Ross Smith produced a sensational display to claim the 16th Players Championship title of the season on Tuesday, delivering one of the most dominant performances seen on the Pro Tour in recent years.
The man known as 'Smudger' hit not one, but two nine-darters during the day and strung together a remarkable 24 consecutive legs en route to lifting the title.
Smith set the tone early with a perfect leg in his opening-round clash against Dylan Slevin, a match he went on to win 6-3. He followed that up with convincing 6-2 victories over both Steve Lennon and Pero Ljubić to reach the last 16.
In his fourth-round tie against Chris Landman, Smith struck again with a second nine-darter. That match marked a turning point—Landman was the last player to win a leg against Smith all day, levelling the contest at 3-3 before Smith reeled off the next three legs to seal a 6-3 win and begin his incredible leg-winning streak.
The run continued with a whitewash over Danny Noppert in the quarterfinals, as the Dutchman was brushed aside 6-0. Luke Woodhouse fared no better in the semifinals, losing 7-0, before Smith completed his flawless run with an 8-0 demolition of Brendan Dolan in the final.
Over the course of the tournament, Smith won 45 of the 55 legs he played, an astonishing winning rate of 81.8%. That level of dominance is a rare feat in Players Championship history.
According to stats provider TheRedBit, only a select group of players have ever won a Players Championship event while winning at least 80% of the legs they played. Among those are former world champions Michael van Gerwen and Gary Anderson, as well as Colin Lloyd, Jamie Caven, Robert Thornton, Jonny Clayton, and Benito van de Pas—all of whom managed it once.
Darts icon Phil Taylor remains in a league of his own, having achieved the feat on six occasions. His most dominant was Players Championship 27 in 2009, where he won an extraordinary 42 of 46 legs, finishing with a staggering 91.3% leg win rate.
Smith’s performance on Tuesday not only etched his name into that elite company but did so with style and perfection—twice over.
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