Smith’s passage to the Final was not straightforward as he went to a nervous last-leg decider with the reigning Premier League Champion Michael van Gerwen.
After battling through that, he faced Luke Littler, and with “The Nuke” missing a match dart at double 15, the 33-year-old put aside Littler after the 17-year-old averaged over 105. This set up a final against crowd favourite Gerwyn Price.
Price started the final with a clinical 80 checkout that pleased the home faithful. However, Smith responded accordingly and brought daylight between the pair as he led 3-1.
Smith then made it back-to-back ton-plus checkouts as “Bullyboy” moved closer to the finishing line.
Price stayed in the final for as long as possible as he clinched a ton finish with Smith sat on a very makeable 101 finish for the match. Smith cashed in his fifth 180 of the contest and finished proceedings with a very impressive 13-darter to round off a dominant night for the man from St Helen’s.
Elsewhere, in the opening match of the 2024 Bet MGM Premier League, Rob Cross returned to the Premier League for the first time since 2021 and knocked out two-time World Champion Peter Wright 6-3.
Price was made to work hard in his opening match against Nathan Aspinall as the Englishmen went into an early 2-0 lead.
With the home support behind “The Iceman”, he took a 124 on the bull to bring himself back into the contention. Price’s doubling proved to be a problem in this match, as the 38-year-old missed numerous opportunities to win the match.
Aspinall held his nerve and took out 68 on double four to extend the second quarter-final. However, Aspinall’s pressure didn’t last very long as Price concluded the match with a sensational Shanghai finish on the twenties.
Price then powered his way past former World Champion Rob Cross with another ton plus average to progress to the night one final.
On the other side of the draw, the teenage sensation Luke Littler started his Premier League campaign with a ton-plus average as he defeated the reigning World Champion Luke Humphries 6-2.
The crowd was definitely behind the 17-year-old as the odd whistle from members of the crowd became apparent putting off the World number one.
With the crowd’s support, Littler rallied off legs of 12,14, and 13 darts and he just missed double fifteen for a spot in the final. With whistles being an issue again, Smith checked out 60 to knock out the World Youth Champion.
In the press conference after the final, Smith stated, “ I’m really happy to win.”
“My game isn’t where I would want it to be, but winning is winning,” said Smith.
“Night 15, I think, was my last win on the tour, so to get a win after six months of hard work does feel very satisfying to get the momentum going again,” he concluded.
Words By Harry Tovey
HTSPORTSNEWS 