Kevin Doets stunned Michael Smith at the World Darts Championship (Image: Getty)
Darts star Kevin Doets was convinced he would beat after the tables turned backstage ahead of the clash. Second-seed Bully Boy was sent packing from and now faces a drastic tumble down the PDC’s Order of Merit.
Doets lost 3-2 against Smith in the early rounds of last year’s tournament. On that occasion, he had the honour of starting the match after getting closest to the bullseye backstage.
But this time around, Smith was closest to the bullseye in the pre-match backstage routine and was able to throw first. Doets insists that he knew he would go on to win 3-2 from that moment.
“I cannot describe this. An interview in five minutes would have been better! I was really close to beating Rob Cross in the World Series Finals. I was unlucky,” an ecstatic Doets, 26, said afterwards.
“This game was weird because he took his sets easy and I took mine easy. Then the last set was just incredible. Before this game last year, I won the bull and he won 3-2. This year he won the bull and I thought I was going to win 3-2.
“This was the most stressful game of my life but ahhh, yes! I just felt that if I kept my focus I would not lose the game. To get over the line is amazing. My scoring power in the beginning was great, I just couldn’t get a double in. Then I just kept on going and going.”
It was another bad outing for Smith, who has endured some shocking form since becoming the world champion for the first time in 2023. He is set to lose a whopping £485,000 from his ranking prize money total, which will send him out of the top 10.
Michael Smith faces a crushing Order of Merit drop after his World Championship exit (Image: Getty)
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However, the 34-year-old insisted ahead of the tournament that he felt no pressure. “The only pressure that is added to me is when I get asked the question about pressure,” Smith told the Daily Mail.
“Everyone else is thinking about me defending half a million, other than me. I am defending half a million but I don’t have to give it back if I get beaten in the first round. The money is still sat there safe, it is invested.
“I don’t give two flying… you know what I’m going to say! I think this is my 13th year at the Worlds and every single year I show up. I have had a couple of shockers in there but I’ve had three finals, more quarter-finals, some last 16s.”