Ross Smith is into a second televised ranking semi-final seeing off
Scott Williams and averaging 105 in the process in a superb 10-3 win for 'Smudger' at the
Players Championship Finals.
Smith has been down on his own form at times this season but has shown these past few weeks that when he unlocks that scoring power that he can be unstoppable like when he won the European Championship.
Although he faces a rather tougher assignment next up when he faces off against Luke Littler for a spot in the final. If both catch light, it could be a Match of the Year contender. A former European Champion, could he win the ProTour crown as well as the European Tour one?
It was more his doubling though early on as Smith countered a good start from Williams in order to go 4-1 up opening up a commanding lead with a 101.8 average. A mark that just kept climbing towards 110 at some point in the contest.
Among the flourishes was an unconventional 74 checkout as he sealed four legs on the spin in order to head into the lead. At the next interval though, he continued to heads towards the finishing line.
The missed doubles were becoming a problem for Williams as Smith went 8-2 up and towards the winning line. He was averaging 109 at that point with six 180's to his name as Williams couldn't get a foothold at all.
It ended on a 105 average for 'Smudger'. Williams was way back as Smith pinned double 12 for a 13 darter and made it 9-2. Williams stopped the rot with a 48 checkout on double 16. But missing 146 after getting the first two parts of the combination, Smith punished him to claim the win.