In a high-class final against Michael van Gerwen, the Englishman Michael Smith became darts world champion for the first time.
On Tuesday evening (January 3rd, 2023) he was in the final for the third time: After the runner-up title in 2019 and 2022, the “Bully Boy” was able to celebrate and won 7: 4.
Smith now also world number one
“It’s Coming Home”, chanted the many English fans well before the end of the game, as Smith’s success slowly became apparent. In 2019, van Gerwen won in the same final pairing at Alexandra Palace, “Ally Pally” for short, in London. After a strong tournament and a furious finale, 500,000 pounds (around 565,000 euros) and the 25-kilogram Sid Waddell Trophy are Smith’s reward, which also leads to the world rankings.
In the semi-finals, the Englishman had eliminated the German Gabriel Clemens, who from a German perspective had achieved a historic result by participating in the semi-finals.
Nine-darter: Incredible leg in the second set
One leg in the second set in particular should stick in the memory of the cheering fans: Smith scored the first nine-darter at this World Cup and the first nine-darter in a World Cup final since Adrian Lewis twelve years ago. Particularly curious: Opponent Michael van Gerwen had thrown eight perfect darts himself in the same leg and only just missed the arrow on double 12.
Previously, there had always been six, seven or eight perfect darts in the title fights at Alexandra Palace – but the nine remained in the first 94 games of the £2.5 million (around EUR 2.84 million) event and only came in the grand final between giants Smith and van Gerwen. For example, there was no nine-darter at the 2017, 2018, 2019 and 2020 World Championships.