Ross Smith stormed to his eighth PDC ranking title with a comprehensive 8-2 victory over Chris Dobey at Players Championship Five in Leicester.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Smith produced a dominant display to dispatch Dobey at last night’s showpiece, averaging 104.24 and landing five maximums to claim the \u00a315,000 top prize.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The former European Champion was the epitome of consistency at the Mattioli Arena, registering a tournament average of 99.25 to open his account for the 2026 season.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“I’ve just played consistently well today,”\u00a0reflected Smith, who has won a Players Championship title in each of the last four years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“I rode my luck a little bit today, but to win a title like this, you need a bit of luck along the way.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“We all know how good Chris is. He’s one of the best players in the world, so I’m just grateful to beat him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“I felt really relaxed today. It’s the best I’ve felt this year, so I’m really happy with the win.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“I’m confident in my game. I know that anyone who plays me is going to have to play really well to beat me, and that’s what it’s all about.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Smith began his campaign with successive 6-3 victories over World Championship quarter-finalist Justin Hood and Cor Dekker, averaging 103 in accounting for the Norwegian number one.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The 37-year-old then produced his best performance of the day against Michael Smith, averaging 106.38 to dispatch the 2022\/23 World Champion 6-1.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This was backed up by resounding wins over Niko Springer and Dave Chisnall, while he ended the hopes of Czechia’s Karel Sedlacek in the semi-finals to set up his showdown against Dobey.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Smith made an electrifying start to the final, producing legs of 11 and 12 darts \u2013 sandwiched between a 147 checkout \u2013 to clinch the opening five legs without reply.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Dobey responded with back-to-back legs to threaten a mid-game fightback, only for Smith to hit back with a brace of 14-darters and a clinical 106 checkout in another three-leg burst to take the title.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Smith’s seventh ProTour crown elevates him up to fourth on the 2026 Players Championship rankings, while Dobey has overhauled James Wade into second spot following his exploits in the East Midlands.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Bedlington star prevailed at Players Championship Three last week, and he produced a string of superb performances on Tuesday, featuring his first nine-darter of the season.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Following a 6-2 thumping of Cristo Reyes in round one, Dobey delivered perfection against Ricky Evans, firing in the nine-darter in the opening leg of his 6-3 victory.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The former Masters champion then denied Dutch duo Kevin Doets and Danny Noppert in last-leg deciders, defying a 108.77 average from Doets to triumph in a pulsating clash.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Dobey also accounted for another Dutchman in the last eight, whitewashing Christian Kist before fending off Joe Cullen 7-4 in a hard-fought semi-final.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Cullen came out on top in a hat-trick of deciding-leg ties in his run to the semi-finals, recovering from 5-3 adrift to sink Gabriel Clemens, while averaging 101 in edging past Adam Gawlas and Brendan Dolan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Cullen then swept aside Niels Zonneveld to seal his spot in the semi-finals, where he was joined by Czech number one Sedlacek.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The 47-year-old overcame World Championship semi-finalist Ryan Searle and Scottish star Alan Soutar in the latter stages of the tournament, only to fall short in his bid for a maiden ranking title.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Gerwyn Price, Jonny Clayton and Josh Rock were the only Premier League players in action on Tuesday, although all three players suffered opening round exits at the Mattioli Arena.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Price was beaten 6-2 by Adam Lipscombe for the second time in three Players Championship events, while Clayton and Rock succumbed in last-leg shoot-outs against Connor Scutt and James Hurrell respectively.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This week’s double-header concludes with Players Championship Six today, as 128 players compete for the \u00a315,000 top prize. Quarter-Finals Semi-Finals<\/strong> Final<\/strong> Ross Smith stormed to his eighth PDC ranking title with a comprehensive 8-2 victory over Chris Dobey at<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":9825,"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-9824","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>Christian Kist 6-1 Sebastian Bialecki
Chris Dobey 6-5 Danny Noppert
Joe Cullen 6-5 Brendan Dolan
Niels Zonneveld 6-0 Martijn Dragt
Ross Smith 6-2 Niko Springer
Dave Chisnall 6-4 Ricardo Pietreczko
Karel Sedlacek 6-2 Ryan Searle
Alan Soutar 6-4 Gary Anderson<\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/strong>Chris Dobey 6-0 Christian Kist
Joe Cullen 6-2 Niels Zonneveld
Ross Smith 6-3 Dave Chisnall
Karel Sedlacek 6-4 Alan Soutar<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Chris Dobey 7-4 Joe Cullen
Ross Smith 7-4 Karel Sedlacek<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Ross Smith 8-2 Chris Dobey<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"