"You're a professional dart player": Michael Smith slams Madars Razma for slowing up World Darts Championship clash

Michael Smith has qualified for the last sixteen of the World Darts Championship. 'Bullyboy' was too strong for Madars Razma in the third round 4-1.

Smith lost the first set, but won four sets in a row after that and averaged nearly 94. "Yeah it was really hard," he admitted in his post-match press conference. "I just thought I'd go up there, play well, get off and yeah win the match. Razma had a lot of things to say, he played well in spells and missed a couple of doubles in spells as well. Luckily enough, I just managed to fall over the line."

The fact Smith was irked by Razma was clear to see. "If he had 136, he'd go treble 20, 20 and stand back. You're a professional dart player. You know you've got 56, you throw for 16 and get on with the game. That was what was annoying me. It's not rocket science."

"In the practice room, I actually watched him and timed him. If he stuck to that, he would have played a lot better," Smith explains. "It didn't help him either, he just tried to think about putting me off I guess but lessons learned. I learned my lesson and he's learned his as well."

Smith threw two consecutive 180s in the final leg, but then missed his seventh dart on his way to a possible nine darter. "As I was throwing for the 141, I thought it was only 12 months ago I hit one here and I think that's why you see me apologize to the crowd, then nearly ruin the leg. But I was trying my best, I wanted to put on a good show."

Smith will take on the winner of the duel between Chris Dobey and Ross Smith at the last sixteen. "That will be a high-scoring match. Like me, Chris is a fast player, Ross not really, but he doesn't slow down either. Hopefully it will be a good match that the crowd will enjoy."