Nine-dart Ross Smith seals second title of 2023 at Players Championship 28
Ross Smith sealed his second ranking title of the season as he fired in a nine-darter on his way to Players Championship 28 glory in Barnsley.
Smith warmed up for the defence of his European Championship title next weekend in perfect fashion by scooping the £12,000 top prize on Saturday.
The Kent star landed a perfect leg during his Second Round whitewash of Robbie Knops and completed a memorable day with an 8-6 triumph over Damon Heta in the final.
However, he was made to produce one of his best-ever spells of darts in the decider, reeling off five legs in a row of between 12 and 14 darts to come from 6-3 down and claim the title.
Smith will now travels to Dortmund in confident mood as he prepares to open his European Championship title defence on Friday night.
“I’m going in as a winner!” said Smith. “I’m reigning champion and the winner of this, so I’m really happy.
“I know I’ve got a hard game there, but I’m going to keep working hard on and off the board and do my best. That’s all you can do.
“I’m playing really consistent darts. It’s not often I feel like I drop below a 95 average and this week has been probably more 100-pluses than not.
“I feel nice and relaxed. I’ve played well this week and hopefully I can continue that into the Euros.”
Heta dominated the early stages of the final, following up a 12-darter with a 13-dart break on his way to establishling a 4-1 advantage.
The next four legs went with throw to leave the Australian 6-3 in front, but Smith’s comeback began as he followed a 13-darter to hold with legs of 14, 12, 12 and 13 darts as he clinched the title.
Smith ended the final with a 104.7 average – which he bettered in his second round defeat of Knops, landing a nine-darter in leg five, and his Last 16 win over Niels Zonneveld.
The world number 16 also averaged in excess of 100 in victories over Robert Owen and Ricky Evans, saw off Nathan Rafferty in Round One and hit back from 5-2 down to win his Semi-Final with Dom Taylor in a deciding leg.
“I felt like I played really well all day but in the semi-final against Dom I was a bit nervy,” added Smith. “I’m glad to get through that one and I dug deep.
“Damon took quite a bit of a lead [in the final] and maybe I relaxed a little bit instead of thinking about winning and maybe complicating it.
“I just thought about throwing and obviously it paid off there but Damon let me in.”
Heta was bidding to claim a third Players Championship title of the year and produced a string of dominant wins on his way to the final.
The 2022 World Cup winner averaged 101 in his 6-4 First Round win over Alan Soutar in what proved to be his tightest match during his run to the final – subsequently overcoming Karel Sedlacek, Scott Waites, Martin Schindler, Luke Woodhouse and Mickey Mansell.
Mansell defeated Thursday’s Players Championship 26 winner Ryan Joyce, last weekend’s German Darts Champion Ricardo Pietreczko and former World Youth Champion Josh Rock as he enjoyed his best run of 2022 to a first Semi-Final of the season.
Former Development Tour event winner Taylor, meanwhile, enjoyed his best run on the ProTour to date, defeating Simon Whitlock, Daryl Gurney, Andrew Gilding, Darren Webster and Raymond van Barneveld to reach the Semi-Finals, before being denied by Smith.
Following this week’s quartet of Players Championship events, just two events remain at the start of November as players bid to secure qualification for the Players Championship Finals and World Championship.
Players Championship 28 Results
Saturday October 21
First Round
Jurjen van der Velde 6-5 Mario Vandenbogaerde
Keegan Brown 6-5 Adam Gawlas
Darren Webster 6-4 Dave Chisnall
Martijn Kleermaker 6-3 Danny Jansen
Daryl Gurney 6-4 Boris Krcmar
Dom Taylor 6-4 Simon Whitlock
Andrew Gilding 6-4 John O’Shea
Dylan Slevin 6-5 David Evans
Raymond van Barneveld 6-1 Ted Evetts
Maik Kuivenhoven 6-2 Christian Kist
Krzysztof Ratajski 6-2 Shaun Wilkinson
