Leonard Gates overcame Jeff Smith to win the 2025 CDC Cross-Border Darts Challenge in California.
Gates added to last year's CDC Continental Cup victory with another top honour as he overcame experienced Canadian Smith 7-4 in Saturday's final.
Gates defeated Chris Caldwell, Jake Womack and Adam Sevada to reach the final, and after opening with an 11-darter he moved into a four-leg lead.
Smith took the next three to cut the gap to 4-3 and shared the next two, before Gates pulled away to seal victory.
Smith produced a trio of 90+ averages in wins over American trio Jeff Springer, Stowe Buntz and Alex Spellman as he reached the final at HitKor in Simi Valley.
Reigning champion Alex Spellman was knocked out in the semi-finals by Smith, having defeated Canadian duo Jason Roker and Jacob Taylor.
With Gates already having qualified for the bet365 US Darts Masters and North American Championship in New York in June as the Continental Cup winner, the place reserved for the Cross-Border Challenge winner will now revert to the top-ranked non-qualified player from the CDC Order of Merit.
2025 CDC Cross-Border Darts Challenge
Last 16
Leonard Gates 5-3 Chris Caldwell
Jake Womack 5-0 Jack Robinson
Steve Warnock 5-1 Doug Boehm
Adam Sevada 5-2 Kiley Edmunds
Jacob Taylor 5-0 Gary Mawson
Alex Spellman 5-2 Jason Roker
Stowe Buntz 5-2 Albert Anstey
Jeff Smith 5-3 Jeff Springer
Quarter-Finals
Leonard Gates 5-3 Jake Womack
Adam Sevada 5-0 Steve Warnock
Alex Spellman 5-2 Jacob Taylor
Jeff Smith 5-3 Stowe Buntz
Semi-Finals
Leonard Gates 6-3 Adam Sevada
Jeff Smith 6-1 Alex Spellman
Final
Leonard Gates 7-4 Jeff Smith