Smudger Smith claims third PDC title of 2026 at Players Championship 20

Ross Smith picked up his third PDC title of the year on Wednesday, after an 8-5 victory over William O’Connor in the final of Players Championship 20, as the Pro Tour double header concluded at Arena MK.  

Smith, known as Smudger, claimed a maiden European Tour title of his career last month. On Wednesday he reached the final by recording victories against Cor Dekker, Dominik Gruellich, Ian White, Cristo Reyes, Andy Boulton and Henry Coates, to set up a clash with O’Connor.  

Nothing separated the pair in the opening stages of the final, with each sharing the spoils after four legs before Smith won back-to-back legs in 15 and 13 darts to move 4-2 ahead in a race to eight. The tie then saw six straight holds of throw ending with ‘Smudger’ sealing an 8-5 victory in Leg 13 with a 14-dart break of throw to pick up a second Players Championship title of the year and a tenth PDC title in total for the Former European Champion.  

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O’Connor’s run to the final saw ‘The Magpie’ record victories on the day against Viktor Tingstrom, Shane McGuirk, Martin Schindler, Wessel Nijman, Dave Chisnall and Richard Veenstra, before being denied a second PDC title by Smith.  

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Elsewhere, there were Quarter Final runs for Former Masters Champion Joe Cullen and Poland’s Premier Player Krzysztof Ratajski, whilst the likes of Premier League Stars Jonny Clayton and Gian Van Veen were amongst the high profile first round casualties, with Tuesday’s PC19 winner Jeffrey De Graaf suffering an exit in Round Three.  

The PDC Pro Tour returns in a fortnight on June 16-17 in Wigan with Players Championship 21 & 22 taking place, with 128 players competing for £150,000 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. 

Players Championship 20 

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 

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