Michael Smith will play a final at the World Darts Championship for the third time in his career on Tuesday night. After defeats against Michael van Gerwen (2019) and last year against Peter Wright, he gets his third chance to take a world title.
Michael Smith started the tournament with a convincing 3-0 victory over Nathan Rafferty. After that, he was on the brink of elimination at points. In his second match against Martin Schindler, Smith fell behind 3-1 and at one point Schindler was even one leg away from victory.
However, the German would never get a matchdart and Smith won that match 4-3. However, this win was a mental boost for the Grand Slam champion, who commented afterwards that he did not know if he had won such a match in the past.
He then also dealt with Joe Cullen (4-1), Stephen Bunting (5-3) and Gabriel Clemens (6-2) to book his spot in the final.
Tournament statistics
Tournament average: 97.64
First 9-darts average: 107.55
180's: 44
Trebleless visits: 103
Double percentage: 42% (76/181)
Number of 100+ finishes: 9