During the Players Championship 17 there was this awkward moment for Michael Smith this week. When he was 0-4 down against Dirk van Duijvenbode things got even worse when he was on 225 and then this happened…
Michael Smith scores 45- Players Championship 17 2025 pic.twitter.com/4scwKj0Kfs
— Forgettable Darts (@ForgottenDarts) June 17, 2025
It’s a moment you rarely — if ever — see among professional players, as even at the amateur level, it’s the kind of action many would be ashamed of. BullyBoy was performing well that day up until the quarter-finals, and that’s when things went wrong. The incident in question happened while the former world champion was trailing 0-4.
On the other hand, Dirk van Duijvenbode had a very strong day. He eventually won the match 6-1 against Michael Smith and faced Damon Heta in the semi-final. In a decisive final leg, he struck with a 7-6 win to secure his place in the final.
In that final, he could have faced Gian van Veen; however, this Dutch contender narrowly lost his semi-final to Chris Dobey. The final score was 7-5 in favor of Hollywood.
Michael van Gerwen is back with this video on social media
After a tough few weeks Michael van Gerwen is still not fully recovered from what happened in his private life but he is back on social media posting this video.
The final thus became a battle between Dirk van Duijvenbode and, not for the first time that day, it all came down to a sudden-death leg for Aubergenius. With the score tied at 7-7, the deciding leg had to determine who would take the win. While fortune had favored Dirk in the semi-finals, this time it was Chris who hit the winning double.
Two more Players Championship events are on the schedule for the rest of the week — Edition 18 on Wednesday and Edition 19 on Thursday.