World Darts Championship: Michael Smith defeats Michael van Gerwen to claim glory at Alexandra Palace | Darts News

Darts’ biggest party is back as the Premier League roadshow comes to a venue near you! The SSE Arena in Belfast hosts the first of 17 individual venues from Thursday, February 2 with the Play-Offs returning to The O2 in London on Thursday, May 25 – live on Sky Sports

Michael Smith landed an incredible nine-dart finish on his way to claiming World Championship glory for the first time in a classic encounter against Michael van Gerwen at Alexandra Palace on Saturday night.

In a final that lived up to all the pre-match hype, Smith fulfilled his darting destiny of becoming world champion, defeating Van Gerwen 7-4 in an epic encounter.

Smith followed up his breakthrough victory at last month’s Grand Slam of Darts by claiming the sport’s biggest prize, which also lifted him to world No.1 for the first time in his career.

The St Helens ace struck a perfect nine-darter in the third leg of the second set, just moments after Van Gerwen had missed double 12 for the holy grail alone.

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Watch how Wayne Mardle and Stuart Pyke react in the comments box on the greatest of darts!

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Smith said the crowd got a magical night after finally claiming glory at the Palace

“It’s been amazing, but I don’t want to start crying and getting emotional,” Smith said. “Michael let me down and ended up taking a chance that I didn’t deserve, but I still took that chance.

“I’ve said that if I get a Grand Slam, I’ll be world champion and I want to do what this guy (Van Gerwen) did, I want to take over the sport but he’s still here.

“It’s 1-1 at Worlds and I’m taking a chance, but he knows and I know, this won’t be the last time we play here.

“I’ve been saying for years, he’s the best darts player and we have to take our chances and finally I took them.”

The start is everything Ally Pally wants packed with two players with hammer and tongs. However, the first set went past Van Gerwen 3-1 against arrows with an average of 99.3 and two 180s.

The third shot in the second set saw a spectacular sight as Smith hit his first nine darter of the tournament and 14th in tournament history after Van Gerwen missed the 12th double for one of them.

Smith went level by taking the set 3-1 with an incredible set average of 128.09, winning just 34 darts, as MVG set a new record for the highest losing average in a set with 120.73.

The 32-year-old then reached home for the first time in the contest just after the bull wire for a spectacular 170 checkout.

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Van Gerwen hit this 90 checkout with two double 18s in the fourth flight

In a real heavy clash Van Gerwen defied two 180s on the leg of Smith to complete a stunning 90 finished with two double 18s before Smith nailed his 11th 180 of the game to break the tournament record 880. But Van Gerwen made it. 2-2 after sinking 83 for a whitewash set.

Van Gerwen then produced a stunning 10-dart leg to force a fifth-set decider which he held as he threw 14 darts to regain the upper hand.

The ‘Bully Boy’ came back to take the sixth set 3-1 and restore parity with an impressive maximum of 13 to his name in what turned out to be a classic back-and-forth match.

Smith, who won the Grand Slam of Darts title in November to eliminate the duck of the main TV title, scored a 130 finish in the fourth leg of the seventh set, while Van Gerwen collected the darts before realizing there was still something to decide. spin.

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Smith crashed in this spectacular 130 to win the seventh set

He dropped him moments later, after missing an arrow in doubles to allow Smith to take a 4-3 advantage.

Smith, featuring in the third world championship final in five years, opened the cushion for the first time, moving two clear, before ‘Bully Boy’ made four sets in a row when he reeled off another without an answer to go in one of the world titles.

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Watch Smith lift the Sid Waddell trophy after beating Van Gerwen in the Ally Pally thriller…

MVG kept his nerve to close the 10th set to stop the rot and keep the title hope alive, but the Dutch squandered a two-leg lead in the next set with Smith taking a big 106 finish and then sinking double eight to finally get his. hands on the Sid Waddell Trophy.

“I didn’t play very well in the last few sets, but you can only blame yourself. It doesn’t take anything away from Michael, because I think he played well the whole game. Fair game to him. He deserves it,” admitted Van Gerwen.

“I wasn’t as good as I wanted to be, but that’s part of the game unfortunately and you have to take it on the chin.”

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MVG was full of praise for Smith after losing a final that will go down in the annals of history

What’s next on Sky Sports?

Van Gerwen will be targeting a seventh Premier League title this year

Belfast will host the opening night of the 2023 Premier League, with the schedule confirmed for this year’s roadshow.

The new season will begin at the SSE Arena in Belfast on Thursday, February 2, the first of 17 individual venues, which will be held on Thursday nights from February to May.

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Watch how MVG beat Joe Cullen in a dramatic final to claim their sixth Premier League title in Berlin

It will retain the same successful Premier League format in 2022, where eight players compete each night in a knockout format before the top four from the final league table advance to the Play-Offs which will return to The O2 in London.