BACK IN THE DAY WITH: Dennis Smith: 'Smiffy' who had a very strange technique

In this column, we regularly go back in time with a particular darter. Today we do so with Englishman, Dennis Smith.

Dennis Smith was born on August 2, 1969. He is one of the few darters of his generation who was never active in the BDO, but immediately began his career with the PDC. In 1994, he made his first appearance in the World Matchplay. After a win in the opening round against Dave Kelly, he went down in the second round against Shayne Burgess.

A year later, he made his debut at the PDC World Championship. After wins against Alan Warriner and Tom Kirby, he won Group 4 only to eventually lose to John Lowe in the quarterfinals. In 1996, he caused a huge surprise by eliminating Eric Bristow in the opening round of the World Matchplay. One round later, however, things went wrong against Jamie Harvey.

Something viewers had noticed even then is Smith's unique throwing style. He first turns his darts all the way around so that the flight is pointing at the board, then he turns them back around and only then does he throw.

Yet this strange style did not prevent him from achieving success. It would take until 2000 before he really performed well at the World Championships. After wins against Cliff Lazarenko, John Part and John Lowe, he reached the semifinals that year. However, the eventual world champion Phil Taylor was too strong for him, 5-0.

Smith remained a player to be reckoned with within the PDC in subsequent years as well. With three quarterfinals at the World Matchplay (2001, 2003 and 2005) and two semifinals at the World Grand Prix (2001 and 2005), he was a fixture in the top 20 of the world rankings.

However, he failed to take that extra step toward a major victory. Perhaps his biggest win was at the Sunparks Masters in 2001, where he beat Dutchman Jan van der Rassel in the final.

Smith last entered the PDC World Championship in 2014, but it was an inglorious exit after a 3-0 defeat in the first round to Adrian Lewis. Not long later he lost his Tour Card and since 2016 Smith did not participate in any televised tournament.