Meath's Keane Barry reached the semi-finals of Players Championship 7 in Leicester before losing 7-6 to Scotland's Alan Soutar.
The 23-year-old's five-match winning run to the last four included victories over 2023 world champion Michael Smith and current Premier League player Stephen Bunting, while his 109.43 average in this opening-round win against World Championship quarter-finalist Krzystof Ratajski was best of the day.
He also recorded a 104.12 average in his quarter-final with Jeffrey Sparidaans.
Barry, ranked 56th in the PDC's order of merit, found himself 5-1 down in his semi-final but fought back to level the game at 6-6 before losing the decider.
BARRY BATTERS RATAJSKI!
— PDC Darts (@OfficialPDC) March 30, 2026
Keane Barry - take a bow! 👏
The Irishman averages 109.43 to wrap up a comprehensive 6-2 victory over Poland's number one Krzysztof Ratajski!
📺 https://t.co/YyBPPwoMK8#PC7 pic.twitter.com/0dHCtMujcH
Shane McGuirk, Stephen Rosney, Steve Lennon, Mickey Mansell and Brendan Dolan all lost out in the first round, while Niall Culleton and Willie O'Connor bowed out in the second round.
Derry's Daryl Gurney reached the last 32.
Ryan Searle saw off Soutar 8-3 in the final to win the tournament.
World Championship semi-finalist Searle had beaten his practice partner Gary Anderson in the last round after also defeating Raymond van Barneveld and then Charlie Manby.
Searle built on an early break against Soutar to soon open up a 5-2 lead which 'Heavy Metal' never looked likely of letting slip before closing out his eighth career PDC ProTour victory on double five.
World champion Luke Littler and world number two Luke Humphries opted not to take part in this week’s double-header event at the Mattioli Arena.
Additional reporting: PA
