Ross Smith denies Gary Anderson to seal second Players Championship title

Ross Smith denied a resurgent Gary Anderson to claim Players Championship Five glory and a second ProTour title in Barnsley on Saturday.

Smith held his nerve in a close-run final at the Barnsley Metrodome to scoop the £12,000 top prize and clinch his third PDC ranking title.

The reigning European Champion claimed a host of major scalps en route to glory and defied a spirited fightback from Anderson to deny the Scot a first ranking title since February 2020.

Smith seized the early initiative in the final, reeling off three consecutive legs to establish a 4-1 lead, but only for Anderson to respond with a classy 124 checkout in leg six.

Smith restored his three-leg advantage before the Scot replied with three straight legs of his own to level at five apiece, and a clinical 120 checkout in leg 11 moved Anderson into a 6-5 lead.

However, Smith regained control with back-to-back 15-dart legs to move to the brink of victory at 7-6, before sealing the deal on tops after Anderson was unable to produce a 116 skin-saver.

“I think I thoroughly deserved the win if you look at the calibre of players I’ve beaten,” said Smith, who now moves into the world’s top 16 for the first time in his career.

“I felt a bit edgy against Gary, but I told myself to just concentrate and stop thinking, and thankfully I got away with it, because we all know what Gary can do.

“I just play the player in front of me. I try to keep my feet on the ground. Nothing has been going right for me on the floor, but that changed today.

“I wasn’t quite expecting it. My confidence hasn’t been the greatest of late, so I am really happy to win this title.”

Smith kicked off his campaign by firing in back-to-back ton-plus averages in wins over Martijn Kleermaker and Jim Williams, dropping only three legs across both matches.

The 34-year-old dumped out top seed Luke Humphries in the Last 32, before accounting for Premier League duo Dimitri Van den Bergh and Nathan Aspinall to seal his spot in the Semi-Finals.

The Kent thrower then survived three match darts in an edgy show-down against Martin Schindler – who was unable to close out victory despite opening up a 5-3 lead.

Anderson, meanwhile, produced a string of magnificent displays to pocket the £8,000 runner-up prize, which moves him closer to the provisional qualification places for July’s World Matchplay.

The Flying Scotsman averaged 102 to dispatch Arron Monk in his opener, and after defying a ton-plus average from Gian van Veen in Round Two, he registered a 104 average to eliminate Croatia’s Boris Krcmar.

The two-time World Champion then produced the performance of the day in his Last 16 tussle against a brilliant Keegan Brown, averaging 112, hitting six 180s and wrapping up a 6-4 victory with a 121 finish.

Anderson later registered his fourth ton-plus average of the day in his comeback win over Chris Landman, which he followed up with a hard-fought 7-5 triumph against rival Gerwyn Price in the Semi-Finals.

Price posted five successive 100+ averages in his run to the last four, knocking out Josh Rock and Raymond van Barneveld before succumbing to Anderson in a dramatic tussle.

World Champion Michael Smith, Premier League table-topper Michael van Gerwen and newly crowned UK Open champion Andrew Gilding were among the notable names to suffer First Round exits.

Players Championship Five Results

Sunday March 11

First Round
Luke Humphries 6-4 Andy Boulton
Jose Justicia 6-1 James Wilson
Jim Williams 6-2 Joe Murnan
Ross Smith 6-1 Martijn Kleermaker
Dimitri Van den Bergh 6-5 Connor Scutt
Richard Veenstra 6-2 Danny Jansen
Jose De Sousa 6-5 Lewy Williams
Steve Lennon 6-2 Jacques Labre
Nathan Aspinall 6-0 Tony Martinez
Darren Webster 6-5 Krzysztof Kciuk
Mervyn King 6-3 Adrian Lewis
Geert Nentjes 6-4 Ronny Huybrechts
Danny Noppert 6-2 Owen Bates
Shaun Wilkinson 6-3 Jimmy Hendriks
Madars Razma 6-5 William O’Connor
Ricky Evans 6-4 Jeff Smith
Damon Heta 6-3 Thibault Tricole
Danny van Trijp 6-5 Ryan Meikle
Callan Rydz 6-5 John O’Shea
Mike De Decker 6-5 Graham Usher
Martin Schindler 6-2 Nick Fullwell
Darius Labanauskas 6-5 Florian Hempel
Ian White 6-4 Gabriel Clemens
Robert Owen 6-2 Richie Burnett
Dirk van Duijvenbode 6-4 Jamie Hughes
Graham Hall 6-1 Stephen Burton
Mensur Suljovic 6-3 Brendan Dolan
George Killington 6-4 Callum Goffin
Jonny Clayton 6-4 Kevin Burness
Jules van Dongen 6-5 Jeffrey Sparidaans
Luc Peters 6-5 Chris Dobey
Jeffrey De Zwaan 6-3 Steve Beaton
Gian van Veen 6-3 Dave Chisnall
Gary Anderson 6-1 Arron Monk
Boris Krcmar 6-3 Daryl Gurney
Pascal Rupprecht 6-3 Niels Zonneveld
Dylan Slevin 6-1 Andrew Gilding
Mario Vandenbogaerde 6-4 Ritchie Edhouse
Stephen Bunting 6-3 Adam Gawlas
Keegan Brown 6-3 Adam Warner
Daniel Klose 6-5 Michael Smith
Ryan Joyce 6-2 Ted Evetts
Martin Lukeman 6-2 Alan Soutar
Chris Landman 6-4 Keane Barry
Radek Szaganski 6-5 Ryan Searle
Damian Mol 6-4 Cameron Crabtree
Krzysztof Ratajski 6-5 Ricardo Pietreczko
Karel Sedlacek 6-2 Josh Payne
Luke Woodhouse 6-3 Michael van Gerwen
Scott Waites 6-4 Scott Williams
Rowby-John Rodriguez 6-4 Maik Kuivenhoven
Nathan Rafferty 6-2 Robbie Knops
Josh Rock 6-0 Simon Whitlock
Brian Raman 6-2 Rusty-Jake Rodriguez
Gerwyn Price 6-0 Jamie Clark
Adam Smith-Neale 6-4 Devon Petersen
Lee Evans 6-4 Rob Cross
Raymond van Barneveld 6-3 Owen Roelofs
James Wade 6-5 Mickey Mansell
Bradley Brooks 6-3 Matt Campbell
Cameron Menzies 6-3 Joe Cullen
Jurjen van der Velde 6-1 Ross Montgomery
Jermaine Wattimena 6-3 Kim Huybrechts
Kevin Doets 6-4 Vincent van der Voort

