Ross Smith defeated Chris Doby 8-2 to win his seventh career Players Championship title.
Smith averaged over 95 points in all but one of his seven wins against Leicester on Monday, and secured a spot in the final with relatively easy wins over Czech Republic’s Karel Sedlacek and Dave Chisnall in the semi-finals and quarter-finals.
The 37-year-old also defeated Nico Springer, Michael Smith, Coe Decker and Justin Hood earlier in the day, and averaged 104.39 points in Tuesday’s final to oust a struggling Dobie.
“I played consistently well today. I rode my luck a little bit, but unless you’re playing exceptionally well, you need a little bit of luck to win a title,” Smith said.
“Thankfully for me, Chris didn’t show up. We all know Chris is one of the best players in the world. I’m grateful and happy that I could beat him.”
“I was relaxed today. I feel the best this year. I’m happy to win. I’ve always set myself the goal of winning at least one title every year, so I’m on track for 2026.”
Ross Smith wins 5th Players Championship with Leicester
But Dobie created the moment of the day with a nine darter against Ricky Evans in the second round before clinching a leg victory over Dutch duo Kevin Doets and Danny Knoppert.
He defeated Christian Quist in the quarter-finals and Joe Cullen in the semi-finals, but had a disappointing performance in the final, missing 13 darts on a double.
Top seed Gerwyn Price lost his first match 6-2 to Adam Lipscomb, while other Premier League darts stars Johnny Clayton and Josh Lock also lost in the first round.
Luke Littler, Luke Humphries, Jan van Veen, Michael van Gerwen and Stephen Bunting were among the players who did not take part in this week’s Players Championship event in Leicester, where another competition will be held on Wednesday.
last 16
Christian Quist 6-1 Sebastian Bialecki
Chris Dobie 6-5 Danny Knoppert
Joe Cullen 6-5 Brendan Dolan
Niels Sonnefeld 6-0 Martin Dragt
Ross Smith 6-2 Nico Springer
Dave Chisnall 6-4 Ricardo Pietrezko
Karel Sedlacek 6-2 Ryan Searle
Alan Sartor 6-4 Gary Anderson
quarterfinals
Chris Dobie 6-0 Christian Quist
Joe Cullen 6-2 Niels Sonnefeld
Ross Smith 6-3 Dave Chisnall
Karel Sedlacek 6-4 Alan Soutal
Semi-final
Chris Dobie 7-4 Joe Cullen
Ross Smith 7-4 Karel Sedlacek
final
Ross Smith 8-2 Chris Dobie
Who will win this year’s Premier League Darts? Luke Humphries is defending his title and you can watch the fight every Thursday until May on Sky Sports. Stream darts and other top sports now.
