Champion: Michael Smith
(Picture: Getty Images)Michael Smith has set his sights on dominating darts after winning a first world title following a classic final.
Smith hit a nine-darter narrowly after Michael van Gerwen had missed out on his own attempt nine-darter in what was labelled the greatest leg in darts.
Following the £500,000 prize money, which takes him to world No1, Smith said: “I said I’d win this eventually, I said I’d become world champion. But I want to take over this sport.”
The 32-year-old had earned a reputation as the nearly of major finals after losing all seven of his televised finals, including the World Championship finals of 2019 and again last year, before winning the Grand Slam of Darts in November.
‘Bully Boy’ said he would never top the feeling of last night’s win at Alexandra Palace.
He said: “My two best achievements are sat over there, my two kids. As a sporting memory, it’s the greatest ever and I don’t think that will ever be topped. Even if I win a second, it will never top the way I’ve just felt then.”
St Helens fan Smith took the Sid Waddell Trophy back to his hotel room following the 7-4 win and said his wish was to now parade the trophy alongside Saints’ Grand Slam-winning cup.
He tweeted: “One thing I really want to do and would love to do is stand on the halfway line with the boys with the league leaders and grand final trophy.”
In last year’s final, Smith had led Peter Wright 5-4 before losing three straight sets. Any fears, he might follow suit were negated as he won three consecutive legs to seal victory inside 11 sets.
As well as Smith’s nine-darter in the second set, he hit 22 180s in total and averaged 100.87 while van Gerwen posted a sub-100 average for the first time in the tournament despite 15 maximums of his own.
Afterwards, the Dutchman, who was bidding for a fourth world title, said: “He played really well. Of course, I had my chances. I was playing not too well in the last few sets but you can only blame yourself for that.
“I wasn’t what I wanted to be but that’s part of the game unfortunately and you have to take it on the chin.”
