Michael Van Gerwen previews World Darts Championship
Defending champion Michael Smith admitted that he wanted to “ruin” Kevin Doets during their World Darts Championship second-round clash on Friday. Doets was playing his second match of the night and had put himself in a promising position before Smith used his experience on the big stage to mount an impressive comeback.
Doets was putting in one of the best performances of his career and led 2-1 in the best-of-five contest, prompting the Dutchman to celebrate a successful throw by pointing directly at Smith.
Last year’s winner then produced checkouts of 150, 142 and 120 on his way to a 3-2 win, before explaining that Doets’ gesture was a catalyst for his response.
“Being 2-1 down there was a 142 in there somewhere, but I nearly threw it away by missing a nine-darter to make it 3-0,” said Smith. “I just kept plugging, kept fighting. When he took it to 2-1 up, he gave me a point with his finger and I remember last year, Martin Schindler did that as well, now you’ve just got to ruin him.
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“When I was driving up to the Alexandra Palace, it was the same nerves as last year. Thirteen years in a row it’s the same nerves, I was quite happy with that. The only thing I was unhappy about was that I missed four nines or five nines in the back room. It’s one of them, I managed to fall over the line, no nerves, no pressure. I’ll have a good Christmas now.”
Smith is the first player through to the third round, which will take place after Christmas, and he was relieved that the World Championship has such a format that he was able to stage a comeback. “It’s the game that I needed I think,” added Smith. “Being 2-1 down, it was nice to show that I’ve still got the fight and I still know how to battle back.
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“The last seven or eight legs there I managed to play well and get the job done. If I hadn’t missed five darts at double, I could’ve made it a lot easier. But I’m happy, got a nice 11 days off now.
“This is why I love this event and this format. He can win as many things as he wants to like if you’re playing the Matchplay, you’re 9-5 down and he needs one more leg. Being 2-1 down, you can still win two legs.
“I felt in a good rhythm, I know Kevin started to stop on the oche at 2-2 but I just kept myself in my focus. The 180’s annoyed me as there weren’t as many as I have been doing in practice but I’ve got 11 days to put it right.”
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