Antwerp Darts Trophy Win For Taylor
Taylor is now unbeaten away from the television cameras for a month after continuing his brilliant run of form in Belgium.
He was a straight sets winner over Smith in the final, winning the first set 2-0 to take command before edging the next two 2-1 to claim the £5,000 title.
Taylor dropped just one leg in his semi-final win over Ronnie Baxter, and produced an 11-darter in the deciding leg of his closest game of the day, a five-set thriller against Stoke rival Andy Hamilton in the quarters.
He also defeated Yves Cottenge, Mick Savvery, Lionel Sams and Denis Ovens in the earlier rounds, dropping just once set in the process.
Smith came from two sets down in the semis to overcome Colin Lloyd - who had not dropped a set on his run to the last four but allowed a 2-0 lead to slip and missed 13 darts to win a place in the final.
Austria's Mensur Suljovic included Mark Walsh, Roland Scholten and Peter Manley among his victims in reaching the quarter-finals, before going down 3-0 to Baxter.
Dave Askew and Mark Dudbridge also made the last eight, losing to Smith and Lloyd respectively, while Hamilton missed double 12 for a nine-dart leg in his last 16 win over Jasper Smidt.
Kim Huybrechts defeated world number one Raymond van Barneveld in a deciding leg on his way to the last 16, where he was defeated by Baxter.
Terry Jenkins, the defending Antwerp Darts Trophy champion, was knocked out by Dudbridge in the fourth round.
Wayne Mardle withdrew with a back problem, while Adrian Lewis and Alan Caves did not travel to Belgium for the £20,000 event.
Barrie Bates was an early casualty, losing in a final set decider to Jasper Smidt.
Antwerp Darts Trophy Results
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Final Phil Taylor 3-0 Andy Smith (2-0, 2-1, 2-1) Winner £5,000 Runner-Up £2,500 |
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Semi-Finals Andy Smith 3-2 Colin Lloyd (1-2, 0-2, 2-1, 2-0, 2-1) Phil Taylor 3-0 Ronnie Baxter (2-0, 2-1, 2-0) Losers £1,250 |
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Quarter-Finals Colin Lloyd 3-0 Mark Dudbridge Andy Smith 3-0 Dave Askew Ronnie Baxter 3-0 Mensur Suljovic Phil Taylor 3-2 Andy Hamilton Losers £600 |
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Fourth Round Mark Dudbridge 3-0 Terry Jenkins Colin Lloyd 3-0 Wayne Jones Dave Askew 3-1 Alan Tabern Andy Smith 3-2 Maarten Pape Ronnie Baxter 3-0 Kim Huybrechts Mensur Suljovic 3-2 Peter Manley Andy Hamilton 3-1 Jasper Smidt Phil Taylor 3-0 Denis Ovens Losers £300
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Third Round |
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Second Round
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First Round |