Smith Does the Double at the PDC Winter Series
Michael Smith made it back-to-back ProTour titles as he clinched victory on Day Two of the 2020 PDC Winter Series, beating Jose De Sousa 8-7 in a climactic final.
It was a day of truly brilliant darts at the Ricoh Arena, Coventry, which saw huge averages posted and two nine-darters thrown by Andy Hamilton and Rowby-John Rodriguez.
Having waited two years to break his barren run for a title, Smith backed up his superb performances on Day One with some truly scintillating stuff in Wednesday's Players Championship.
However, in the final he looked to be falling short at the final hurdle as De Sousa - chasing his fourth PDC title - raced into a 4-1 lead with legs of 11, 13 and 11 darts.
Smith did superbly to resist the Portuguese star, and quickly levelled back to 4-4 as he cut the difference in the averages.
There was then little to separate the two, and Smith looked destined to take the title as he took a 7-6 lead, only for De Sousa to break throw and level at 7-7, giving him the darts for the title.
Smith remained strong, however, and a crucial 180 in the deciding leg gave him the advantage as he went to take out 25 on double ten for the title.
It was another memorable day for the 30-year-old, which started with a comfortable 6-3 win over Derk Telnekes.
The World Cup finalist then posted a huge 106.1 average as he beat Matthew Dennant 6-1, before going even better with a 106.8 average against Damon Heta.
Arguably his worst performance of the day came in a 6-2 win over Dirk van Duijvenbode in the last 16, but this improved massively in the next round against Gabriel Clemens.
The German had been imperious up until this stage, averaging a staggering 109 for the day and twice posting a 112 average, but was no match for Smith - who raised his own average to 109 in a dominant 6-1 victory to reach the final four.
And there, he quickly dealt with experienced Dutchman Vincent Van der Voort 7-3 to reach the final.
De Sousa's run to the final started with a 6-2 victory over Jason Lowe, before edging out Adam Hunt 6-5.
He then backed this up with a convincing 6-1 victory over Bradley Brooks and a 6-2 win over Danny Noppert.
The quarter-finals beckoned, where he edged out Jeffrey de Zwaan 6-5 and then followed this with a stunning 110 average as he demolished Joe Cullen 7-2 to reach the final and his nemesis in Michael Smith.
It may have been a two year wait for a title for Smith, but Hamilton had been waiting seven years for a perfect leg in PDC darts.
The 53-year-old struck perfection in his opening game of the day against Christian Bunse, with Austria's Rodriguez finding his moment of magic in the last 64 against Boris Krcmar only minutes later.
Action in the PDC Winter Series continues on Thursday with Day Three in Coventry, with Smith looking to make it a hat-trick of titles.
PDC Winter Series Day Two
Wednesday November 11, Ricoh Arena, Coventry
Last 16
Gabriel Clemens 6-3 Ryan Joyce
Michael Smith 6-2 Dirk van Duijvenbode
Vincent van der Voort 6-4 Justin Pipe
Darius Labanauskas 6-5 Krzysztof Kciuk
Brendan Dolan 6-5 Ryan Meikle
Joe Cullen 6-4 Mickey Mansell
Jeffrey de Zwaan 6-5 Keane Barry
Jose De Sousa 6-2 Danny Noppert
Quarter-Finals
Michael Smith 6-1 Gabriel Clemens
Vincent van der Voort 6-0 Darius Labanauskas
Joe Cullen 6-3 Brendan Dolan
Jose De Sousa 6-5 Jeffrey de Zwaan
Semi-Finals
Michael Smith 7-3 Vincent van der Voort
Jose De Sousa 7-2 Joe Cullen
Final
Michael Smith 8-7 Jose De Sousa