Ross Smith dominates averages enroute to Players Championship 20 with two highest of the day

Players Championship 20 belonged to Ross Smith. The former European champion excelled on the oche in Milton Keynes as he confirmed a second floor title in 2026, bossing the average charts along the way.

His most notable average was in the final, but that was not even his best display of the day. Topping the average charts, 'Smudger' piled in a fantastic 108.58 showing against a hapless Ian White in the third round.

That could not be bettered in the 8-5 final win over William O'Connor, but nevertheless it was still a hugely impressive 107.01 average that saw off the Irishman and crowned him as a Players Championship winner once more.

Smith missed just three darts at double with a checkout percentage of 73%. He threw six 180s in proceedings and kept the dangerous O'Connor at bay with a lightning display. Aside from finishing first and second, Smith also appears in 15th with his 101.33 display in the second round against Dominik Gruellich, whitewashing the German.

While Smith leads, Wessel Nijman is following close behind. No PC titles this time around for the talented Dutchman whose tally remains on an incredible five already won this year, but he is still putt in some show-stopping performances.

In the second round, he thrashed Connor Scutt 6-2 while averaging 105.77. He would go and build on this in the next round with the third biggest average of the day in the form of a 106.34 in a 6-3 victory against Tom Bissell.

Chris Dobey's 104.95 was the highest average of the day that was below 105 and placed him in fifth. Losing finalist William O'Connor had a great day in Milton Keynes, piling in the great performances. A 101.52 average in a 6-1 in over fellow countryman Shane McGuirk was followed by an eye-catching 103.66 average in a demolishing of the German number one, whitewashing Martin Schindler.

Daryl Gurney's 103.13 average in the first round was by far his showing of the day. Jack Tweddell had a peculiar day, winning with an 80 average in the first round before bumping up by over 20 points to 103.05. Somehow, this would result in a loss against an impressive Luke Woodhouse. The inform Englishman put in a 102.90 average which just slots behind Tweddell on the average rankings for this tournament. Danny Noppert's 102.79 average in the second round against Tom Sykes, who put in a 102.47, are 10th and 11th respectively.