players

ROSS SMITH reeled off the craziest stats in Players Championship history – clinching PC16 with TWO nine-darters and three straight whitewash wins.

But the English oche ace‘s verdict on his performance was even more astonishing than his figures.

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No player has ever been more dominant in this tournament than Smith was in triumphing in Hildesheim, Germany.

But the 36-year-old claimed: “I don’t actually think I played that well!” 

The Kent star Smith, 36, reached World No. 9 last year and has now won six PDC rankings events.

And although that’s a useful pedigree, no-one could have predicted his record-breaking feats on Tuesday.

Smith sealed the crown by winning 24 legs in a row.

In fact four of his five opponents failed to win a single leg.

And only legends Phil Taylor and Michael van Gerwen have ever bagged more than one nine-darter at the same Players Championship event.

Smith said: “I know I can be one of the best in the world. Consistency is a big thing, but I know I can win tournaments on a regular basis.”

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The 2022 European champion opened with a 6-0 defeat of Dylan Slevin, then dispatched Chris Landman 6-3 in the last 16.

Landman briefly fought back to level at 3-3 – but from that moment Smith never lost another leg all day.

He next sunk Danny Noppert 6-0 and Luke Woodhouse 7-0 in the semis.

And he demolished Brendan Dolan 8-0 in the final – with an average of 104.5.

Smith polished off the Northern Irishman with legs of 14, 12, 13, 14, 12 and 14 darts.

His joy in Germany means he has jumped up to World No. 14.

Smith said: “I’m so happy with the win.

“I’ve got the little plaques at home with the scoresheets from my Players Championship wins. They’re my little trophies, and they mean a lot to me.

“I’m going to add another one to the wall today, and it’s another incentive when I’m at home practising, because I want to win all the time; who doesn’t?

“If you’ve won a major title you can win anything. I honestly believe I’m going to win more, but I need to keep working hard.”

Leicester’s Mattioli Arena will host the PDC’s Players Championships 17 and 18 on June 17-18.

The decisions come after a series of cost-cutting measures at the club which have included redundancies and the removal of free lunches for staff.

In addition, it has been established if United win, their intention is to celebrate by holding a barbeque at the club’s Carrington training ground.

Tottenham are yet to announce their plans in the event of victory but it is expected they will have a parade to show off the trophy.

Newcastle held a parade in the city in March to mark their Carabao Cup triumph, while Liverpool are due to host one on 26 May following their Premier League title success.

United have not held a trophy parade since 2013, which coincided with Sir Alex Ferguson’s retirement. Players were famously irritated in 2008 to discover there was no such celebration to mark their Champions League triumph over Chelsea.

Hosting one this season would have been logistically tricky.

Unlike their last Europa League success, against Ajax in Stockholm in 2017 during Jose Mourinho’s time in charge, United will still have a Premier League game to play after the match in Bilbao – when Aston Villa visit Old Trafford on 25 May.

Immediately after that game, United fly to Asia for two post-season matches against local opposition in Malaysia and Hong Kong.

They return to Manchester on 31 May, after which players have to immediately report for international duty.

Portugal have a Nations League semi-final with Germany on 4 June, which would involve Bruno Fernandes and, if fit, Diogo Dalot.

World Cup qualifiers also take place in South America on 5 June and in Europe from 6 June.