Smith looking forward to fans returning for World Matchplay debut: "If they weren’t there at the Winter Gardens, I’d have felt robbed of a debut"

Ross Smith heads into this year’s World Matchplay as another debutant after claiming his maiden PDC ranking title at Super Series 5 in his second final of the year.

It is the culmination of a long PDC career for ‘Smudger’ who returned in 2018 after time away from the sport and he will now face Rob Cross on his Winter Gardens debut.

He caught up with DartsNews.com ahead of the showpiece tournament which will also see fans return to discuss his maiden title first of all as well as what he puts his recent form and success down to.

“It felt amazing to win my first title, I’ve been playing the game a long time now, so it was a special moment for me to cross the finish line and prove to myself I can win titles,” said Smith to DartsNews.com.

“I put it down to working hard on and off the board, the last 3 months I’ve been putting in more practice and I also think it’s important to keep yourself fit off the board, it helps mentally for me. If I feel good in myself I feel good when I play.

Like alluded to, he left the sport after the 2016 season taking a break from the sport and losing his Tour Card only to return in 2018 to win his Tour Card back and he has been on an upward trajectory since then which he hopes to continue.

“To be honest when I did pack up the darts I thought it was for good, so no I didn’t see me having a future in the game let alone winning a first title, but over the last 18 months I can see progression in my game and I’d say I’ve only been going upwards and I want to continue that and I will be working harder than ever,” he continued.

Sunday’s afternoon session sees the Deal ace third up against Cross and he discussed his draw as well as his World Matchplay mentality.

“Rob’s a fantastic player like all the players in the draw and we all know what Rob can do and what he has done so it will be a good game. I think you have to believe you can win it otherwise what’s the point, but at the same time you have to just take each game as it comes and concentrate on that.”

There is also the return of fans which for Smith makes his debut even more special: “I really can’t wait to play in front of the fans again and to be honest if they weren’t there at the Winter Gardens I’d have felt robbed of a debut because the fans are what make it and the atmosphere is electric when they are there. They really have been a miss.”

While one aspect of Covid life, he is glad is returning is the fans, he is pleased with the way the Super Series events have been dealt with during the past 16 months apart from the stress of Covid testing.

“I’ve actually preferred playing over the last year or so in stadiums like MK and Ricoh (Coventry). It’s so much easier leaving your room and walking downstairs into the venue, so much more relaxed and professional, but it’s also been so stressful worrying if you’re going to fail a Covid test which means you can’t compete and can lose rankings and prize money, the PDC though have done amazing getting us back playing over the last year and we are all extremely grateful for that.”