Michael Smith

Michael Smith (born 18 September 1990) is an English professional darts player.

Nicknamed "Bully Boy", he plays in Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) events, where he is currently ranked No. 3 in the world.

He is a former world champion, having won the 2023 World Championship.

Michael Smith was born on 18 September 1990 to parents Ian and Sandra.

Smith lived in Cherry Tree Drive, Parr, St Helens throughout his childhood and attended St Cuthbert's High School nearby.

When he was 15, he fell off his bike on the way to school breaking his hip, which required him to use crutches for 16 weeks.

During that period, Smith threw his first 180 while on crutches.

After leaving school, he took a joinery course at college, but he decided to drop out with one exam remaining to play in a darts tournament instead, a decision that he has described as the best of his life.

He was a regular winner of local darts events and made his debut in a PDC major at the 2009 UK Open where he lost 6–5 to Dave Ladley in the first round.

Smith reached the last 32 of the 2010 UK Open, knocking out Peter Manley and Matt Clark before losing to Mervyn King.

He was one of a number of young players to make a significant impact in the tournament, along with William O'Connor, Arron Monk, and Reece Robinson.

He was the number four seed for the 2011 PDC Under-21 World Championship, where he lost in the quarter-finals to Benito van de Pas.

On 26 February 2011, Smith hit a nine-dart finish in a PDC Youth Tour event in Barnsley, against Michael van Gerwen.

He reached the final but lost to Shaun Griffiths.

The following day, he won his first PDC Pro Tour event, defeating Dave Chisnall 6–5 in the final of the 2011 UK Open Qualifier 2.

Smith had now become a full-time professional on the PDC darts Circuit and made his debut at the World Championships in 2012, losing 0–3 to Co Stompé in the first round.

Smith only hit 3 of his 14 darts at a double during the match.

Smith won his second professional tournament in January 2012, at the Players Championship Event 2 in Benidorm.

He won seven matches, concluding with a 6–3 victory over Justin Pipe to take the title and the £6,000 prize money.

In April, he earned a place in the European Tour Event 1 in Vienna by defeating Les Wallace and Shaun Griffiths in the UK qualifier.

He played Jamie Caven in the first round and hit a nine dart finish on his way to a 6–4 win, but then lost 5–6 to Mark Walsh in round two.

His results meant he qualified for the World Matchplay for the first time in his career via the ProTour Order of Merit.

He faced Raymond van Barneveld in the first round and was beaten 4–10.

Smith also played in the World Grand Prix for the first time, losing to Phil Taylor 0–2 in the first round.

After all 33 ProTour events of 2012 had been played, Smith was 25th on the Order of Merit, inside the top 32 who qualified for the Players Championship Finals.

It was Smith's first appearance in the tournament and he beat Ian White 6–5 in the first round before losing 6–10 to Kim Huybrechts.

Smith was the 2013 PDC Under-21 World Champion and has since won 17 titles on the PDC Pro Tour.

He won his first PDC major title at the 2022 Grand Slam of Darts, having previously been a runner-up at the World Championship (2019 and 2022), the Premier League (2018), the World Matchplay (2019), the European Championship (2022), the UK Open (2022), The Masters (2020), and the World Series Finals (2018).

Smith's position on the ProTour Order of Merit also saw him qualify for the 2013 World Championship, as he took the second of sixteen places that were awarded to the highest non-qualified players.

However, he ran into an in-form Raymond van Barneveld in the first round who averaged 108.31 as Smith could only win one leg during the match in a 0–3 defeat.

Smith reached the final of the third UK Open Qualifier in March, but was beaten 2–6 by Michael van Gerwen.

Smith won the 2013 PDC World Youth Championship with a 6–1 victory over Ricky Evans, which was broadcast just before the 2013 Premier League Darts Final.

Smith led van Barneveld 3–0 in the third round of the UK Open but went on to lose 8–9.

In October, he advanced to the semi-finals for the second time in 2013 at the 12th Players Championship but his run was ended with a 6–3 defeat to Kevin Painter.

His youth title earned him a place in the Grand Slam of Darts and he produced an impressive display in his first group match against Dave Chisnall as from 3–1 down he hit legs of 11, 12, 14, and 13 darts to win 5–3 with an average of 103.17.

However, he then lost 5–2 to Scott Waites and 5–1 to Ted Hankey to finish third in Group H and be eliminated from the tournament.

Smith broke into the world's top 32 on the Order of Merit just before the cut-off for the 2014 World Championship to qualify through the main ranking list for the first time.

He beat Morihiro Hashimoto 3–1 in the first round.

He then defeated reigning and 16-time world champion Phil Taylor 4–3 in the second round, taking out the bullseye on a 128 finish to win the match.

In the next round, Smith hit a 136 finish, with his opponent Peter Wright waiting on 41, to lead 3–2 but only won one more leg after this to lose 4–3.