Smith on motivation from Premier League exclusion after Super Series win: "That was a point to myself that I'm still good enough"
PDC
Michael Smith claimed victory on Day Two of PDC Super Series Three after seeing off Ross Smith in the final to add his 13th PDC title to his collection.
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'Bully Boy' spoke after defeating Ross Smith and discussed the breaking point in the tie coming from noise upstairs which meant a tight tie became a victory for the St Helens ace.
"Ross played well there but every time we were throwing, there's people upstairs and it was just shouting. It were annoying me and Ross said it as well when I checked the 90 out and it kind of got to him and it helped me out a bit," said Smith to the PDC post match.
"I was trying to keep focus and as soon as he mentioned it, I thought I've got you now. Even better I win."
Proving point after Premier League exclusion
He averaged 114.5 in breezing past Dimitri van den Bergh in the Last 16 and said that he had extra motivation going into the tie after his Premier League exclusion which he admitted to him and his manager Mac Elkin.
"I just said no disrespect to you or Dimitri, I felt like as a player I should be in the Premier League. That's my feeling."
"No disrespect to the ten players who are in, but I felt like I should be in ahead of them and that was a point to myself that I'm still good enough."
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"Being dropped from anything in life is hard to take. I've been dropped from the Premier League it was like well I've done nothing wrong. I think I made three major finals that year and I had one bad tournament which was the World's."
"Kind of got ahead of myself" - On surprise latter round opponents
He also spoke about switching off and not giving his opponents in the latter stages in Aaron Beeney and Ross Smith the respect they deserved and his confidence taking over.
"Again no disrespect to Aaron Beeney, if I wake up in the morning and you say right I'm going to be in the semi-finals against Aaron Beeney, I wouldn't wake up. For me this should be so easy, I don't even have to play darts and I didn't and he went 7-4 and I kind of got ahead of myself."
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"Then again against Ross, I was like he's never been in a final before, he'll feel it and I felt it more than he did. Bit of experience come into it."
Samuel GillChief Content Officer
Samuel Gill is the Chief Content Officer (CCO) of DartsNews.com, a role he has held since 2020. He is responsible for editorial governance across the platform, including setting content standards, overseeing accuracy and consistency, and guiding long-term editorial strategy across professional darts coverage. Since joining, he has contributed more than 10,000 articles and editorial pieces, playing a central role in the development and daily operation of the site.
Based in Leicester, Samuel has extensive experience in darts media and has been closely involved in coverage of the professional darts circuit for several years. Within the UK darts community, he is a recognised figure known for his consistent editorial output and ongoing reporting on major tournaments and developments across the PDC calendar.
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