2023 PDC World Championship: Smith finally scales biggest summit

Michael Smith had been tipped to win a PDC World Championship title ever since he burst onto the professional darts scene in 2012. After what must have seemed like an eternity, the man from St Helens finally achieved his dream on 3 January 2023, potentially kick-starting a monumental year in his darts career. So, what changed for the perennial bridesmaid of the sport to secure the biggest title of all, and what’s next? Let’s take a look.

Humble beginnings

Smith has always been one of the most naturally talented players on the circuit, and his effortless throwing style exemplifies this beautifully. He picked up darts aged 15, after suffering an injury while playing rugby that forced him to use crutches for 16 weeks. He managed to hit his first 180 while using these very crutches, and once he fully recovered, he started to pick up wins playing locally. In 2008 he was selected to appear on “Phil Taylor’s New Kids on the Oche”, alongside current world number 12 and Masters champion Joe Cullen, before making his PDC debut at the 2009 UK Open as an amateur qualifier.

Smith then went on to secure his biggest win to date, a UK Open Qualifier in February 2011, where he defeated established players like Robert Thornton, Simon Whitlock and Dave Chisnall on his way to his first PDC title. Breaking into the world’s top 32 in early 2013, the St Helens sharpshooter took the PDC World Youth Championship title in March that same year. More titles followed, particularly on the PDC European Tour, where Smith won back-to-back trophies in 2014 and 2015, defeating Michael van Gerwen in both finals. In 2015 Smith also reached his first televised semi-final at the Grand Slam of Darts, which sealed his selection for the Premier League in 2016. While this could have been a springboard to take Smith to the next level, the punishing schedule and his relative inexperience meant he finished bottom of the table.

Scar tissue forms

A setback perhaps, but what Bully Boy does so well, arguably better than any other player on the tour, is dust himself down after a major defeat and go again. While 2017 meant no Premier League for Smith, when he returned to the fold in 2018, he hit the ground running and never dropped below fourth in the table the entire campaign. He despatched of Gary Anderson to reach his first televised final, where he faced Michael van Gerwen. What he ran into was a van Gerwen barrage, with the Dutchman averaging a score of 112.37. In short, Smith succumbed to a humbling 11-4 defeat. Not to be deterred, Smith made it to the final of the World Series of Darts later in the year but missed five darts for the title. His opponent, James Wade, eventually won the deciding leg 11-10.

Here the narrative started to change. Michael Smith was no longer the prodigious youngster with enviable ability and scoring power, but the “bottler,” the finalist but never the winner. People started saying that he was the best player to never win a PDC major, a moniker nobody in the sport wants. Bully Boy, while known as a natural talent, was also a relentless worker, practising seven or eight hours a day to try and make his dream a reality – but what was missing?

Michael Smith started 2019 the best way possible, by reaching his first PDC World Championship final on New Year’s Day. His opponent: Michael van Gerwen, the man he has faced in big matches over the last eight years. How sweet it would be to finally get one over on the man dubbed Green Machine on the world’s biggest stage. But alas, it was not to be. After losing the opening four sets, he rallied to take the next two but his slow start cost him: he lost the final 7-3. The stats showed a solid performance – 95 average, 40% checkout percentage – but it was not enough on the day. A semi-final at the UK Open followed, but even winning away from the cameras started to become difficult, with final defeats to Wade in Players Championships 9 and 11. July saw another opportunity amongst the glitz and glamour of Las Vegas on the World Series stage, but again he came up short against recent major champion Nathan Aspinall.

Approaching breaking point

Something else that must have been chipping away at Bully Boy’s resolve was the fact that other players were picking up their maiden PDC major titles – Rob Cross, Aspinall and Daryl Gurney had all emerged in the years prior and all three had got their hands on a trophy. A chance for redemption came in the final of the World Matchplay against Cross, and another slow start saw him 9-0 down in a race to 18. The trademark rally back did eventually come, but at this point the trademark second place wasn’t far behind, with Cross taking it 18-13. More heartbreak followed at the start of 2020, as another golden opportunity went begging – this time Smith lost out in the deciding leg of the Masters final to Peter Wright. Three match darts came and went, in a scene that must’ve been replaying in Smith’s head all season long. His best major result of 2021 was a semi-final exit at the Grand Slam of Darts, with Wright taking the honours 16-12.

However, the worst was yet to come. A strong end to the year put Bully Boy in another PDC World Championship final, against none other than Peter Wright. The Scotsman had denied him in the Masters and the Grand Slam, so the stage was set for revenge, and on the grandest stage of them all.

The two opening sets went Wright’s way, but Smith came back to make it two apiece. So far, so predictable – Bully Boy getting off to a slow start but clawing his way back. Not the perfect start, but not insurmountable. There was a different flow to this final than the one in 2019: there was no mid-stage blitz from either player, with both sitting at five sets each. That must have made the 7-5 loss even more difficult to take.

