Double delight as Ross Smith claims PDC Players Championship 16

Ross Smith hit two nine-dart finishes on route to picking up his sixth PDC ranking title on Tuesday, after defeating Brendan Dolan 8-0 in the final of Players Championship 16, as the Pro Tour double header concluded in Hildesheim.  

Former European Champion, Smith, who’s last PDC title came in July 2024, reached the final firstly by recording victories against Dylan Slevin, Steve Lennon, Pero Ljubic, Chris Landman, Danny Noppert and Luke Woodhouse, to set up a clash with Dolan.

It was during his victories against Slevin and Landman that ‘Smudger’ landed his first and second nine-dart finish on the day, becoming just the third player – following Phil Taylor and Michael Van Gerwen – to hit multiple perfect legs during the same Pro Tour event.  

The final saw Smith dominate the entirety of the tie, as he rattled off eight successive legs in 18,14,12,13,14,12,14 and 18 darts respectively to secure an 8-0 whitewash victory against ‘The History Maker’ to clinch a fifth Players Championship title of his career as well as the £15,000 top prize.  

Combined with his comeback to defeat Ryan Searle in the last 16, and whitewash wins in both quarter and semi finals, the one sided final meant that Smith had won 24 consecutive legs.

Dolan’s run to the final saw the ten-time PDC title winner record victories on the day against Damon Heta, Leon Weber, Madars Razma, Jim Long, Dirk Van Duijvenbode and Gabriel Clemens, before being denied by Smith.  

Elsewhere, there were Quarter Final runs for Ricky Evans and Kevin Doets, whilst the likes of Michael Smith, James Wade and Mike De Decker were amongst the high profile first round casualties, with Monday’s PC15 winner Krzysztof Ratajski suffering a second-round exit.  

The PDC Pro Tour returns on 17-19th June with Players Championship 17-19 taking place at Leicester’s Mattioli Arena, with 128 players competing for a further £125,000 in prize money each day. Play will be broadcasted across four streaming boards on PDC.TV and various bookmaker websites worldwide, with all live scores and results on tv.dartconnect.com. 

PDC Players Championship 2025 (16) 

Last 16 

Gabriel Clemens 6-2 Raymond Van Barneveld 

Kevin Doets 6-2 Dominik Gruellich  

Brendan Dolan 6-2 Jim Long 

Dirk Van Duijvenbode 6-0 Darius Labanauskas 

Luke Woodhouse 6-4 Martin Schindler 

Ricky Evans 6-5 Gary Anderson 

Ross Smith 6-3 Chris Landman  

Danny Noppert 6-5 Ryan Searle 

Quarter Finals 

Gabriel Clemens 6-4 Kevin Doets 

Brendan Dolan 6-3 Dirk Van Duijvenbode 

Luke Woodhouse 6-4 Ricky Evans 

Ross Smith 6-0 Danny Noppert 

Semi Finals 

Brendan Dolan 7-5 Gabriel Clemens 

Ross Smith 7-0 Luke Woodhouse 

Final  

Ross Smith 8-0 Brendan Dolan