Ross Smith beats Wesley Plaisier 8-7 to win the Players Championship 13 and claim his 4th PC title in Milton Keynes on Tuesday.
Smith is fresh from a European Tour final two weeks ago which he lost to Dave Chisnall but this week was a redemption for Smith as he claimed the Players Championship 13 title along with the £15,000 prize.
Smith didn’t seem too excited in the post match interview and this is likely due to the fact that he was 5-1 up at a stage, only for Plaisier to battle back to 7-7.
Plaisier hit 144 and 167 checkouts in his comeback as both players averaged 110 and 107 a various points during the game,
Still, Smith started off the match with a 180, won the opening leg with a 170 finish, started the 2nd leg with 6 perfect darts and hit 9 maximums throughout the match.
Seriously top quality darts and upon eventually winning the match, his average finishing with a very respectable 107.
Smith had this to say following the win:
“I’m glad it was a thrilling final for you lot because I hated it. He just didn’t let up.
“5-1 up and it felt like he just didn’t miss.
“All credit to him and it just shows what a class player he is.”
On what the win meant to him, Smith said
“I felt like I needed to get the win there and win a final. I’ve lost in two European Tour finals this year, so this was massive for me.
“I’ve also made quite a few semi-finals [on the ProTour] so if I’d missed out again, you start thinking too much, and nobody wants to start doing that, so I’m happy I’ve crossed the line.
“In this game, a lot of it is about confidence and belief, and I just want to win again, it’s as simple as that.”
ROSS SMITH WINS AN EPIC! 🔥
— PDC Darts (@OfficialPDC) July 2, 2024
What. A. Final! 💥
Ross Smith lands NINE 180s and averages over 107 to defeat a superb Wesley Plaisier in a last-leg decider, as he clinches the #PC13 title in Milton Keynes!
📺 https://t.co/YyBPPwoMK8 | #PC13 pic.twitter.com/vEGGvDrWp5
Elsewhere in the tournament, Luke Littler faced an early exit as Rober Grundy beat him 6-5 in the first round. Other notable exits included:
- Stephen Bunting lost 6-5 to Plaisier in the last 16
- Raymond Van Barneveld lost 6-3 to James Wade in the last 16
- Mensur Suljovic lost 6-5 to Kevin Doets in the second round
- Dave Chisnall, Chris Dobey, Daryl Gurney, Damon Heta, Ryan Searle and Josh Rock all suffered first round defeats.
SEE MORE TOURNAMENT NEWS FROM DECENT DARTS
👉 Dimitri Van Den Bergh wins Players Championship 12
👉 Luke Littler wins 2024 Poland Darts Masters
James Wade Back in a Qualifying Position for World Matchplay
James Wade made it to the quarter-finals of today’s tournament and this moved him ahead of Kevin Doets into the final qualifying place for the 2024 World Matchplay (next weekend) with just tomorrow’s Player Championship 14 remaining before the 32-players are finalised.
Wade was beaten 6-3 by 20 year old Cam Crabree who had a great run himself before losing 6-3 to Plaisier in the semi-finals.
2024 Players Championship 13 Results
Last 16
Niels Zonneveld 6-3 Wessel Nijman
Wesley Plaisier 6-5 Stephen Bunting
Cam Crabtree 6-4 Kai Gotthardt
James Wade 6-3 Raymond van Barneveld
Andy Boulton 6-3 Nathan Rafferty
Andrew Gilding 6-4 Krzysztof Ratajski
Jonny Clayton 6-1 Radek Szaganski
Ross Smith 6-4 Ricky Evans
Quarter-Finals
Wesley Plaisier 6-3 Niels Zonneveld
Cam Crabtree 6-3 James Wade
Andy Boulton 6-3 Andrew Gilding
Ross Smith 6-4 Jonny Clayton
Semi-Finals
Wesley Plaisier 7-3 Cam Crabtree
Ross Smith 7-2 Andy Boulton
Final
Ross Smith 8-7 Wesley Plaisier
Check back in with us tomorrow at decentdarts.com as we bring you the results and news following the Players Championship 14