Second Round
Luke Humphries 6-1 Jose Justicia
Ross Smith 6-2 Jim Williams
Dimitri Van den Bergh 6-5 Richard Veenstra
Jose De Sousa 6-2 Steve Lennon
Nathan Aspinall 6-4 Darren Webster
Geert Nentjes 6-4 Mervyn King
Shaun Wilkinson 6-5 Danny Noppert
Madars Razma 6-5 Ricky Evans
Danny van Trijp 6-3 Damon Heta
Callan Rydz 6-4 Mike De Decker
Martin Schindler 6-5 Darius Labanauskas
Ian White 6-3 Robert Owen
Dirk van Duijvenbode 6-1 Graham Hall
George Killington 6-4 Mensur Suljovic
Jonny Clayton 6-2 Jules van Dongen
Jeffrey De Zwaan 6-3 Luc Peters
Gary Anderson 6-5 Gian van Veen
Boris Krcmar 6-5 Pascal Rupprecht
Dylan Slevin 6-3 Mario Vandenbogaerde
Keegan Brown 6-4 Stephen Bunting
Ryan Joyce 6-1 Daniel Klose
Chris Landman 6-5 Martin Lukeman
Radek Szaganski 6-2 Damian Mol
Krzysztof Ratajski 6-3 Karel Sedlacek
Luke Woodhouse 6-2 Scott Waites
Nathan Rafferty 6-5 Rowby-John Rodriguez
Josh Rock 6-3 Brian Raman
Gerwyn Price 6-1 Adam Smith-Neale
Raymond van Barneveld 6-0 Lee Evans
Bradley Brooks 6-3 James Wade
Cameron Menzies 6-2 Jurjen van der Velde
Kevin Doets 6-5 Jermaine Wattimena
Losers: £750

Last 32
Ross Smith 6-4 Luke Humphries
Dimitri Van den Bergh 6-5 Jose De Sousa
Nathan Aspinall 6-0 Geert Nentjes
Madars Razma 6-3 Shaun Wilkinson
Danny van Trijp 6-4 Callan Rydz
Martin Schindler 6-3 Ian White
Dirk van Duijvenbode 6-3 George Killington
Jeffrey De Zwaan 6-5 Jonny Clayton
Gary Anderson 6-4 Boris Krcmar
Keegan Brown 6-4 Dylan Slevin
Chris Landman 6-3 Ryan Joyce
Radek Szaganski 6-5 Krzysztof Ratajski
Nathan Rafferty 6-2 Luke Woodhouse
Gerwyn Price 6-4 Josh Rock
Raymond van Barneveld 6-5 Bradley Brooks
Kevin Doets 6-5 Cameron Menzies
Losers: £1,250

Last 16
Ross Smith 6-3 Dimitri Van den Bergh
Nathan Aspinall 6-2 Madars Razma
Martin Schindler 6-2 Danny van Trijp
Dirk van Duijvenbode 6-2 Jeffrey De Zwaan
Gary Anderson 6-4 Keegan Brown
Chris Landman 6-5 Radek Szaganski
Gerwyn Price 6-4 Nathan Rafferty
Raymond van Barneveld 6-1 Kevin Doets
Losers: £2,000

Quarter-Finals
Ross Smith 6-3 Nathan Aspinall
Martin Schindler 6-4 Dirk van Duijvenbode
Gary Anderson 6-4 Chris Landman
Gerwyn Price 6-1 Raymond van Barneveld
Losers: £3,000

Semi-Finals
Ross Smith 7-6 Martin Schindler
Gary Anderson 7-5 Gerwyn Price
Losers: £4,000

Final
Ross Smith 8-6 Gary Anderson
Winner: £12,000
Runner-up: £8,000

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