DENNIS Smith produced a stunning performance to make the final of the Players Championship event in Barnsley yesterday, before losing to 15-time world champion Phil Taylor.

The PDC stalwart recovered from a disappointing defeat in the preliminary round of Saturday to storm back yesterday, beating the likes of world number five Simon Whitlock and former world champion Dennis Priestley along the way.

“I am absolutely over the moon after a performance like that, because it has been coming. The darts were coming out of my hand brilliantly and were going where I wanted them to go, and that was very pleasing.

“To beat players like Simon Whitlock and Dennis Priestley was great, and I battled back in both which was good too.

“There is no shame to lose to someone like Phil because he was playing brilliantly on both days.

“I was not happy with the way I played on Saturday, so to bounce back was great.”