MICHAEL Smith joined the exclusive club of ProTour weekend double-event winners with his Players Championship victories this week.
The select group had been quiet during 2020 and 2021 but is making up for lost time this season. The ‘B2B Club’ includes World Champions, World Masters and a winners of a wide range of other PDC events.
Now twice World Championship finalist Smith added yet another line to his palmyres by claiming Players Championships 14 and 15 of 2022. He is the second player with 3 months to join the exclusive group after Joe Cullen claimed event 3 & 4 defeating Dimitri van den Bergh to claim the second title of the Barnsley weekend in February.
Krzystopf Ratajski managed to secure back-to-back titles back in 2018 with wins over Chris Dobey and Adrian Lewis in the finals of Players Championships 21 and 22 respectively, also in Barnsley.
Adrian Lewis, then aged just 20, became the first player to win two titles during a weekend in 2005 and was quickly followed by 16-time World Champion Phil Taylor in the same year.
Taylor’s prolific form on the ProTour saw him record an incredible 13 double-weekend triumphs from 2005 to 2012.
Warrior Wez Newton collected two Players Championships and a Grand Slam qualifier spot on the same weekend in 2010. Newton won one of four GSoD places available to the 256+ open field, on Friday evening, before claiming Players Championships 32 & 33 on Saturday and Sunday respectively.
The Flying Scotsman, two-time World Champion Gary Anderson, has also done it twice.
World number one Michael van Gerwen took it a step further in 2016 by completing a sensational mid-week treble.
Ratajski’s achievement meant four players achieved a double-win in a year for the first time since 2009.
Gerwyn Price marked a major step in his career with two wins in the early part of 2019. Claiming Players Championships 5 & 6 set a marker that the Welshman was intent, and able to compete in all formats.
Cullen’s was highly creditworthy as it came after a draining few weeks. The Rockstar won his first TV title at the Masters, earned a place in the Premier League, played his first two evenings (reaching the final of one) as well as four Pro Tour events in between. The Winmau man then joined an illustrious list of 14 (at that point) players to have achieved the feat.
Bullyboy Michael Smith’s effort in joining the group also included a 9-dart finish as he becomes the fifteenth to claim back-to-back (or 2 over a weekend) PRO Tour events.
Pro Tour Back 2 Back & Weekend Double-Winners
2005
Adrian Lewis – Players Championship (Scotland), UK Open Scottish Regional Final
Phil Taylor – Players Championship (Holland) x2
2006
Phil Taylor – Players Championship (Wales), UK Open Welsh Regional Final
2007
Phil Taylor – Players Championship (Holland) x2
2008
Phil Taylor – Players Championship 5, 6
Phil Taylor – Players Championship 7, UK Open Midlands Regional Final
Phil Taylor – Players Championship 18, 19
2009
Phil Taylor – Players Championship 2, 3
Phil Taylor – Players Championship 4, 5
Robert Thornton – Players Championship 6, UK Open Scottish Regional Final
Phil Taylor – Players Championship 8, UK Open Southern Regional Final
Phil Taylor – Players Championship 10, 11
2010
Mervyn King – Players Championship 3, UK Open Q1
Phil Taylor – Players Championship 7, UK Open Q3
Wes Newton – Players Championship 32, 33
2011
Gary Anderson – Players Championship 13, 14
Phil Taylor – Players Championship 29, 30
2012
Phil Taylor – UK Open Q3, Q4
Raymond van Barneveld – UK Open Q5, Q6
Dave Chisnall – Players Championship 1, 2
2013
Michael van Gerwen – UK Open Q1, Q2
Jamie Caven – Players Championship 3, 4
2014
Robert Thornton – Players Championship 7, 8
2015
Michael van Gerwen – UK Open Q2, Q3
Adrian Lewis – Players Championship 3, 5 (Lewis won two events on the same three-day weekend)
2016
Michael van Gerwen – UK Open Q5, Q6
Michael van Gerwen – Players Championship 14, 15, 16 (midweek treble-header)
2017
Peter Wright – UK Open Q1 and Q3 (Wright won two events on the same three-day weekend)
2018
Michael van Gerwen – UK Open Q1, Q2
Michael van Gerwen – Players Championship 1, 2
Gary Anderson – Players Championship 3, 4
Krzysztof Ratajski – Players Championship 21, 22
2019
Gerwyn Price – Players Championships 5, 6
2022
Joe Cullen – Players Championships 3, 4
2022
Michael Smith – Players Championships 14 & 15
——-ENDS——
Image: PDC
