#Letakan iklan disini
Darts Jun 21, 2026

Players Championship 20: Ross Smith beats William O'Connor in Milton Keynes final to claim 10th career title

👤
By Admin
Sports Journalist
Players Championship 20: Ross Smith beats William O'Connor in Milton Keynes final to claim 10th career title

Ross Smith secured his 10th PDC ranking title with victory in Players Championship 20 in Milton Keynes on Wednesday.

Smith averaged 107.01 and pinned 73 per cent of his attempts at double to defeat Ireland's William O'Connor 8-5 in the final to continue his terrific start to 2026.

The 37-year-old also prevailed in Players Championship 5 back in February, before celebrating his maiden European Tour title with a memorable triumph at last month's International Darts Open.

"I'm buzzing to be fair," Smith said. "Willie is a fantastic player and an absolute gentleman. He smashed me yesterday [in PC19] with a 108 average, so that was almost payback there.

"I never would have thought I'd get to double figures [in PDC titles], so I'm really happy.

"We're in June now and I've already won three titles and been runner-up in another European Tour event, so I'm having a great year.

"For me it's just about staying in that top 16 and pushing towards the higher end of it. You've got to give yourself goals and keep pushing, and that's what I'm doing."

Following a resounding opening round win against Cor Dekker, Smith whitewashed Dominik Gruellich before dispatching Ian White 6-1, averaging 101 and 108 in those respective ties.

Smith then registered another ton-topping average in a 6-2 thumping of Cristo Reyes, before overcoming Andy Boulton by the same scoreline in advancing to the semi-finals.

However, he was then forced to survive three match darts in a remarkable last-four tie against Henry Coates, who fought back brilliantly from 6-3 down.

This set up a decisive clash against O'Connor, who ran out a 6-2 winner when the pair met in the last 16 of Tuesday's Players Championship 19.

Smith kicked off proceedings with an 11-dart break of throw, before O'Connor replied with back-to-back legs, but the Englishman won the next three in 14, 15 and 13 darts to surge 4-2 ahead.

O'Connor refused to relent, but Smith was proving infallible on his own throw, holding with legs of 12, 11 and 13 darts to lead 7-5, before converting a clinical two-dart 84 finish to take the title.

Last 16
William O'Connor 6-4 Wessel Nijman
Dave Chisnall 6-5 Rob Owen
Krzysztof Ratajski 6-4 Mervyn King
Richard Veenstra 6-5 Callan Rydz
Ross Smith 6-2 Cristo Reyes
Andy Boulton 6-4 Mickey Mansell
Joe Cullen 6-4 Chris Dobey
Henry Coates 6-2 Danny Noppert

Quarter-Finals
William O'Connor 6-4 Dave Chisnall
Richard Veenstra 6-3 Krzysztof Ratajski
Ross Smith 6-2 Andy Boulton
Henry Coates 6-5 Joe Cullen

Semi-Finals
William O'Connor 7-2 Richard Veenstra
Ross Smith 7-6 Henry Coates

Final
Ross Smith 8-5 William O'Connor

Your Site is the home of darts with the World Cup of Darts, World Matchplay, World Grand Prix, Grand Slam of Darts and World Darts Championship all still to come this year. .

Tags:

darts news

Share this article

Related Posts

Luke Littler: Darts star makes copyright application to trademark his face and stop AI fakes

Luke Littler: Darts star makes copyright application to trademark his face and stop AI fakes

Luke Littler has made an application to trademark his face to combat AI fakes.The darts world No 1 has lodged an application with the Intellectual Pro...

Premier League Darts: Luke Littler beats Michael van Gerwen in Berlin final to take top spot from Jonny Clayton

Premier League Darts: Luke Littler beats Michael van Gerwen in Berlin final to take top spot from Jonny Clayton

Luke Littler moved top of the Premier League Darts table and claimed his third nightly win of the season after beating Michael van Gerwen 6-4 in a dra...

Premier League Darts: Luke Littler and Gian van Veen could meet as Luke Humphries bids to kickstart title defence in Brighton

Premier League Darts: Luke Littler and Gian van Veen could meet as Luke Humphries bids to kickstart title defence in Brighton

World No 1 Luke Littler and rival Gian van Veen could be set for a swift reunion in Brighton following their heated spat which boiled over last Thursd...

World Cup of Darts 2026: Will England's Luke Littler and Luke Humphries right the wrongs of last year's showing?

World Cup of Darts 2026: Will England's Luke Littler and Luke Humphries right the wrongs of last year's showing?

All eyes will be on the England partnership of Luke Littler and Luke Humphries as they prepare to right the wrongs of their 2025 showing at this year'...

Jonny Clayton ready to go all the way at World Cup of Darts with new team-mate Nick Kenny: 'You don't turn down the chance to put the Welsh shirt on'

Jonny Clayton ready to go all the way at World Cup of Darts with new team-mate Nick Kenny: 'You don't turn down the chance to put the Welsh shirt on'

Wales' Jonny Clayton is a two-time World Cup of Darts winner and, with a new team-mate in Nick Kenny by his side, the goal of a third is still very mu...

World Cup of Darts 2026: Players to watch with Paul Lim, Motomu Sakai, Man Lok Leung and Nitin Kumar in action

World Cup of Darts 2026: Players to watch with Paul Lim, Motomu Sakai, Man Lok Leung and Nitin Kumar in action

The World Cup of Darts is just around the corner and there will be some hidden gems taking part in Frankfurt from June 11-14, live on Your Site.Yes, t...