Players Championship 5 2014: Darts Scores, Standings and Analysis

A fantastic final display saw Northern Ireland's Brendan Dolan win the fifth 2014 Players Championship in Wigan on Saturday, recording a dominant whitewash win over Michael Smith in the tournament's final.

The History Maker survived a close quarter-final contest with Dean Winstanley, taking the decisive leg to win 6-5, to advance to the next round and ultimately record his first Players Championship win of the year.

Dolan had lost in the first round of the three previous tournaments and a difficult matchup in the quarter-finals looked to be too much for the Carrontreemall Kid as Winstanley pressured him right from the start.

But a cool head in the final frame and a comfortable 6-1 win over James Hubbard gave Dolan his first finals berth of the season and an incredible 103.66 average ensured Smith would stand no chance of taking home the trophy.

Harry Engels/Getty Images

Smith never truly threatened Dolan in the final match, wasting several opportunities in the third set and not even coming close to Dolan's level in any of the other ones.

The youngster will still be able to look back on an incredible tournament, beating Gary Anderson 6-4 in the semi-final and eliminating Raymond van Barneveld 6-3 a round earlier on his way to his best result of the 2014 season.

With the top 32 players of the Order of Merit qualifying for the Players Championship Finals in November, both finalists were in dire need of some points heading into the weekend's double-header in Wigan. Dolan specifically will improve greatly on his three first-round exits with the tournament win, and he will be able to add to his tally on Sunday.

Charlie Crowhurst/Getty Images

Hubbard's fourth-round win over Michael van Gerwen was one of the biggest shocks of the afternoon, a repeat of the 2012 PDC World Youth Championships final.

Van Gerwen struggled with his placement and allowed the 21-year-old to hang around, which eventually came back to bite him as Hubbard would build on his confidence to record a 6-4 victory.

Ben Hoskins/Getty Images

But van Gerwen wasn't the only big name to exit the tournament prematurely, as Dave Chisnall, Simon Whitlock and Peter Wright all suffered early exits, opening the door for some of the less-heralded players like Dolan to record the win.

Smith's semi-final win over Anderson must have tasted extra sweet for the youngster, as the talented Englishman has worked with Anderson for some time now and sees the experienced Scot as his mentor, as shared by Sports Page 180:

The Players Championships will resume with the sixth tournament of the season on Sunday at the Robert Park Tennis Centre in Wigan.

Full scores

Players Championship 5

Robin Park Tennis Centre, Wigan, April 12 2014

First Round

Board One
Michael van Gerwen (1) Bye
Kurt Parry 6-2 Andrew Gilding
James Richardson 6-5 Richie Burnett (32)
William O'Connor 6-4 Stuart White

Board Two
Andy Jenkins 6-3 Kevin Painter (16)
Kirk Shepherd 6-4 Scott Mackenzie
Wes Newton (17) 6-2 Mark Cox
James Hubbard 6-3 Michael Barnard

Board Three
Mervyn King (8) 6-5 Mark Walsh
Brett Claydon 6-2 Michael Mansell
Terry Jenkins (25) 6-2 Steve West
Prakash Jiwa 6-2 Robert Owen

Board Four
Robert Thornton (9) 6-3 Jason Hogg
John Henderson 6-2 Pete Dyos
Tony Newell 6-4 Jamie Lewis (24)
Josh Payne 6-0 John Part

Board Five
Brendan Dolan (5) 6-0 Ricky Evans
Christian Kist 6-3 Gino Vos
Gary Stone 6-4 Andy Smith (28)
Joey Ten Berge 6-3 Jeff Batham

Board Six
Phil Taylor (12) 6-1 Rowby-John Rodriguez
Jamie Bain 6-2 Jason Lovett
Stuart Kellett (21) 6-4 Nigel Heydon
Kevin Voornhout 6-1 Steve Hine

Board Seven
Kim Huybrechts (4) 6-4 Terry Temple
Ben Ward 6-4 Dennis Smith
Dean Winstanley (29) 6-2 Chris Aubrey
Ryan De Vreede 6-3 Matt Padgett

Board Eight
David Pallett 6-2 Simon Whitlock (13)
Keegan Brown 6-4 Joe Cullen
Paul Nicholson (20) 6-0 Paul Amos
Darren Johnson 6-1 Ross Twell

Board Nine
Gary Anderson (2) Bye
Mark Barilli 6-4 Martyn Turner
Vincent van der Voort (31) 6-1 Campbell Jackson
Andy Parsons 6-2 Wayne Pepper

Board Ten
Kevin McDine 6-1 Justin Pipe (15)
Colin Lloyd 6-2 John Newland
Connie Finnan 6-4 Ronnie Baxter (18)
Ross Smith 6-3 Conan Whitehad

