''The pressure is all on Luke as far as I’m concerned" - No fear for Ross Smith ahead of showdown with Littler at World Series of Darts Finals

Ross Smith has received an invitation from the PDC to participate in the 2024 World Series of Darts Finals in Amsterdam. It will be only his second participation in the final tournament of the World Series circuit.

'Smudger' qualified for the World Series Finals back in 2018 via the Tour Card qualifying tournament. There, he lost 6-3 in the first round to James Wade, who would later go on to also claim the title.

Since then, Smith has seen tremendous development. In 2021, he won his first PDC rankings title, and in 2022, the Englishman pulled off a big shock by winning the European Championship. Then in 2023, Smith grabbed two more Players Championship titles, and he has already won a Players Championship tournament this season as well. The current number ten in the world rankings faces a difficult task to reach the second round in Amsterdam. After all, a meeting with teenage sensation Luke Littler awaits in the first round of the World Series of Darts Finals.

''The pressure is all on Luke as far as I’m concerned, but he doesn’t seem to know pressure does he?" said Smith in conversation with the PDC. The 35-year-old darter has a lot of admiration for the new face of darts. "Luke is a different animal! I remember playing him quite a lot in online tournaments during lockdown. People were all talking about him then. I’ve played him twice this season. Once in a Players Championship event where I beat him, and then he gave me a good hiding on the European Tour; he played exceptionally well."

Smith says he has little to lose against Littler. "I’m just going up there to enjoy it. I’ve had a week of being a bit too serious and overthinking things. I know what I can do, and I know I've got to be on it.”