"Hopefully, in the next few years, it's a million pound for the winner of the World Championships" - Michael Smith sees benefits of Luke Littler's impact on darts

After a disappointing conclusion to 2023 and his World Darts Championship defence, a refreshed and reinvigorated Michael Smith is looking to return to his best in 2024.

"The day after the final was the day I finally picked my darts back up. It gave me that bit of annoyance because I was like, 'I want it back now,'" Smith reveals to Online Darts from the Dutch Darts Masters. "I can't rest on my laurels like I did last year without practising. I've got to work hard and yeah, it's not the best feeling in the world, not having it but it can spur me on for this season."

In Smith's absence, Luke Humphries took his maiden world title victory. Both during the tournament and since however, most of the talk has been about the man Humphries beat in that final, teenage sensation, Luke Littler.

"I'm here for one reason and one reason only. Myself, my kids and my wife. He can do what he wants and fair play to him, he's making me more money," Smith says jovially about Littler. "My main goal this year is to win tournaments, it doesn't matter if I'm playing Littler, Aspinall, Van Gerwen, Price, it's about me this year."

Nevertheless, Smith has been impressed by Littler. "What he's doing now benefits us, it's the cycle of it. People won't like it because he's in the Premier League or here (on the World Series ed.), because it's like when Fallon was here. What they don't realise is that before Fallon was here we were playing for 250/500 a game and we're up to a grand now."

"The hard work Luke is doing, Fallon is putting in means the money is going up and up and up. Hopefully, with Luke Littler doing what he's doing, Barry Hearn gets his wish in the next few years and it's a million pound for the winner of the World Championships."