Stunning Smith wins third consecutive Pro Tour title at PC16

With a stunning victory over Dirk van Duijvenbode in the Players Championship 16 final in Germany, Michael Smith clinched his third consecutive Pro Tour title.

To win his 19th PDC title – his fifth in as many weeks – the World Championship runner-up had a tournament average of almost 101 and struck 28 maximums during the afternoon.

Smith won the £12,000 top prize at Niedernhausen with four ton-topping averages, and he put on a stunning performance to beat Van Duijvenbode 8-6 in the final.

The Dutchman averaged 107.29 and landed seven 180s, but an inspired Smith, who averaged 105.58 and converted three ton-plus finishes to win, denied him a third PDC ranking title.

After Van Duijvenbode answered with back-to-back legs, the St Helens star set the tone by drawing first blood inside 11 darts, and a second 11-darter put him 3-2 ahead.

With legs of 14 and 13 darts, the Dutchman appeared to be on his way to a 5-3 lead, only for Smith to come back with a remarkable 170 checkout – his second of the tournament.

With a 110 finish in leg ten, Smith extended his lead, and while Van Duijvenbode continued to respond, Smith clinched the deal with a magnificent 12-darter.

“I’m in a rich vein of form and long may it continue,” said Smith, who has now won 21 consecutive matches in Players Championship events.

“Every game I played today, I played really well. Whenever I need to pull a rabbit out of the hat, I’m able to produce something special.

“I’m looking forward to tomorrow now. There are some players missing, but you can only beat who is in front of you, and there’s still a lot of top players here.”

 

The ProTour action continues with Players Championship 17 in Niedernhausen on Wednesday, and live action will be broadcast across two streams on PDCTV.

 

 

2022 Players Championship 16

Tuesday June 14

Last 16

Luke Humphries 6-2 Chris Dobey

Dirk van Duijvenbode 6-2 Dimitri Van den Bergh

Keane Barry 6-4 Dave Chisnall

John Henderson 6-5 Martin Lukeman

Michael Smith 6-4 Stephen Bunting

Andrew Gilding 6-5 Danny Noppert

Josh Rock 6-0 Gabriel Clemens

Krzysztof Ratajski 6-1 Damon Heta

 

Quarter-Finals

Dirk van Duijvenbode 6-4 Luke Humphries

Keane Barry 6-2 John Henderson

Michael Smith 6-2 Andrew Gilding

Josh Rock 6-4 Krzysztof Ratajski

 

Semi-Finals

Dirk van Duijvenbode 7-1 Keane Barry

Michael Smith 7-3 Josh Rock

 

Final

Michael Smith 8-6 Dirk van Duijvenbode