Jeff Smith gets chance to defend title at North American Darts Championship

Jeff Smith has qualified through the qualifying tournament to participate in the 2024 North American Darts Championship. 'The Silencer' was not yet guaranteed participation in the upcoming edition as the defending champion.

The North American Darts Championship consists of eight players. On Saturday, June 1, these North American darters will compete for the continental title at New York's Madison Square Garden.

Matt Campbell, Jules van Dongen, Danny Lauby, Stowe Buntz, Alex Spellman already knew they could compete in this. The remaining three spots were divided last weekend through two qualifying tournaments. The two winners received a spot, as well as the player who performed best over two tournaments.

Smith himself won the second qualifying tournament, after settling with Adam Sevada (5-4) in the final, after the Canadian had previously defeated Danny Baggish (5-3) and John Part (5-2), among others.

The other qualifying tournament proved a triumph for David Cameron, who proved too strong for Leonard Gates (5-1) in the final. Sevada walked away with the third ticket. The American was equal to Part and Gates on the Qualifier Order of Merit, but had the best leg balance of the trio. For Sevada, it will be his debut on a major stage.

The North American Darts Championship will be played for the seventh time. The first edition was back in 2008 and was then won by Darin Young. In the following two years, Scotty Burnett (2009) and John Part (2010) crowned winners.

The tournament returned in 2018, when Jeff Smith took the overall victory, which he would therefore take again later in 2023. In between, Danny Baggish (2019) and Leonard Gates (2022) also won the tournament. Due to the corona pandemic, the event could not take place in 2020 and 2021.

Matt Campbell

Jules van Dongen

Danny Lauby

Stowe Buntz

Alex Spellman

David Cameron

Jeff Smith

Adam Sevada