Smith sets 'mini grand slam' aim for 2022 season: "I want a ProTour, a European and a TV, so I win every type of event"

Michael Smith lost out in the final of the 2022 PDC World Darts Championship to Peter Wright but he is looking forward to proving his worth as the season continues.

“I know I’m a world champion, it’s just I’ve got to win it to prove it now. I know it’s in me to be the world champion," he told the PA news agency as reported by St Helens Reporter.

“The second one was harder to lose, but it was easier to get over than the first loss. When I lost to Michael, it was always a question, ‘will I ever get another chance, what do I have to do to do it?

“Then I got a second chance, I still lost, but I knew in my game I could make the final more than once – that’s why it was easier to get over. It was just more frustrating that I lost again."

For Smith, it is about looking ahead and not looking back and heading towards new goals.

“But if I keep looking back I’ll never get to move forwards. Knowing I’ve got the game in me to get to the finals and give myself the chances, that is why I don’t dwell on it too much, because I know it’s there.”

“I just have to keep believing in myself and focused, practicing the way I do, and not telling myself ‘you keep getting beat’.

“There’s about 100 other players in the PDC that’d love to have done what I’ve done, and I’m getting frustrated at not doing what 10 to 15 players have done. So there’s a lot of positives to take.

“I just want to play darts and I go into every tournament wanting to make the quarter-finals, and then once I’m in the quarters I look forward to making the finals and then pushing for the titles.

For this year though, he has set the target of a 'mini grand slam' of winning one of everything.

“I don’t want to set unrealistic goals where I want to win every single event I play in, because you’re setting yourself up to fail.

“This year I want the mini grand slam, so I want a ProTour, a European and a TV, so I win every type of event we’ve got this year. That’s my aim this year – if I don’t get it, I don’t get it, but then there’s a next year, there’s a year after.