Michael Smith secured his first title of 2022 at Players Championship 14, seeing off surprise package John O’Shea 8-5 in the final in Wigan on Tuesday.
Smith has struggled for form since losing the UK Open final in March, but bounced back to secure a seventh career Players Championship title, and scoop the £12,000 prize fund.
Things were starting to look ominous for Smith in the final as O'Shea got off to a flying start, taking out checkouts of 105, 50 and 120 as he moved into a 3-2 lead.
But Smith put together a superb mid-game spell, taking five of the next six legs as he moved within a leg of the title at 7-4.
With O'Shea within two, he threatened to move to close the gap again but six missed darts at the double proved costly as Smith pinned double two to secure the title at the Robin Park Tennis Centre.
Smith started his run to the title with a routine 6-3 over Tony Martinez, before seeing off Germany's Ricardo Pietreczko 6-2 in the second round.
The Premier League star then saw off Ricky Evans 6-3 with an average of 103.51 - his highest of the day. This was swiftly followed by 6-4 victories over Martin Lukeman and James Wilson as he reached the semi-finals.
Standing in his way of the final was Australia's number one Damon Heta, who had started his day with a nine-dart finish against Keegan Brown. However, Smith raced to the final with a 7-2 victory.
Heta's moment of perfection early in the day was one of two nine-darters at Players Championship 14, with Ross Smith striking a nine-dart leg in the first leg of his victory over Geert de Vos.
Irishman O'Shea - playing in his first PDC ranking final - started his run with a 6-4 win over Nick Fullwell, before defeating the in-form Nathan Aspinall by the same scoreline.
He then saw off Dutchman Damian Mol 6-3, before putting a stop to nine-dart hero Ross Smith's run in the last 16 with a 6-3 win.
The 46-year-old saw off Maik Kuivenhoven in the quarter-finals to continue his remarkable run, before scalping world number 13 Dave Chisnall 7-4 in the last four to set up the showdown with Smith.
Max Hopp
6
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0
Luke Humphries
Danny van Trijp
6
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5
Mario Vandenbogaerde
Simon Whitlock
6
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3
Scott Waites
Richie Burnett
6
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5
Luke Woodhouse
Chris Dobey
6
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2
Jeffrey De Zwaan
James Wilson
6
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0
Niels Zonneveld
Daryl Gurney
6
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3
Jason Heaver
Nathan Rafferty
6
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5
Jeff Smith
Michael Smith
6
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3
Tony Martinez
Ricardo Pietreczko
6
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4
Brett Claydon
Ricky Evans
6
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4
Danny Jansen
Mike De Decker
6
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5
Boris Koltsov
Radek Szaganski
6
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5
Dirk van Duijvenbode
Matthew Edgar
6
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4
Eddie Lovely
Martin Lukeman
6
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2
Florian Hempel
Ron Meulenkamp
6
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5
Darren Webster
Matt Campbell
6
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5
Rob Cross
Ritchie Edhouse
6
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2
Rusty-Jake Rodriguez
Adam Gawlas
6
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5
Mensur Suljovic
Alan Soutar
6
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0
Josh Rock
Brendan Dolan
6
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2
Glen Durrant
Robert Owen
6
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4
Lee Evans
Kim Huybrechts
6
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3
Jules van Dongen
Jose Justicia
6
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2
Darius Labanauskas
Damon Heta
6
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4
Keegan Brown
Kevin Doets
6
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5
Boris Krcmar
Mervyn King
6
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2
Jim Williams
Jamie Clark
6
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2
Jimmy Hendriks
Martin Schindler
6
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5
Steve Beaton
Andrew Gilding
6
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0
Mickey Mansell
Devon Petersen
6
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3
Adrian Lewis
Krzysztof Kciuk
6
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4
Kevin Burness
Jose De Sousa
6
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1
Stu Wilson
Stephen Burton
6
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3
Berry van Peer
Ryan Meikle
6
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5
Raymond van Barneveld
Ian White
6
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4
Lewis Williams
Dave Chisnall
6
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2
David Evans
Joe Murnan
6
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1
Brian Raman
Gabriel Clemens
6
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5
Ross Montgomery
Jonathan Worsley
6
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5
Andy Jenkins
Dimitri Van den Bergh
6
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5
Ted Evetts
Shaun Wilkinson
6
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5
William Borland
Bradley Brooks
6
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2
Vincent van der Voort
Peter Burgoyne
6
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3
Karel Sedlacek
Krzysztof Ratajski
6
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5
Jamie Hughes
Cameron Menzies
6
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2
Rowby-John Rodriguez
Steve West
6
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3
Madars Razma
Jack Main
6
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5
Steve Haggerty
Joe Cullen
6
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2
Vladimir Andersen
George Killington
6
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2
Adam Hunt
Ryan Joyce
6
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4
Jake Jones
