Michael Smith reached the final of the World Darts Championship on Monday. The Englishman was 6-2 too strong for the German Gabriel Clemens in the semi-final battle in London. Smith will compete against Michael van Gerwen in the final, who easily defeated Dimitri Van den Bergh later in the evening: 6-0.
The 32-year-old Smith ended a historic tournament for Clemens, who became the first German ever to reach the last four of the World Cup. Smith averaged 101.85 per three darts. Clemens, who eliminated world number one Gerwyn Price in the quarterfinals, could not compete with an average of 96.98.
In the final, Smith will face Van Gerwen, who outclassed Van den Bergh: 6-0. In 2019, Van Gerwen and Smith were also in the final of the World Cup. ‘Mighty Mike’ then won 7-3, taking his third and last world title for the time being.
Smith is in the final at Alexandra Palace for the second year in a row. Last year ‘Bully Boy’ was beaten in the final battle by Peter Wright. If Smith becomes world champion, he will also immediately be the new number one in the PDC world ranking Order of Merit.
Smith and Clemens are close to each other
Smith and Clemens made it a great match at Alexandra Palace, where almost half the room was filled with German fans. The first five sets were all won by the player who started the set first.
It wasn’t until the sixth set, when Smith was leading 3-2, that he was able to win a set that Clemens had started for the first time. This immediately made the difference in the match, as Clemens was no longer able to come back.
Smith, the number four on the seed list, continues an excellent darts season with his place in the final. He was in the final of no less than four television tournaments and won his first major title in November with the Grand Slam of Darts.
A sum of 500,000 pounds (converted over 560,000 euros) is available for the world champion on Tuesday. The losing finalist gets to credit £200,000.
02 jan 2023 om 00:26
Ongenaakbare Van Gerwen weet zeker dat koptelefoon in darts snel verboden is
02 jan 2023 om 07:14
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