"I just seen my average then and it was like 84, that's one of my lowest on TV" - Michael Smith victorious but frustrated at New Zealand Darts Masters

The PDC's elite have been relatively dominant so far this trip 'Down Under' on the World Series of Darts. In the opening round of the New Zealand Darts Masters however, Michael Smith was given a slight scare by Jeremy Fagg.

Smith was in trouble early in his tie against Fagg and was 2-0 down to the Aussie ace. But after a host of opportunities were missed to make it 4-2, Smith levelled to make it 3-3. From there, the former world champion battled as he won four straight legs to seal it 6-3 and stave off any potential shock.

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"I was practicing back stage and everything was going great. Get on stage there and it was just non-existent and that's quite annoying," a frustrated Smith reflected post-match in conversation with Online Darts. "But, luckily enough I fell over the line and hit it when I needed to."

Despite the slow and frustrating start to the match however, Smith was always confident in his own abilities. "I always know that I can reel off three of four legs myself so I never feel like I need to do something, even at 2-0 down," he explains. "I always thought I could get back into it and lucky enough for me, he started miscounting and going for the wrong things. I just seen my average then and it was like 84, that's one of my lowest on TV I think. It's one of them. It's darts, you can't be having a 120, 110 average all the time."

Whilst averages are always a good barometer for a performance, Smith is well aware that winning is the most important thing. "Averages are only good for people who write about it. The best thing is getting the win and knowing I'm coming back tomorrow for the quarter-finals," Smith says.

In the last eight, world champion and world number one Luke Humphries will await. "He just keeps winning every game he's playing at the moment so I've got to get prepared for that," 'BullyBoy laughs. "You saw last week (at the Australian Darts Masters ed.) when I got through to the next round and I faced Luke Littler, I turned up, just my doubles didn't. I controlled that game from start to finish, it was just me missing to give him the chances."

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