Playing in his maiden televised final, the ‘Special One’ lived up to his name by landing the Grand Slam of Darts title with a 16-12 victory over James Wade in Coventry.
It’s remarkable to think this is just his second season since earning his first PDC Tour Card and while the 46-year-old has been thrilling ardent darts fans away from the TV cameras over the past 18 months with his title-winning form, dazzling style of play and lovably unorthodox finishing, he’d never previously gone beyond the third round of any of his previous eight majors.
But now he’s proved he can stand the heat of the spotlight as well as the kitchen in one of the sport’s most prestigious events, he’ll be highly-fancied to land the biggest of the all at the Alexandra Palace.
Having negotiated the group stage on his tournament debut, the former carpenter and soft-tip darts star showed his undeniable class in the knockout stages to defeat Dave Chisnall, Michael Smith and Simon Whitlock to set up a final with the now three-time runner-up Wade.
After a nervy start of missing 10 of his first 12 darts at doubles to fall 3-0 down, De Sousa overpowered the Machine with a barrage of 15 180s and consistent heavy scoring while he showed few signs of nerves at the finishing line as he sealed his historic moment with a stunning 158 checkout.
De Sousa, who won his third PDC title when defeating Michael van Gerwen in a European Tour final last month, becomes just the sixth different player to get his hands on the Eric Bristow Trophy since the tournament began in 2007 and is obviously Portugal’s first ever major winner.
Victory also earns him a massive pay packet of £125,000 which lifts him to 15th on the PDC Order of Merit and a seeding for the World Championship - not to mention an almost certain spot in the lucrative Premier League line-up next year.
De Sousa, who averaged 99.95 compared to Wade's 94.26 and hit 13 more maximums, told : "This is a dream come true, I can't explain my feelings in this moment. This is the greatest day of my life. When I hit the 158 finish I knew I was going to cry straight away.
"There is so much work behind me to get to this position. I am so thankful to everyone. Five years ago I was on my sofa at home watching the guys play on TV and I wished that maybe some day I can play against these wonderful players.
"It was a big change I made to my life in turning professional but look at me now. It's amazing and I'm very proud of myself."
Wade's superior finishing of 48% (De Sousa 42.11%) was let down by below-par scoring and afterwards the 10-time major winner said: "In the final I was rubbish. He outplayed me by a million miles.It hurts when you don't play well and it hurts when you don't contest someone. I'm still confused as to why that happened.
"I'm finding it hard to be positive after that, it's very disappointing. Jose played a lot better than me. The better man won on the day."
The 2010 and 2014 runner-up was competing in his 25th major final and his second in a month having lost to Peter Wright at the European Championship but despite his disappointment, he has firmly reminded everyone why he could be a real threat for his first world title.
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Monday November 16
Afternoon Session (1pm)
TV Coverage: Sky Sports
Group Matches (Best of 9 legs)
Evening Session (7pm)
TV Coverage: Sky Sports
Group Matches A-D (Best of 9 legs)
Tuesday November 17
Afternoon Session (1pm)
TV Coverage: Sky Sports
Group Matches (Best of 9 legs)
Evening Session (7pm)
TV Coverage: Sky Sports
Group Matches (Best of 9 legs)
Wednesday November 18 (3pm)
TV Coverage: Sky Sports
Group Matches (Best of 9 legs)
CLICK HERE FOR DAY THREE REVIEW
Thursday November 19 (7pm)
TV Coverage: Sky Sports
Group Matches (Best of 9 legs)
CLICK HERE FOR DAY FOUR REVIEW
Friday November 20 (7pm)
TV Coverage: Sky Sports
Second Round (Best of 19 legs)
CLICK HERE FOR DAY FIVE REVIEW
Saturday November 21 (7pm)
TV Coverage: Sky Sports
Second Round (Best of 19 legs)
Sunday November 22
Afternoon Session (1pm)
TV Coverage: Sky Sports
Quarter-finals (Best of 31 legs)
Evening Session (7pm)
TV Coverage: Sky Sports
Quarter-finals (Best of 31 legs)
CLICK HERE FOR DAY SEVEN REVIEW
Monday November 23 (7pm)
TV Coverage: Sky Sports
Semi-finals (Best of 31 legs)
Tuesday November 24
Afternoon Session (6pm)
TV Coverage: Sky Sports
Final (Best of 31 legs)
Group A
Group B
Group C
Group D
Group E
Group F
Group G
Group H
Scoring System: Each competitor plays each other once in a best-of-nine legs match, with two points going to the winner. The top two from each group will then progress to the knockout stages. Any two-way points tie in any position, the player with best leg difference will finish higher. If two players are still level then the winner of the match between them will progress. There is the potential for a Nine-Dart Shoot-Out should three or more players be tied for points and leg difference. For more details see the format section further down.
Grand Slam of Darts Finals
Grand Slam of Darts Most Titles