Ross Smith has had hot spells before, but this one is starting to look far more serious. His Players Championship 20 title in Milton Keynes on Wednesday 3 June 2026 did not just add another trophy to the cabinet; it reinforced the idea that his 2026 surge is built on repeatable top-level darts, not a fleeting purple patch.
Smith beat William O’Connor 8-5 in the final and did it with a superb 107.01 average. DartsNews reported that O’Connor averaged 93.49, which matters because this was not a scrappy title won while everybody else misfired. Smith had to maintain a genuinely elite level to get over the line.
That is the part World Matchplay rivals will notice. Plenty of players can spike for a day on the ProTour. Far fewer keep stacking deep runs, big averages and titles across different conditions. Smith is now doing exactly that, and timing it perfectly ahead of one of the summer’s biggest tests.
Another title, and a route that tells its own story
There was substance throughout the run. Smith came through Cor Dekker, Dominik Gruellich, Ian White, Cristo Reyes, Andy Boulton and Henry Coates before seeing off O’Connor in the final. That is the kind of card where every round asks a slightly different question, and Smith kept answering.
The standout performance on paper was his 108.59 average against Ian White, a reminder of how dangerous he becomes when the scoring is flowing and the first dart is landing cleanly. Yet the semi-final may have said even more about his chances going forward. Henry Coates pushed him all the way into a deciding leg and missed three darts at tops to finish the upset. Smith survived, then went on to lift the title.
That mix matters. He had the explosive stuff when the game opened up, but he also had the resilience to come through the kind of near-escape that often derails a title bid. Players heading to Blackpool are always judged on whether they can win in different ways. Smith’s Wednesday showed both sides.
Smith was quoted by DartsNews as saying he was “buzzing” and had reached double figures for PDC ranking titles. He also said he had won three titles this year and “can’t grumble at all”. On the available evidence, that reads like a fair summary rather than empty confidence.
Why this changes the World Matchplay conversation
The wider 2026 picture is what makes this latest win so significant. PDC Europe’s ProTour winners list already shows Smith as the Players Championship 5 winner on 24 February and the International Darts Open champion in Riesa from 22 to 24 May. Milton Keynes gives him a third title of the year and, crucially, another reminder that his form is travelling from one stage to the next.
No sensible observer should suddenly call him the World Matchplay favourite. That would be too much, especially in a field that will contain proven major winners and players with stronger long-format records. But it would now be equally wrong to treat Smith as an outsider who simply needs everything to click for one week.
He is arriving with results, confidence and a body of work that deserves proper respect. If you are a seed, you do not want to see him in your section. If you are a fan looking for a player capable of turning the draw upside down, Smith is now near the top of that list.