Michael Smith Wins World Darts Championship

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 Tuesday night.

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

Smith followed up his breakthrough win 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 32-year-old then hit the front for the first time in the contest just after wiring the bull for a spectacular 170 checkout.

And Smith went on to level things up by taking the set 3-1 with an incredible 128.09 set average, winning it in just 34 darts.

Van Gerwen then produced a stunning 10-dart leg to force a fifth set decider which he clinched against the throw in 14 darts to regain the upper-hand.

But Smith, who won Grand Slam of Darts title in November to break his major TV title duck, pinned a pulsating 130 finish in the fourth leg of the seventh set.

The start was everything a packed Ally Pally could have wished for with both players going at it hammer and tongs.

However, the first set went the way of Van Gerwen 3-1 against the darts with a 99.3 average and two 180s.

Smith fulfilled his darting destiny by becoming world champion, defeating Van Gerwen 7-4 in an epic encounter on Wednesday 4 January 2023.

So Smith took his chances, but he knows and Van Gerwen does, it is not going to be the last one here where they play each other.

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.