Board 11
Steve Beaton (7) 6-1 Steve Brown
Arron Monk 6-5 Johnny Haines
James Wade (26) 6-2 Dan Russell
John Bowles 6-2 Marc Dewsbury

Board 12
Ian White (10) 6-1 Joey Palfreyman
Daryl Gurney 6-2 David Ladley
Jelle Klaasen (23) 6-2 Joe Murnan
Gerwyn Price 6-3 Brian Woods

Board 13
Mareno Michels 6-4 Peter Wright (6)
Ian Moss 6-4 Ron Meulenkamp
Wayne Jones (27) 6-5 Andy Pearce
Ronny Huybrechts 6-3 Jim Walker

Board 14
Jamie Caven (11) 6-1 Steve Grubb
Kevin Thomas 6-2 Magnus Caris
Michael Smith (22) 6-5 Glenn Spearing
Peter Hudson 6-2 Scott Rand

Board 15
Zoran Lerchbacher 6-3 Dave Chisnall (3)
Stephen Bunting 6-2 Colin Osborne
Darren Webster (30) 6-3 Mark Dudbridge
Kyle Anderson 6-1 Tony Richardson

Board 16
Benito van de Pas 6-2 Andy Hamilton (14)
David Dodds 6-3 Mark Webster
Raymond van Barneveld (19) 6-0 Darron Brown
Kevin Dowling 6-2 Denis Ovens

Second Round
Michael van Gerwen 6-1 Kurt Parry
James Richardson 6-3 William O'Connor
Andy Jenkins 6-4 Kirk Shepherd
James Hubbard 6-0 Wes Newton
Mervyn King 6-3 Brett Claydon
Prakash Jiwa 6-5 Terry Jenkins
Robert Thornton 6-2 John Henderson
Josh Payne 6-1 Tony Newell
Brendan Dolan 6-3 Christian Kist
Joey Ten Berge 6-4 Gary Stone
Jamie Bain 6-4 Phil Taylor
Kevin Voornhout 6-5 Stuart Kellett
Kim Huybrechts 6-2 Ben Ward
Dean Winstanley 6-3 Ryan De Vreede
Keegan Brown 6-0 David Pallett
Paul Nicholson 6-1 Darren Johnson
Gary Anderson 6-3 Mark Barilli
Vincent van der Voort 6-3 Andy Parsons
Kevin McDine 6-4 Colin Lloyd
Ross Smith 6-3 Connie Finnan
Arron Monk 6-2 Steve Beaton
James Wade 6-3 John Bowles
Ian White 6-4 Daryl Gurney
Jelle Klaasen 6-3 Gerwyn Price
Ian Moss 6-4 Mareno Michels
Wayne Jones 6-5 Ronny Huybrechts
Jamie Caven 6-3 Kevin Thomas
Michael Smith 6-4 Peter Hudson
Stephen Bunting 6-0 Zoran Lerchbacher
Kyle Anderson 6-3 Darren Webster
Benito van de Pas 6-2 David Dodds
Raymond van Barneveld 6-3 Kevin Dowling
Losers £250

Third Round
Michael van Gerwen 6-5 James Richardson
James Hubbard 6-5 Andy Jenkins
Mervyn King 6-4 Prakash Jiwa
Josh Payne 6-5 Robert Thornton
Brendan Dolan 6-2 Joey Ten Berge
Kevin Voornhout 6-4 Jamie Bain
Dean Winstanley 6-4 Kim Huybrechts
Keegan Brown 6-3 Paul Nicholson
Gary Anderson 6-3 Vincent van der Voort
Kevin McDine 6-5 Ross Smith
James Wade 6-4 Arron Monk
Ian White 6-2 Jelle Klaasen
Wayne Jones 6-4 Ian Moss
Michael Smith 6-2 Jamie Caven
Stephen Bunting 6-0 Kyle Anderson
Raymond van Barneveld 6-2 Benito van de Pas
Losers £500

Fourth Round
James Hubbard 6-4 Michael van Gerwen
Mervyn King 6-0 Josh Payne
Brendan Dolan 6-1 Kevin Voornhout
Dean Winstanley 6-2 Keegan Brown
Gary Anderson 6-5 Kevin McDine
James Wade 6-5 Ian White
Michael Smith 6-2 Wayne Jones
Raymond van Barneveld 6-4 Stephen Bunting
Losers £1,000

Quarter-Finals
James Hubbard 6-4 Mervyn King
Brendan Dolan 6-5 Dean Winstanley
Gary Anderson 6-2 James Wade
Michael Smith 6-3 Raymond van Barneveld
Losers £1,500

Semi-Finals
Brendan Dolan 6-1 James Hubbard
Michael Smith 6-4 Gary Anderson
Losers £2,500

Final
Brendan Dolan 6-0 Michael Smith
Winner £10,000
Runner-Up £5,000