Michael Smith denies Gary Anderson with comeback win to seal Players Championship 13 title
Michael Smith battled back from 5-1 down to edge out Gary Anderson 8-7 in the final and claim the Players Championship 13 title in Hildesheim on Monday.
Smith, competing in only his fifth Players Championship event of the year, fired in a 116 checkout in a thrilling last-leg shoot-out to sink Anderson and scoop the £12,000 top prize at Halle 39.
The reigning World Champion averaged 98 and 99 in 6-4 wins over Richard Veenstra and Andy Boulton to move through to round three, where he demolished Keegan Brown 6-1.
Smith then recorded hard-fought victories over James Wade, Danny Lauby and Connor Scutt to set up a mouth-watering showdown against two-time World Champion Anderson.
The pair exchanged holds to kick off the final before Anderson punished a host of missed darts at double from his former protégé to hold throw in 23 darts.
The Scot extended his lead to 5-1 after following up 76 and 95 finishes with a 13-darter, only for Smith to respond with a blistering four-leg barrage of his own.
The world number one produced legs of 15, 14, 12 and 13 darts – including a 121 finish in leg nine – to restore parity at five apiece, although the pendulum continued to swing.
Anderson remarkably hit three consecutive bulls to set up double six and move a leg away from victory at 7-6, but after holding throw in 14 darts, Smith sank a nerveless 116 finish to complete the comeback.
“When I first made the Premier League semi-finals Gary was 5-1 up and I beat him, and that’s all I kept thinking,” said Smith, celebrating his tenth Players Championship success.
“Something got into Gary’s head. He was annoyed, he was fuming and I couldn’t punish him, but luckily enough that 116 checkout keeps saving me.
“I like to look good as well as play well, but I had to find something from somewhere, and in the last few weeks when I’ve not been at it, I’ve been working really hard behind the scenes.
“The effort won me this title today. It wasn’t about talent, it was about hard work. I was 64th on the Players Championship Order of Merit before today, and now I’m the champion!”
Anderson, meanwhile, fell agonisingly short in his bid for back-to-back titles in Hildesheim, having claimed the spoils at Players Championship 8 at this venue in March.
The 52-year-old defeated Scott Williams and Dutch trio Maik Kuivenhoven, Geert Nentjes and Raymond van Barneveld to reach the Last Eight, where he survived match darts against Chris Dobey.
The two-time World Champion then produced an imperious display in his semi-final rout of Damon Heta, averaging 101 and conjuring up three ton-plus finishes to run out a comprehensive 7-3 winner.
Heta defeated Premier League runner-up Gerwyn Price in reaching a second straight ProTour semi-final, while surprise package Scutt produced a string of superb displays in his run to the last four.
The 27-year-old opened his campaign with a thumping 6-1 win against European Champion Ross Smith, while also whitewashing Keane Barry and Mike De Decker to scoop £4,000 in prize money.
Price produced the performance of the day in Hildesheim, averaging 113.6 in his opening round demolition of Mensur Suljovic, and he was joined in the Quarter-Finals by Masters champion Dobey.
American ace Danny Lauby also made his first ProTour Quarter-Final alongside PDC Asian Champion Christian Perez, who impressed on his long-awaited Players Championship debut after being sidelined due to visa issues.
Elsewhere, top seed Dave Chisnall landed a nine-darter in his third round clash against Ricardo Pietreczko, however it came in a losing cause as he went down 6-3 to the emerging German star.
Players Championship 13 Results
First Round
Dave Chisnall 6-5 Owen Bates
Conan Whitehead 6-2 Lukas Wenig
Ricardo Pietreczko 6-2 Shaun Wilkinson
Jurjen van der Velde 6-4 Krzysztof Kciuk
Gabriel Clemens 6-4 Dragutin Horvat
Tony Martinez 6-4 Jules van Dongen
Adam Warner 6-4 Stephen Bunting
Danny Lauby 6-4 Adam Gawlas
Danny Noppert 6-2 Jose Justicia
Joe Murnan 6-2 Ricky Evans
James Wade 6-1 Brian Raman
