"Unable to walk for 4/5 days straight": Michael Smith pulls out of International Darts Open as injury hell continues

Michael Smith has long been thwarted by injury which has seen him unable to get back to his best as of yet and it now means he has to pull out of this weekend's International Darts Open in Riesa.

This comes mere hours after he didn't qualify for both the Slovak Darts Open and European Darts Open, the latter he fell at the final hurdle. But while he won't compete in the ninth or tenth, he also won't compete in the next one.

The former World Champion has a long history of arthritis and injury troubles admitted he was gutted to be missing the tournament after a week that saw him not qualify for tournaments and lose early in Leicester in others.

He lost in the first round in both Players Championship 17 and 18 during the most recent ProTour double header and now will undergo cortisone injections, so he won't play at the International Darts Open in Riesa either.

This is despite of course him qualifying through the qualifier initially so that hard work will now come to nothing as he can't play but no doubt he will see the bigger picture when it comes to trying to alleviate some of the injury pressure.

“Since I played Pro Tours in Milton Keynes and made the final, my ankles haven’t been in a great place with constant swelling and being unable to walk for 4/5 days straight," he wrote on social media.

“Then, after spending 9 days in Germany, 3 flights, and 13 hours on a train, the problems have arisen again, and to top it off, an eye infection thrown in."

“So, having cancelled my appointments twice for my cortisone injections, I’ve decided I can’t cancel a 3rd time as it really needs sorting.

“So I’m gutted to be saying I won’t be playing in Riesa this weekend, so I can get to my appointment on Friday and hopefully sort it out.”

The tournament sees Stephen Bunting as defending champion after defeating Nathan Aspinall in the final 8-5 in 2025. Luke Humphries, Gian van Veen, Michael van Gerwen, James Wade and Gerwyn Price lead the way in terms of the field for Riesa which now doesn't include 'Bully Boy'.