Ross Smith's 2024 World Matchplay campaign came to an end on Thursday night. Despite his good play, 'Smudger' had to acknowledge his superiority to James Wade, who proved 16-10 too strong.
Smith held a 4-2 lead early in the match, but then saw Wade throw one high finish after another. Wade turned the deficit into a 10-6 lead, and did not give any margin away after that. Smith's statistics were excellent; an average of 99.87, ten 180s and a finishing percentage of 45.5 percent.
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''No complaints from me there,'' Smith wrote on his social media after the match. ''James Wade was comfortably the better player and deserved the win. I played very decent with 100 average but it wasn’t enough and I was always playing catch-up."
In any case, Smith can look back on a good week. He won against Josh Rock in the first round for his first ever win at the World Matchplay and then also managed to beat 4th seed Gerwyn Price. In the world rankings, ''Smudger'' has climbed to the eleventh spot, and a debut in the worlds top-10 looks on the cards in the coming weeks. ''Progress for me in Blackpool this week,'' Smith concluded accordingly. ''Thanks for all the support."
