VIDEO: Smith misses double 12 for a nine-darter, but beats Cullen despite 'double trouble'
PDCThursday, 18 November 2021 at 21:05
Michael Smith has qualified for the last eight at the Grand Slam of Darts with a 10-5 victory over countryman Joe Cullen. Bullyboy made the fewest mistakes in a match where both players missed a lot of darts on the doubles.
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Smith missed 25 darts on doubles, while Cullen missed 19. Although The Rockstar did give himself a lot less opportunities than his English opponent.
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Things went wrong in the first leg for Cullen, who missed three darts to take his own leg. Smith then threw out 80 and hit double 6 for 2-0. The former World Championship finalist could have gone into the break 4-1, but Smith missed six darts to win his fourth leg. Then it was Cullen who, after eight misses, closed the gap to 3-2 via double 16.
After the break Cullen made it 3-3, but then The Rockstar failed to take the lead after three missed darts on double 18. Smith threw out 74 and went into the break with a 6-4 lead, after hitting a 11-darter.
Smith ran into a 9-5 lead after the final break after Cullen again failed to hit a number of doubles. Bullyboy then almost finished the match in stunning fashion as he started the 15th leg with two 180's. He also found the treble with his 7th and 8th dart, before narrowly missing the double 12 for a nine-darter. However he came back to seal the win with a 12-darter.
I stumbled into the world of darts quite by accident back in 2013. For a Journalism School assignment, I had to produce a live sports report and as it happened, the European Tour event in Veldhoven was the only available option. That weekend, I caught the darts bug. The post-match interviews especially appealed to me, as darts players tend to be much more open and approachable than what you usually see with footballers on television.
After a few detours, I joined Dartsnieuws.com in 2017 as editor-in-chief. I don’t have much competitive experience myself, although I once entered a PDC Development Tour weekend just to experience what it’s like from a player’s perspective. I even managed to win a leg against a Tour Card holder and, quite by accident, earned £50 in prize money.
In 2022, I was also involved in the founding of the TOTO Dart Kings, a commercial darts team, where I worked as media manager for three years. Unfortunately, due to new legislation in the Netherlands, that project came to an end in 2025.
Through my work in darts, I’ve been fortunate to travel to some incredible events, from Premier League nights at Ahoy Rotterdam, to several World Championships, and even the US Darts Masters at Madison Square Garden in New York.
Beyond darts, I’m a passionate sports fan in general. You can always wake me up for a game of tennis or padel, and I love following football, tennis, padel, cycling, Formula 1, and ice skating.
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