The Darts World Cup has its first big surprise. Ross Smith was eliminated in the first round. The number twelve in the world lost a comfortable lead against debutant Andreas Harrysson – and was also annoyed by a wasp.
Ross Smith was warned. Andreas Harrysson meant a very tricky draw for the first round of this World Darts Championship. The 50-year-old Swede had repeatedly indicated his quality on the second-class Challenge Tour in 2025 and even made it to the round of 16 at the European Tour event in Leverkusen after victories over Raymond van Barneveld and Michael Smith.
But Smith seemed to have everything under control on Friday evening. The number twelve on the seeding list was in the lead against Andreas Harrysson from Sweden with 2:1 sets, had also gained a supposedly decisive advantage with 2:0 in round four and had just played his first match dart on double 20.
The fact that Smith missed didn’t seem too tragic. Ultimately, there are likely to be other options. Not a misjudgment, as it turns out. And yet the Englishman left the Alexandra Palace stage a few minutes later as a loser. Smith lost to the World Cup debutant 2:3 and was eliminated as the first seed despite an average of 96.89 that was three points higher. He was also annoyed by the legendary Ally Pally wasp. It sat on the collar of Smith’s shirt for minutes before the Englishman, standing at his table, grabbed the back of his neck and scared the animal away.
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“It’s fantastic, absolutely fantastic,” said the World Cup debutant after his success, the foundation of which was laid by his opponent. After missing the match dart on Tops, Smith conceded the Swede’s 1:2, but thanks to his significantly better scoring, he earned more match darts just one leg later. The “Smudger” not only missed number two, but also missed the third, fourth and fifth match darts. Harrysson escaped into the decider and actually managed to equalize the set.
He later revealed that he took a break from work a month ago so that he could train more. Now it should pay off: “I thought: take the opportunity and see what you can do with it.”
The comparatively old Swede also won legs four and five in a row at the start of the fifth set, made it 2-0 and was even able to miss a match dart on the bullseye. More than one leg was no longer possible for Smith, as Harrysson now consistently hit the triple fields, Smith missed tops to make it 2-2 and the outsider crossed the finish line with the fifth match dart on double 5.
“It’s a great feeling. I hope I can build on that in the coming matches,” said Harrysson, while Smith now has to watch how the World Cup’s increase in prize money affects the rankings. He is likely to be overtaken by numerous players, possibly also by Martin Schindler. A win on Wednesday against Stephen Burton would be enough for the German number one.
If Lutz Wöckener Not exactly trying out any sport on his own, he writes about darts and sports politics, but sometimes also something off-kilter like football.
Darts World Cup 2026, results, 1st round
- Niels Zonneveld (NED) – Haupai Puha (NZL) 3:0 (3:2, 3:2, 3:0)
- Ian White (ENG) – Mervyn King (ENG) 3:2 (3:1, 3:0, 2:3, 2:3, 3:0)
- Ryan Searle (ENG/20) – Chris Landman (NED) 3:0 (3:0, 3:2, 3:1)
- Rob Cross (ENG/17) – Cor Dekker (NOR) 3:0 (3:0, 3:2, 3:0)
- Ross Smith (ENG/12) – Andreas Harrysson (SWE) 2:3 (3:2, 2:3, 3:1, 2:3, 1:3)
- Ricky Evans (EVan) – Man Bearing (HKG)
- Gian van Veen (NED/10) – Cristo Reyes (ESP)
- Damon Heta (AUS/16) – Steve Lennon (IRL)