John Henderson
6
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5
Jason Lowe
Danny Noppert
6
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4
Scott Williams
Peter Hudson
6
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5
Connor Scutt
William O'Connor
6
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4
Callan Rydz
Maik Kuivenhoven
6
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3
Luc Peters
Nathan Aspinall
6
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5
Martijn Kleermaker
John O'Shea
6
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4
Nick Fullwell
Geert Nentjes
6
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1
Keane Barry
Damian Mol
6
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3
Steve Lennon
John Michael
6
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5
Stephen Bunting
Andy Boulton
6
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4
Scott Mitchell
Ross Smith
6
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5
Geert De Vos
Gordon Mathers
6
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4
Jermaine Wattimena
Max Hopp
6
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5
Danny van Trijp
Richie Burnett
6
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4
Simon Whitlock
James Wilson
6
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5
Chris Dobey
Daryl Gurney
6
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4
Nathan Rafferty
Michael Smith
6
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2
Ricardo Pietreczko
Ricky Evans
6
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5
Mike De Decker
Matthew Edgar
6
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3
Radek Szaganski
Martin Lukeman
6
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4
Ron Meulenkamp
Ritchie Edhouse
6
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2
Matt Campbell
Adam Gawlas
6
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0
Alan Soutar
Robert Owen
6
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4
Brendan Dolan
Kim Huybrechts
6
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3
Jose Justicia
Damon Heta
6
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5
Kevin Doets
Mervyn King
6
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3
Jamie Clark
Andrew Gilding
6
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5
Martin Schindler
Krzysztof Kciuk
6
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2
Devon Petersen
Stephen Burton
6
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4
Jose De Sousa
Ryan Meikle
6
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3
Ian White
Dave Chisnall
6
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3
Joe Murnan
Gabriel Clemens
6
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1
Jonathan Worsley
Shaun Wilkinson
6
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3
Dimitri Van den Bergh
Peter Burgoyne
6
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3
Bradley Brooks
Krzysztof Ratajski
6
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1
Cameron Menzies
Jack Main
6
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5
Steve West
Joe Cullen
6
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3
George Killington
Ryan Joyce
6
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5
John Henderson
Peter Hudson
6
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4
Danny Noppert
Maik Kuivenhoven
6
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5
William O'Connor
John O'Shea
6
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4
Nathan Aspinall
Damian Mol
6
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4
Geert Nentjes
John Michael
6
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4
Andy Boulton
Ross Smith
6
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3
Gordon Mathers
Max Hopp
6
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3
Richie Burnett
James Wilson
6
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2
Daryl Gurney
Michael Smith
6
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3
Ricky Evans
Martin Lukeman
6
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3
Matthew Edgar
Ritchie Edhouse
6
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5
Adam Gawlas
Kim Huybrechts
6
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3
Robert Owen
Damon Heta
6
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2
Mervyn King
Andrew Gilding
6
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4
Krzysztof Kciuk
Ryan Meikle
6
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2
Stephen Burton
Dave Chisnall
6
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1
Gabriel Clemens
Shaun Wilkinson
6
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4
Peter Burgoyne
Krzysztof Ratajski
6
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1
Jack Main
Joe Cullen
6
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3
Ryan Joyce
Maik Kuivenhoven
6
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1
Peter Hudson
John O'Shea
6
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3
Damian Mol
Ross Smith
6
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0
John Michael
James Wilson
6
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4
Max Hopp
Michael Smith
6
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4
Martin Lukeman
Ritchie Edhouse
6
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2
Kim Huybrechts
Damon Heta
6
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2
Andrew Gilding
Dave Chisnall
6
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5
Ryan Meikle
Krzysztof Ratajski
6
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0
Shaun Wilkinson
Maik Kuivenhoven
6
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2
Joe Cullen
John O'Shea
6
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3
Ross Smith
Michael Smith
6
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4
James Wilson
Damon Heta
6
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4
Ritchie Edhouse
Dave Chisnall
6
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3
Krzysztof Ratajski
John O'Shea
6
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4
Maik Kuivenhoven
Michael Smith
7
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2
Damon Heta
John O'Shea
7
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4
Dave Chisnall
Michael Smith
8
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5
John O'Shea