Darius Labanauskas 6-3 Jelle Klaasen
Michael Smith 6-4 Richard Veenstra
Andy Boulton 6-4 Ryan Meikle
Kim Huybrechts 6-4 Bradley Brooks
Keegan Brown 6-2 Damian Mol
Christian Perez 6-5 Rob Cross
Jamie Hughes 6-5 Lewis Williams
Luke Woodhouse 6-2 Ian White
Nick Kenny 6-1 Vladimir Andersen
Andrew Gilding 6-2 Robert Owen
Karel Sedlacek 6-1 Matt Campbell
Rowby-John Rodriguez 6-3 Brendan Dolan
Alan Soutar 6-1 Rusty-Jake Rodriguez
Josh Rock 6-5 Josh Payne
Callum Goffin 6-4 John O’Shea
Kevin Doets 6-3 Simon Whitlock
George Killington 6-5 Martin Lukeman
Connor Scutt 6-1 Ross Smith
Keane Barry 6-4 Florian Hempel
Mike De Decker 6-3 Jeff Smith
Mickey Mansell 6-3 Kevin Burness
Dirk van Duijvenbode 6-2 Steve Lennon
Lee Evans 6-5 Martijn Kleermaker
William O’Connor 6-5 Jeffrey De Zwaan
Nathan Rafferty 6-5 Robbie Knops
Jose De Sousa 6-2 Danny Jansen
Adam Smith-Neale 6-5 Ritchie Edhouse
Chris Dobey 6-4 Cameron Menzies
Christian Kist 6-3 Scott Mitchell
Peter Wright 6-3 Pascal Rupprecht
Stephen Burton 6-2 Jeffrey Sparidaans
Raymond van Barneveld 6-3 Ronny Huybrechts
Robert Grundy 6-3 Danny van Trijp
Martin Schindler 6-4 Jimmy Hendriks
Scott Williams 6-0 Arron Monk
Gary Anderson 6-3 Maik Kuivenhoven
Geert Nentjes 6-2 Owen Roelofs
Damon Heta 6-1 Dylan Slevin
Richie Burnett 6-5 Callan Rydz
Mario Vandenbogaerde 6-5 Jermaine Wattimena
Dom Taylor 6-5 Stefan Bellmont
Dimitri Van den Bergh 6-5 Luc Peters
Roy van de Griendt 6-4 Daniel Klose
Daryl Gurney 6-3 Devon Petersen
Niels Zonneveld 6-4 Cam Crabtree
Gerwyn Price 6-1 Mensur Suljovic
Mervyn King 6-0 Ross Montgomery
Madars Razma 6-4 Chris Landman
Radek Szaganski 6-3 Graham Hall
Krzysztof Ratajski 6-3 Vincent van der Voort
Thibault Tricole 6-5 Gian van Veen
Steve Beaton 6-5 Boris Krcmar
Scott Waites 6-0 Ted Evetts
Second Round
Dave Chisnall 6-2 Conan Whitehead
Ricardo Pietreczko 6-4 Jurjen van der Velde
Gabriel Clemens 6-1 Tony Martinez
Danny Lauby 6-5 Adam Warner
Danny Noppert 6-5 Joe Murnan
James Wade 6-5 Darius Labanauskas
Michael Smith 6-4 Andy Boulton
Keegan Brown 6-2 Kim Huybrechts
Christian Perez 6-1 Jamie Hughes
Luke Woodhouse 6-1 Nick Kenny
Karel Sedlacek 6-5 Andrew Gilding
Alan Soutar 6-2 Rowby-John Rodriguez
Josh Rock 6-5 Callum Goffin
George Killington 6-3 Kevin Doets
Connor Scutt 6-0 Keane Barry
Mike De Decker 6-4 Mickey Mansell
Lee Evans 6-5 Dirk van Duijvenbode
William O’Connor 6-2 Nathan Rafferty
Adam Smith-Neale 6-3 Jose De Sousa
Chris Dobey 6-4 Christian Kist
Stephen Burton 6-0 Peter Wright
Raymond van Barneveld 6-4 Robert Grundy
Scott Williams 6-5 Martin Schindler
Gary Anderson 6-1 Geert Nentjes
Damon Heta 6-2 Richie Burnett
Mario Vandenbogaerde 6-3 Dom Taylor
Dimitri Van den Bergh 6-1 Roy van de Griendt
Niels Zonneveld 6-2 Daryl Gurney
Gerwyn Price 6-1 Mervyn King
Radek Szaganski 6-3 Madars Razma
Thibault Tricole 6-0 Krzysztof Ratajski
Scott Waites 6-3 Steve Beaton
Losers: £750
Last 32
Ricardo Pietreczko 6-3 Dave Chisnall – *Chisnall hits a nine-darter*
Danny Lauby 6-3 Gabriel Clemens
James Wade 6-5 Danny Noppert
Michael Smith 6-1 Keegan Brown
Christian Perez 6-2 Luke Woodhouse
Karel Sedlacek 6-5 Alan Soutar
George Killington 6-0 Josh Rock
Connor Scutt 6-0 Mike De Decker
William O’Connor 6-2 Lee Evans
Chris Dobey 6-3 Adam Smith-Neale
Raymond van Barneveld 6-4 Stephen Burton
Gary Anderson 6-4 Scott Williams
Damon Heta 6-4 Mario Vandenbogaerde
Niels Zonneveld 6-5 Dimitri Van den Bergh
Gerwyn Price 6-4 Radek Szaganski
Thibault Tricole 6-4 Scott Waites
Losers: £1,250
Last 16
Danny Lauby 6-4 Ricardo Pietreczko
Michael Smith 6-3 James Wade
Christian Perez 6-3 Karel Sedlacek
Connor Scutt 6-3 George Killington
Chris Dobey 6-4 William O’Connor
Gary Anderson 6-1 Raymond van Barneveld
Damon Heta 6-3 Niels Zonneveld
Gerwyn Price 6-1 Thibault Tricole
Losers: £2,000
Quarter-Finals
Michael Smith 6-4 Danny Lauby
Connor Scutt 6-2 Christian Perez
Gary Anderson 6-5 Chris Dobey
Damon Heta 6-4 Gerwyn Price
Losers: £3,000
Semi-Finals
Michael Smith 7-3 Connor Scutt
Gary Anderson 7-3 Damon Heta
Losers: £4,000
Final
Michael Smith 8-7 Gary Anderson
Winner: £12,000
Runner-up: £8,000
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