Smith went into a final as favourite for the first time against Danny Noppert, a man also looking for his first PDC title. After all the battle-hardening he had endured to get to this point, the 2022 UK Open was his best shot yet. Despite averaging five points more than his opponent, it was not to be: Noppert eked out a victory, once again in a deciding leg.

If the pressure wasn’t mounting before, it certainly was now. Not only was there a chance that Michael Smith could never win a televised title, but the sheer amount of scar tissue built up over years of anguish could take a toll on the longevity of his career. Nevertheless, he kept fighting. Another appearance in a televised final came along, against a fellow Smith no less. On route, Bully Boy despatched of number 1 seed Luke Humphries, young marvel Josh Rock and the power-scoring Dirk van Duijvenbode. However, Michael’s average of 100.47 was not enough to stop Ross Smith winning his first major title. At this point his confidence must have been at an all-time low.

The breakthrough

One positive he had to acknowledge was that his consistency had fortified his position at the top table of darts, even if he didn’t yet have the silverware to go with it. Little did he know that the wait was almost over. The 2021 Grand Slam of Darts had been the highlight of Smith’s year, and 2022 would follow suit. He knocked out Rob Cross to right the wrongs of the Matchplay final, then toppled Cullen, who he also defeated in the group stage. Next up was Raymond van Barneveld, who was looking to write his own fairy tale and regain the title he had won a decade before. A 104 average and a stellar performance set up a clash with Nathan Aspinall, another man who had vanquished him on TV to deny him the chance to lift a trophy.

However, this script was very different. An early 7-3 lead for Smith ensured that he was the one setting the pace while Aspinall played catch up. And then it came. A 16-5 victory for the Bully Boy –the agonising wait for a major title had finally come to an end. Many pundits and experts speculated that this could be the opening of the flood gates, but that remained to be seen.

Going into the 2023 PDC World Championship, Smith’s recent success had made him one of the favourites alongside the usual suspects: van Gerwen, Wright and the ever-divisive Gerwyn Price.?A routine win over Nathan Rafferty kick-started his campaign, followed by a 4-3 scare against Martin Schindler. Another televised win over Cullen ensured that Smith was still in the tournament at the turn of the year and set up a clash between two St Helens arrowsmiths: Bully Boy and Stephen Bunting, aka The Bullet. A 5-3 win against Bunting then another against a defiant Gabriel Clemens in the semi-final, where he averaged 101.85, secured Smith’s place in the final. On the other side of the draw, van Gerwen blitzed everybody – he won 5-0 against van den Bergh in the quarters, and 6-0 against Dobey in the semi-final. Van Gerwen was looking mean, with form that reminded darts fans of his 2012-2015 peak, during which it seemed like his name was etched on every trophy imaginable.

Sheer ecstasy

Smith vs. van Gerwen 2. By now the rivalry had been built to new heights. Would the match live up to expectations?

Arguably the greatest leg in the sport’s history was produced in the second set, as both players hit back-to-back three treble visits to leave the possibility of the holy grail: the nine-dart leg. Van Gerwen stepped up and agonisingly missed double 12, before Smith took a breath and delivered a priceless 141 finish to become the second man to ever hit a nine-darter in a PDC World Championship final. Was this a sign? A ruthless van Gerwen pushed 3-2 ahead in sets, but seemingly from nowhere, Smith rattled off four games on the bounce to gain a commanding 6-3 lead. Van Gerwen hit back with a set, winning it on a deciding leg, but the anticipation was building inside Alexandra Palace, and the crowd were willing Bully Boy to get over the line. After so much desperation and pain, so many title darts squandered, could he compose himself? Van Gerwen took the first two legs in the next set, but Smith fought back to set up a deciding leg for the title. He opened the deciding leg with two 180s and closed on double eight to achieve his dream and become PDC World Champion for the first time.

Looking forward

So, what’s next for Smith? There’s no doubt that 2023 will prove to be a pivotal year in his career. He will go the entire year announced as PDC World Champion, he starts the season as World Number one, but now he also has the largest target on his back of any player on the tour. Michael van Gerwen doesn’t forgive easily, and though gracious in defeat on the night, he will look to take revenge with the first chance he gets. But for Smith, he has all the belief in the world. After years of being tipped as the next big thing and the future of the sport, he can now truly say that he is.

I wish him all the best for the year – he thoroughly deserves it. He has proven that he has the tenacity to never give in, the talent to reach the top of the mountain and the bottle to get over the line when it counts the most. A deep run at the 2023 Masters looks likely, before yet another gruelling Premier League campaign, during which he will try to better his 2018 final defeat. Unfortunately for his fellow professionals, I fear a title-winning machine has just started his engine and will almost certainly be a big player for years to come. ?