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Good things come to those who wait but better things come to those who work hard for them. It’s a common proverb yet one which describes newly-crowned world champion Michael Smith very well. His sorrows of yesteryear were transformed into tears of joy as his Alexandra Palace destiny was fulfilled.
There’s not many better sights in professional darts than someone who has overcome adversity landing a winning double and respectfully shaking their opponent’s hand before running towards their wife and children to celebrate a monumental achievement. It was something to behold and brought a tear to the eyes of many.
Smith’s oldest of two boys was in tears as he watched his father unleash a roar of emotion towards the Alexandra Palace crowd, punching the air in doing so. It was the polar opposite of only twelve months ago when both were crying in the backroom when Smith was beaten in his second final at the sport’s showpiece staging.
His life-changing day in north London began with an episode of Supermarket Sweep, differing from the usual Catchphrase that he had awoken to throughout the tournament, featured the greatest leg in darting history and reached its climax by Smith lifting the iconic Sid Waddell trophy aloft.
Smith’s latest slice of silverware counteracted everybody who had written him off following his eight defeats in major televised finals. His elusive Grand Slam of Darts triumph last month shook not just the monkey off his back but, as three-time world champion John Part alluded to, the gorilla that had overshadowed his career in recent years and allowed the floodgates to open.
Michael van Gerwen was deemed unstoppable heading into the Alexandra Palace showpiece, having averaged in excess of the 100 mark in every match on his way to the final. He appeared to be coasting towards becoming a four-time world champion, although Smith mounted the pressure onto his shoulders from the outset and eventually controlled the contest.
There were two instrumental passages of play: Smith landing a nine-dart finish after Van Gerwen narrowly spurned the ninth dart in his attempt as well as Smith converting an outstanding 130 checkout in the seventh stanza. Both appeared to rattle the former world number one and ultimately caused him to become more erratic than usual.
Van Gerwen remained resilient and came back at him but Smith weathered the storm and that’s testament to his psychological development across the past twelve months. His mental toughness has come on leaps and bounds, with that being displayed in his comeback victory over Germany’s Martin Schindler in the third round.
Having produced a captivating act of escapology to battle back from 3-1 behind against Schindler, Smith registered a ton-plus average against Joe Cullen before needing a finishing masterclass to overcome Stephen Bunting in a quarter-final in which his usual scoring power evaded him.
Smith bounced back from that unsatisfactory showing with a second ton-plus average to deny a valiant surprise package in German number one Gabriel Clemens, who had ousted top seed Gerwyn Price in the quarter-finals in front of hundreds of travelling fans from Germany. It was a semi-final watched by a peak audience of 3.78 million on German television.
Smith has always produced sensational showings at the penultimate hurdle of Alexandra Palace stagings, recording averages of 105.22, 100.98 and 101.85 in his three semi-finals. It had always been roles reserved in the title deciders nonetheless until Tuesday evening’s unflappable performance.
Van Gerwen and Peter Wright both needed unplayable purple patches to defeat Smith in his previous finals, with the latter notably averaging 111.33 from 5-4 behind. Nevertheless, Smith exacted revenge on Van Gerwen four years on from his maiden world final and banished those unwanted Alexandra Palace demons in the process.
The 32-year-old was born to become world champion. He was touted to be on the top of the world of darts since taking up the sport as a teenager. Now, all those stumbling blocks and voices in his head telling him that it might not happen have been dismissed and his Alexandra Palace destiny has been fulfilled.
Following seven hours spent staring at his latest slice of silverware in his hotel room instead of sleeping, Smith was running on sheer adrenaline as he travelled back to his hometown of St Helens in the aftermath of his morning media commitments, passing a digital traffic warning en route which read ‘Congratulations Bully Boy – world darts champion’.
His dream was always to become world champion and take the famous Sid Waddell trophy to the home of his beloved St Helens rugby league club. He stood on the halfway line on McManus Drive surrounded by silverware – his World Championship and Grand Slam honours on one side and the Super League trophy on the other.
‘Never write off a saint’ – that was the message from Smith on social media alongside an image of him lifting the sport’s most prestigious accolade. Those writing him off have been silenced and the floodgates have certainly now been unlocked for the sport’s latest world number one.
