Michael Smith wins Players Championship 9 and takes his 20th Pro Tour title

Michael Smith took the overall victory at the ninth Players Championship 9 in Hildesheim. By defeating Ryan Joyce in the final, 'Bullyboy' captured a Pro Tour title for the 20th time in his career.

Smith had started the tournament with a 6-3 victory over Oskar Lukasiak before defeating Adam Hunt 6-0. That was followed by victories over Jonny Clayton (6-4) and Richard Veenstra (6-0) for a spot in the last eight.

In the quarterfinals, Smith dealt with Luke Woodhouse (6-3), before securing a spot in the final with a 7-4 victory over Krzysztof Ratajski. So in the final match he faced Joyce, who earlier in the day was responsible for eliminating the likes of Raymond van Barneveld (6-4), Dave Chisnall (6-5) and Chris Dobey (6-4).

Smith gained a 3-1 lead early in the final, but the next four legs went to Joyce. 'Bullyboy' managed to make up that deficit by turning the 5-3 deficit into a 6-5 lead. Joyce then made it 6-6 before Smith decided the match with a 15-darter and a 14-darter.

Results Players Championship 9

Last 16

Ryan Joyce (97.89) 6 | 5 (93.82) Dave Chisnall

Chris Dobey (105.25) 6 | 2 (93.58) Robert Grundy

Callan Rydz (88.27) 6 | 3 (82.68) Scott Williams

Ritchie Edhouse (91.09) 6 | 0 (82.19) Andrew Gilding

Michael Smith (90.18) 6 | 0 (84.34) Richard Veenstra

Luke Woodhouse (100.44) 6 | 1 (88.97) Patrick Geeraets

Krzysztof Ratajski (98.53) 6 | 4 (90.39) Kevin Doets

Stephen Bunting (97.19) 6 | 4 (92.96) Gian van Veen

Quarterfinals

Ryan Joyce (100.68) 6 | 4 (102.04) Chris Dobey

Ritchie Edhouse (97.40) 6 | 5 (93.19) Callan Rydz

Michael Smith (109.91) 6 | 3 (99.61) Luke Woodhouse

Krzysztof Ratajski (104.48) 6 | 4 (104.27) Stephen Bunting

Semi-final

Ryan Joyce (96.78) 7 | 4 (90.30) Ritchie Edhouse

Michael Smith (95.73) 7 | 4 (91.54) Krzysztof Ratajski

Finale

Michael Smith (88.39) 8 | 6 (92.09) Ryan Joyce