"For me it's not having a week off and doing an exhibition": Smith set to manage calendar due to lack of break post World Championship

Michael Smith is through to the Quarter-Finals of the 2023 Masters after seeing off Ross Smith 10-7 on Saturday but said he was just gutted it wasn't the European Championship Final which he lost to Smudger.

"I saw the averages then and I didn't think it was that good, I thought I played bad but a win's a win. I'm just annoyed that it wasn't 12 weeks ago in the European final but that first session he checked out 126 and 130 and I thought here we go again, I'm not playing well and he's checking out everything but yeah just biding my time and kept with him and kept going," said Smith post match.

It is a busy schedule from now onwards especially for the darting elite with Smith in the Premier League but with his increased schedule even further, family time and taking time off tournaments becomes even more important.

"I don't think I'd ever get bored of being announced as World Champion but I want to get going now. We always have two weeks off to recharge and we haven't got that so it's up to me to sit back and look at the calendar and say I'm not playing Barnsley, Milton Keynes. Just have a week off here or there and for me it's not having a week off and doing an exhibition.

"I want to have a week off and go on holiday with the kids, even if we went to Wales. It's just something where I can just chill. I'm not Michael Smith the dart player, I can just recharge and be myself."

"The only way I can get burned out is if I do everything. I'm more looking forward to having more than one holiday a year, I can have three or four."