Ross Smith thrashed Chris Dobey 8-2 to win his seventh career Players Championship title
Smith averaged over 95 in all but one of his seven wins in Leicester on Monday with relatively comfortable victories over Czechia's Karel Sedlacek and Dave Chisnall in the semi-finals and quarter-finals to make the final.
The 37-year-old also beat Niko Springer, Michael Smith, Cor Dekker and Justin Hood earlier in the day and averaged 104.39 to see off a poor Dobey in Tuesday's final.
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"I played consistently well today. I rode my luck a bit but you need a bit of luck along the way to win a title, unless you're playing exceptional," said Smith.
"Thankfully for me, Chris didn't turn up. We all know Chris is one of the best in the world. I'm grateful to beat him and I'm happy.
"I felt relaxed today. It's the best I've felt this year. I'm glad with the win. I always set myself a target of winning at least one title every year, so I'm on course now for 2026."
Dobey produced the moment of the day though with a nine-darter against Ricky Evans in the second round before deciding leg wins against Dutch duo Kevin Doets and Danny Noppert.
He saw off Christian Kist in the quarter-finals and Joe Cullen in the semi-finals only to deliver a disappointing performance in the final where he missed 13 darts at double.
Top seed Gerwyn Price was stunned 6-2 by Adam Lipscombe in his opening match, with other Premier League Darts stars Jonny Clayton and Josh Rock also beaten in the first round.
Luke Littler, Luke Humphries, Gian van Veen, Michael van Gerwen and Stephen Bunting were among those not to enter this week's Players Championship events in Leicester, with another competition on Wednesday.
Last 16
Christian Kist 6-1 Sebastian Bialecki
Chris Dobey 6-5 Danny Noppert
Joe Cullen 6-5 Brendan Dolan
Niels Zonneveld 6-0 Martijn Dragt
Ross Smith 6-2 Niko Springer
Dave Chisnall 6-4 Ricardo Pietreczko
Karel Sedlacek 6-2 Ryan Searle
Alan Soutar 6-4 Gary Anderson
Quarter-finals
Chris Dobey 6-0 Christian Kist
Joe Cullen 6-2 Niels Zonneveld
Ross Smith 6-3 Dave Chisnall
Karel Sedlacek 6-4 Alan Soutar
Semi-finals
Chris Dobey 7-4 Joe Cullen
Ross Smith 7-4 Karel Sedlacek
Final
Ross Smith 8-2 Chris Dobey
Who will win this year's Premier League Darts? Luke Humphries is defending his title and you can watch the action every single Thursday until May on Sky Sports. Stream darts and more top sport with NOW.
(c) Sky Sports 2026: Ross Smith wins Players Championship 5 in Leicester as Chris Dobey makes nine-darter against Ricky Evans
