Danny Noppert defeated Michael Smith 11-10 in a dramatic Cazoo UK Open final to win his first televised title at Butlin’s Minehead Resort on Sunday.<\/p>\n
A tense climax to the 158-player tournament saw both players bidding to claim a televised ranking title for the first time, having come through the quarter-finals and semi-finals earlier in a dramatic third day of action.<\/p>\n
Smith looked set to claim the biggest title of his career when – having earlier overcome world number one Gerwyn Price and youngster Keane Barry – he went 10-9 up in the final, only for Noppert to battle back in a captivating climax to the tournament.<\/p>\n
The penultimate leg saw Smith miss a match dart at the bullseye for a 124 checkout, before Noppert pinned a crucial double four to hold throw and then fired in a 180 on his way to a 13-dart break to claim the title.<\/p>\n
“I am over the moon, this is a special moment for me,” said Noppert, who defeated Damon Heta and William O’Connor in the quarter-finals and semi-finals respectively.<\/p>\n
“I can’t believe it; I have said before that I want to lift a trophy but I never thought it would be at such a big tournament like the UK Open.<\/p>\n
“It was a hard game at the end of a long day, we both wanted to lift this trophy so much and neither of us played like we can.<\/p>\n
“I think I can take big steps forward in my career now.”<\/p>\n
Noppert, who became a father for the first time in February, climbs to 12th on the PDC Order of Merit courtesy of the \u00a3100,000 winner’s prize.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, Smith was left dejected after suffering an eighth successive defeat in a televised final in a four-year period, missing 20 darts at a double in the final which included one for the title at the bullseye.<\/p>\n
“I was trying too hard to win, fair play to Danny,” said Smith. “It’s yet another final loss, it’s very hard to take.<\/p>\n
“I can only blame myself, my doubles were awful and my scoring was bad.”<\/p>\n
The two-time World Championship runner-up came close to a perfect weekend in Somerset, having hit a nine-darter on Saturday.<\/p>\n
Despite the defeat, Smith moves up to fourth on the PDC Order of Merit courtesy of the \u00a340,000 runner-up prize.<\/p>\n
Earlier in the day, Smith ended Price’s reign as world number one with a quarter-final win over the Welshman, as Peter Wright moves top of the Order of Merit.<\/p>\n
Polish 18-year-old Sebastian Bialecki’s fairytale run also came to an end in the last eight as he went down 10-9 to William O’Connor.<\/p>\n
Irish teenager Keane Barry ended James Wade’s title defence in the quarter-finals, while countryman O’Connor also exited at the semi-final stage as the pair enjoyed their most successful runs in individual televised events.<\/p>\n
2022 Cazoo UK Open Evening Session Final<\/strong> Danny Noppert defeated Michael Smith 11-10 in a dramatic Cazoo UK Open final to win his first televised title at…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":4547,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[943,124],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4546","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","category-results"],"yoast_head":"\n
\nSunday March 6
\nAfternoon Session
\nQuarter-Finals<\/strong>
\nKeane Barry 10-4 James Wade
\nWilliam O\u2019Connor 10-9 Sebastian Bialecki
\nDanny Noppert 10-5 Damon Heta
\nMichael Smith 10-7 Gerwyn Price<\/p>\n
\nSemi-Finals<\/strong>
\nMichael Smith 11-6 Keane Barry
\nDanny Noppert 11-9 William O’Connor<\/p>\n
\nDanny Noppert 11-10 Michael Smith<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"