler his first Premier event loss in 330 days.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Van Veen got the better of compatriot Dirk Van Duijvenbode, winning four legs on the spin to triumph 10-8 including a 12-dart hold and 124 finish on the bullseye to seal the victory. Semi-Finals Ross Smith powered to a first World Series of Darts Finals crown in Amsterdam, defeating Gerwyn Price 11-5<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4022,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[59],"class_list":["post-15942","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\n\t\t
RESULTS
Quarter-Finals
<\/strong>Ross Smith 10-7 Josh Rock
Gian van Veen 10-8 Dirk van Duijvenbode
Gerwyn Price 10-7 James Wade
Jonny Clayton 10-4 Luke Littler<\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/strong>Ross Smith 11-8 Gian van Veen
Gerwyn Price 11-7 Jonny Clayton
Final
<\/strong>Ross Smith 11-5 Gerwyn Price<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"