Michael Smith wary of ‘target on my back’ before darts world title defence

The night that changed Michael Smith’s world forever will live long in the memory for more than just the man himself. But the time for reminiscing is almost at an end just under a year since the dartist’s world championship dreams came true in the palace of tungsten theatrics.

Smith, touted as a future champion since he arrived on the scene more than a decade ago, had spent his career chasing the prize all 96 men and women arriving at Alexandra Palace in the coming days crave before his unforgettable victory over Michael van Gerwen in the final of last year’s event in January. It included what many consider to be the greatest leg in the sport’s history, when Smith hit a nine-dart finish seconds after Van Gerwen had wired double 12 to do exactly the same.

That moment encapsulated the rise of Smith from the sport’s nearly man, having lost numerous major finals earlier in his career, into the player everyone wanted to beat. That night, he rose to world No 1 – a position he still holds going into the defence of this year’s tournament – and champion of the world, a moniker he and a sold-out Ally Pally crowd will hear John McDonald roar on Friday evening when he plays either Kevin Doets or Stowe Buntz in his opening match.

The hunter has become the hunted. “Everyone wants to take it off me, everyone playing wants to be world champion so I am going to have a target on my back,” the 33-year-old says. “But whoever I am playing they’re going to see a picture of me holding the trophy on the wall. It could either put them off or spur them on. But I know I can look at it and be spurred on. This is the one, you’ve got to bring your A-game: it’s about bringing it on stage now.”

Smith’s form is far from ideal; in three majors preceding the worlds he failed to reach the quarter-finals. But he is one of a number of players with experience of winning on the stage that matters most, and who will fancy their chances. Regrettably for Smith, though, he is defending the title in the most competitive field the sport has seen.

Michael Smith celebrates after defeating Michael van Gerwen in the 2022 final, when both players hit nine-darters. Photograph: Zac Goodwin/PA

His half of the draw includes six world champions, and a possible quarter-final against the 2018 champion, Rob Cross, who has shown signs lately he could be a threat. Gerwyn Price is another who always manages to produce his best for Ally Pally, and the return to form of the two-times champion, Gary Anderson, this year also makes Smith’s route to a second title daunting. The four-times semi-finalist James Wade and a rising star in Australia’s No 1, Damon Heta, also reside in Smith’s half of the draw.

The bottom half looks slightly more open. There is only one former world champion in that section, the Dutch darting juggernaut that is Van Gerwen – though Stephen Bunting, one player who ranks in the “ones to watch” category, has won the now defunct BDO world title earlier in his career. But for all the might of current and former world champions scattered across the draw, the best player in the world right now has never got his hands on the Sid Waddell Trophy.

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Luke Humphries’ career trajectory is eerily similar to Smith’s. A prodigious youth talent who came up short in multiple majors, he ended his wait for a big tournament in October when he won the World Grand Prix. Smith did the same last November in the Grand Slam before winning the world title. The winner of this year’s Grand Slam, incidentally? The world No 3, Humphries. There is arguably no easy draw in a tournament with such quality, but his section is certainly favourable in comparison.

Smith will perhaps always be defined and remembered for that one night in January this year, regardless of what happens next. But he is adamant his story did not climax that night: instead, it was only just beginning.“I don’t want to finish my career with just one star on my chest,” he says. “I don’t know how many I can get, but the minimum is two now. Now I have done it, the dream is to do it multiple times.” The time for talking is over. Let the biggest Christmas party of them all begin.