MICHAEL SMITH dramatically crashed out of Ally Pally in a thriller – and his darts world for 2025 has now imploded.
Bully Boy, 34, was champion of the world two years ago and came here defending £500,000 in prize money against his name on the PDC Order of Merit.
https://twitter.com/OfficialPDC/status/1869881916712743144But he will tumble down the rankings – and provisionally out of the top 16 – following a 3-2 Grudge Match defeat to Kevin Doets in the closest game of the tournament.
Given that he is the world No.2, this represents one of the biggest drops in modern times and will be a crushing blow to his confidence ahead of next season.
Turkey in the Smith household will be cold on Christmas Day after he was defeated in the second round for the first time since 2020.
Smith will only bank £15,000 for being a second-round loser, which means he will see £485,000 come off his name when the rankings are updated in the New Year.
World No.51 Doets, 26, lost 3-2 to Smith in this same stage 12 months ago but he got revenge now and his passionate mum – the star of the Game of Throws documentary – will love this triumph from the VIP seats.
When they last met on this stage, Smith got annoyed and was pumped up because he felt Doets was trying to “give it the big one” on the oche.
Doets – who sealed his passage on his fourth match dart – managed to keep his head despite the bounce-outs he experienced.
And in an amazing finale, his Bullseye finish on 90 in leg nine of the fifth set was magnificent to watch.
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He said: “I cannot describe this. This game was weird. The last set was incredible.
“Last year, I won the bull backstage and he won 3-2. This year he won the bull and I thought I would win.
“This is the most stressful game I have had in my life. Oh yes! I thought if I keep my focus I would not lose the game. It was very tight.
“To get over the line is amazing. To win this game means so much.”
Elsewhere in the evening session, Welshman Nick Kenny sealed a 3-0 win over American Stowe Buntz with a thrilling 170 finish on the Bull.
Scott Williams, last year’s semi-finalist, knocked out German Niko Springer 3-1 with an average of 96.24.