Mervyn King 6-2 Callum Goffin
Dimitri Van den Bergh 6-4 Jermaine Wattimena
Radek Szaganski 6-4 Daniel Klose
Chris Landman 6-3 Peter Wright
Rowby-John Rodriguez 6-2 Nick Kenny
Kim Huybrechts 6-5 Graham Hall
Scott Williams 6-2 Devon Petersen
Rob Cross 6-5 Stephen Burton
Niels Zonneveld 6-4 Geert Nentjes
Gabriel Clemens 6-2 Tony Martinez
Robert Owen 6-4 Owen Roelofs
Ross Smith 6-2 Nathan Rafferty
Robbie Knops 6-5 Kevin Burness
Florian Hempel 6-1 Steve Beaton
Richie Burnett 6-3 Eddie Lovely
Jonny Clayton 6-5 Damian Mol
Lee Evans 6-0 Jacques Labre
Jules van Dongen 6-0 Brendan Dolan
Ricky Evans 6-1 Adam Warner
Joe Cullen 6-2 Adam Smith-Neale
James Hurrell 6-4 Ritchie Edhouse
James Wilson 6-5 Keane Barry
Scott Waites 6-3 George Killington
Damon Heta 6-4 Alan Soutar
Karel Sedlacek 6-3 Vladimir Andersen
Kevin Doets 6-4 Jose De Sousa
Jim Williams 6-4 Cam Crabtree
Martin Schindler 6-5 William O’Connor
Ronny Huybrechts 6-5 Peter Jacques
Luke Woodhouse 6-2 Berry van Peer
Connor Scutt 6-4 Harry Ward
Jeff Smith 6-2 Gary Anderson
Jose Justicia 6-2 Danny van Trijp
Gian van Veen 6-1 Bradley Brooks
Jamie Hughes 6-3 Robert Grundy
Stephen Bunting 6-4 Mensur Suljovic
Jeffrey Sparidaans 6-5 Wesley Plaisier
Cameron Menzies 6-3 Ian White
Martin Lukeman 6-4 Andy Boulton
Josh Rock 6-1 Josh Payne
Arron Monk 6-3 Jimmy Hendriks
Ryan Joyce 6-4 Madars Razma
Mickey Mansell 6-4 Graham Usher
Owen Bates 6-3 James Wade
Ross Montgomery 6-3 Darius Labanauskas
Callan Rydz 6-5 Nick Fullwell
Steve Lennon 6-5 Richard Veenstra
Jarred Cole 6-5 Danny Noppert
Matt Campbell 6-4 Jeffrey De Zwaan
Mike De Decker 6-2 Rusty-Jake Rodriguez
Vincent van der Voort 6-1 Brian Raman
Ricardo Pietreczko 6-0 Jamie Clark
Darryl Pilgrim 6-2 Joe Murnan
Second Round
Jurjen van der Velde 6-4 Keegan Brown
Darren Webster 6-4 Martijn Kleermaker
Dom Taylor 6-3 Daryl Gurney
Andrew Gilding 6-3 Dylan Slevin
Raymond van Barneveld 6-3 Maik Kuivenhoven
Mervyn King 6-5 Krzysztof Ratajski
Radek Szaganski 6-4 Dimitri Van den Bergh
Chris Landman 6-4 Rowby-John Rodriguez
Scott Williams 6-5 Kim Huybrechts
Niels Zonneveld 6-2 Rob Cross
Robert Owen 6-5 Gabriel Clemens
Ross Smith 6-0 Robbie Knops
Florian Hempel 6-1 Richie Burnett
Lee Evans 6-0 Jonny Clayton
Ricky Evans 6-5 Jules van Dongen
James Hurrell 6-1 Joe Cullen
Scott Waites 6-3 James Wilson
Damon Heta 6-1 Karel Sedlacek
Jim Williams 6-5 Kevin Doets
Martin Schindler 6-0 Ronny Huybrechts
Luke Woodhouse 6-3 Connor Scutt
Jeff Smith 6-5 Jose Justicia
Jamie Hughes 6-2 Gian van Veen
Jeffrey Sparidaans 6-5 Stephen Bunting
Cameron Menzies 6-2 Martin Lukeman
Josh Rock 6-4 Arron Monk
Mickey Mansell 6-3 Ryan Joyce
Owen Bates 6-2 Ross Montgomery
Callan Rydz 6-3 Steve Lennon
Matt Campbell 6-4 Jarred Cole
Mike De Decker 6-0 Vincent van der Voort
Ricardo Pietreczko 6-5 Darryl Pilgrim
Losers: £750
Last 32
Darren Webster 6-3 Jurjen van der Velde
Dom Taylor 6-3 Andrew Gilding
Raymond van Barneveld 6-4 Mervyn King
Radek Szaganski 6-3 Chris Landman
Niels Zonneveld 6-3 Scott Williams
Ross Smith 6-2 Robert Owen
Florian Hempel 6-1 Lee Evans
Ricky Evans 6-3 James Hurrell
Damon Heta 6-3 Scott Waites
Martin Schindler 6-1 Jim Williams
Luke Woodhouse 6-5 Jeff Smith
Jeffrey Sparidaans 6-3 Jamie Hughes
Josh Rock 6-3 Cameron Menzies
Mickey Mansell 6-4 Owen Bates
Matt Campbell 6-1 Callan Rydz
Ricardo Pietreczko 6-3 Mike De Decker
Losers: £1,250
Last 16
Dom Taylor 6-1 Darren Webster
Raymond van Barneveld 6-5 Radek Szaganski
Ross Smith 6-2 Niels Zonneveld
Ricky Evans 6-3 Florian Hempel
Damon Heta 6-3 Martin Schindler
Luke Woodhouse 6-5 Jeffrey Sparidaans
Mickey Mansell 6-5 Josh Rock
Ricardo Pietreczko 6-5 Matt Campbell
Losers: £2,000
Quarter-Finals
Dom Taylor 6-2 Raymond van Barneveld
Ross Smith 6-2 Ricky Evans
Damon Heta 6-2 Luke Woodhouse
Mickey Mansell 6-1 Ricardo Pietreczko
Losers: £3,000
Semi-Finals
Ross Smith 7-6 Dom Taylor
Damon Heta 7-2 Mickey Mansell
Losers: £4,000
Final
Ross Smith 8-6 Damon Heta
Winner: £12,000
Runner-up: £8,000
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