Ross Smith claimed the Players Championship 20 title in Milton Keynes with an 8-5 victory over William O'Connor, producing a 107.01 average in a high-quality final performance. Smith, who recently claimed a landmark first European Tour title at the International Darts Open, added another ProTour crown by seeing off O'Connor, with the Irishman averaging 93.49 in defeat.
O'Connor's route to the final gathered pace quickly in Milton Keynes. He began with a 6-3 win over Viktor Tingstrom, before lifting his level in round two with a 101.52 average in a 6-1 victory over Shane McGuirk. He then went even better in the last 32, averaging 103.66 in a 6-0 whitewash of German number one Martin Schindler. His biggest result came in the last 16, where he ended the run of number one seed Wessel Nijman with a 6-4 victory despite Nijman averaging 100.41. O'Connor then beat Dave Chisnall 6-4 in the quarter-finals before booking his place in the final with a comfortable 7-2 win over Richard Veenstra, averaging 95.64.
Smith's route also featured big scoring and late drama. The Englishman opened with a 6-3 win over Cor Dekker before whitewashing Dominik Gruellich 6-0 in round two with a 101.33 average. His best display came in the last 32, where he averaged 108.59 in a 6-1 win over Ian White. Smith then backed that up with a 100.54 average in a 6-2 victory over Cristo Reyes to reach the quarter-finals. After beating Andy Boulton 6-2 in the last eight, Smith survived a dramatic last-leg decider against 19-year-old Challenge Tour star Henry Coates, who had earlier beaten Danny Noppert and Joe Cullen. Smith missed match darts for 7-3 and 7-4, then missed another at the bull in the decider, before finally cleaning up 25 on double eight after Coates missed three clear darts at tops.
In the final, O'Connor had the darts, but Smith struck immediately with a break of throw in a blistering opening leg. The Irishman responded straight away with a 14-darter to break back, before taking the lead at 2-1 despite five missed darts at double in the third leg. Smith levelled with a 32 finish, then moved back in front when O'Connor failed to clean up 80 and the Englishman punished him with a 70 checkout. Smith backed up that break in style, opening leg six with visits of 180 and 140, then returning to pin double four for a 13-darter and a 4-2 lead. O'Connor stopped the run with a 59 finish, but Smith again surged on his own throw with visits of 140, 180 and 140, before a 41 finish restored his two-leg cushion at 5-3. O'Connor then took out 68 to stay in touch, but Smith threatened perfection in leg 10 with back-to-back 180s. The nine-darter did not arrive, but he still cleaned up on his next visit to move 6-4 ahead. O'Connor kept the pressure on by holding throw in 15 darts, but Smith responded with another strong leg on his own throw. After leaving 86 after nine darts, he returned to pin double 16 for a 13-darter and move to the brink at 7-5. The finish came one leg later, with Smith taking out 84 in two darts to seal an 8-5 victory.
Away from the finalists, Gian van Veen's Players Championship struggles continued with a first round defeat to Scott Williams, leaving the World Championship finalist, European champion and Premier League star under serious pressure in the race to Minehead. Van Veen remains outside the top 100 on the Players Championship Order of Merit. Beau Greaves again showed flashes, beating Alexander Merkx 6-2 with a 95.85 average in the opening round before losing 6-4 to Nathan Aspinall in round two. Aspinall's own run ended in the last 32, where he was beaten 6-4 by Andy Boulton. There were also early exits for several major names: PC19 runner-up Jonny Clayton lost in the opening round to Benjamin Pratnemer, Peter Wright was beaten by Ian White, Gary Anderson fell to Lukas Wenig in round two, Josh Rock was beaten 6-2 by Rob Owen, and Dirk van Duijvenbode was whitewashed by Kai Gotthardt in round two. Owen reached the last 16 after wins over Tommy Lishman, Rock and Joe Hunt, continuing his strong recent form as he threatens another late-season great escape to keep his PDC Tour Card.
