Michael Smith Interview

The 21.co.uk Shanghai Darts Masters saw Michael Smith claim his first World Series of Darts tournament with confidence. Superb performances throughout the tournament assured Smith that he could walk away from Shanghai with the trophy. After his successful tournament, 21.co.uk caught up with Michael Smith to reflect back on the weekend.

The World Series of Darts can be a gruelling campaign for even the most experienced of darts players, travelling across the world with just a few days rest. Just a week before the Shanghai Darts Masters began, the same group of PDC players were in Las Vegas for 2 nights for a similar tournament. The difficult campaign was reflected in Smith’s preparations for the tournament.

“It was more a case of sleeping really, with all the different time zones, I was just trying to get myself into the right routine. Practices were all the same, it was just changing the routine.”

On his route to the final, Michael Smith beat World no.1 Michael van Gerwen and World Champion Rob Cross. In his second round, he also faced the first Asian qualifier to win in the Shanghai Masters, Royden Lam. If Lam had lost the first round, Smith would have played Anderson. There was no hiding for Smith, but he took it all in his stride, with a bit of help from some less than perfect performances.

“I couldn’t believe my luck how they played! When I normally play Michael van Gerwen, he normally averages around 110 or 120.” The semi final saw both Smith and van Gerwen average just over 90, in a scrappy game that neither player will look back on favourably. “I played worse than normal as well, but still managed to get over the line.”

The final saw Smith up against current world champion Rob Cross. With the final coming late in the day, the long trips and preparation came into play, but Smith wasn’t affected by it all.

“Against Rob Cross, he wasn’t playing the same.” Michael Smith told 21.co.uk top online casino. “Everyone was saying that they were tired, but I had to do the exact same thing and I wasn’t tired.” Smith also reflected on his near miss with Gary Anderson. “If Gary had won his first game, I would have had him in the second round and he’s one of the best players in the world.”

A successful summer so far has seen Michael Smith finish runner up in the PDC Darts Premier League and now win the 21.co.uk Shanghai Darts Masters. But Smith has no plans of stopping yet.

“A ranked TV major would be nice. I’ve just got to keep working hard and keep on pushing forward to bigger wins. I wanted a European tournament and a TV Major, and I have won a couple of tournament this year. It gives you hope for the Players Championships and World Series.”

As part of the 21.co.uk sponsorship of the Shanghai Darts Masters, we also had the chance to interview Michael van Gerwen, Rob Cross and Peter Wright for their views ahead of the tournament.