Career
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. [5]
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. [6] 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. [7]
2013
Smith's position on the ProTour Order of Merit also saw him qualify for the 2013 World Championship, [18] as he took the second of sixteen places that were awarded to the highest non-qualified players. [19] 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. [20] Smith reached the final of the third UK Open Qualifier in March, but was beaten 2–6 by Michael van Gerwen. [21] 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. [22] 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. [23] 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. [24] 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. [25]
2014
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. [26] He beat Morihiro Hashimoto 3–1 in the first round. [27] 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. [28] 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. [29] He was named the PDC's Young Player of the Year at the Annual Awards in January. [30] Smith won through to the final of the sixth UK Open Qualifier of the year but averaged just 70.94 as he was whitewashed 6–0 by Michael van Gerwen. [31] A rematch against Wright followed in the third round of the UK Open with Smith throwing for the match in the final leg, but he missed a total of seven darts at doubles to lose 9–8. [32] His second final of 2014 was at the fifth Players Championship, which he reached by beating Raymond van Barneveld 6–3 in the quarter-finals and Gary Anderson 6–4 in the semis, but he was again whitewashed in the decider, this time by Brendan Dolan. [33]
At the World Matchplay, he recorded a 10–8 victory over Justin Pipe before losing 13–6 to Taylor in the second round. [34] At the European Darts Grand Prix, Smith eliminated Gary Anderson, Adrian Lewis, and Stephen Bunting en route to facing Mervyn King in the final. Smith missed too many doubles throughout the match, including one to claim the title, as he lost his third ranking final of the year 6–5. [35] Another final followed a week later at the 14th Players Championship where he lost 6–4 to Van Gerwen. [36] Smith's rich vein of form continued into the European Darts Trophy as he reached the final and came back from 3–0 against Van Gerwen to win the title 6–5, which included a 158 finish to break throw in the ninth leg. [37] He suffered first round exits at the World Grand Prix and European Championship, but topped Group F at the Grand Slam by winning all three of his games. [38] Smith knocked out Christian Kist 10–5 but was then beaten 16–3 by Taylor in the quarter-finals, losing 13 consecutive legs from 3–3. [39] His year in the major events concluded with a 6–4 defeat to Andy Smith in the opening round of the Players Championship Finals. [40]
2015
After seeing off Mensur Suljović 3–1 in the first round of the 2015 World Championship, Smith beat Brendan Dolan 4–2 after having been 2–0 down, to set up a third round tie with fellow St. Helens player Stephen Bunting. [41] Despite taking out checkouts of 170 and 132, Smith was 3–0 down, before finding his scoring game to restrict Bunting to one leg as he closed the gap to 3–2. Ultimately his slow start to the match proved costly as he lost the next set to be knocked out 4–2 in a game that saw each player average 102 and hit eight 180s apiece. [42] Smith won the fifth UK Open Qualifier by beating Adrian Lewis 6–5. [43] A rematch with Bunting followed in the third round of the UK Open, with Smith missing two match darts in the deciding leg to be beaten 9–8. [44] He claimed the second European Tour title of his career by winning the International Darts Open with a 6–3 victory over Benito van de Pas in the final. [45] Smith suffered a 10–4 defeat to Gerwyn Price in the first round of the World Matchplay, but retained his European Darts Trophy title by seeing off Michael van Gerwen in the final for the second year in a row. [46] At the World Grand Prix, he punished two missed match darts from Price to beat him 2–1, but Smith then lost from 2–0 up in sets against Jamie Lewis in the second round. [47] Wins over Wayne Jones, Lewis and Andy Fordham saw Smith top his group at the Grand Slam and he then averaged 104.59 to beat Dave Chisnall 10–7 and reach the quarter-finals. Smith's first major event semi-final soon followed as he defeated Lewis 16–11, but he was heavily beaten 16–6 by Van Gerwen. [48] [49]
2022: First major title
Smith began his 2022 World Championship campaign with a comfortable 3–0 win over Ron Meulenkamp, before defeating William O'Connor 4–2. The next two games saw him take on two of the most in-form players from the 2021 season; first defeating Jonny Clayton in a last-set shootout that went to extra legs; and then triumphing over defending champion Gerwyn Price, surviving two match darts and a 9 darter before winning the final set. In the semi-final Smith took an early lead over James Wade and eventually triumphed 6–3, reaching the final for the second time in his career. [78] Smith lost the final 7–5 to Peter Wright and claimed £200,000 as runner-up.
Smith reached the final of the UK Open in March, but lost 11–10 to Danny Noppert despite Noppert only averaging 84.82 to see his 7th final defeat. He recovered well to win a night event on the final standard night of the 2022 Premier League, but came 7th in the table and did not qualify for the playoff places. His good form after the UK Open continued, winning 3 Pro Tour titles in a short period and performing well in the European Tour and was victorious at the US Darts Masters at Maddison Square Gardens beating Michael Van Gerwen in the final 8-4 .
In July, Smith reached the last 16 of the 2022 World Matchplay, where he was beaten 11–7 by Dirk van Duijvenbode. In October, Smith reached an eighth major televised final, losing 11–8 to namesake Ross in the European Championship final. [79] The following month, Smith finally won his first major title at his ninth attempt in the 2022 Grand Slam of Darts. He consecutively defeated Lisa Ashton, Joe Cullen, Ritchie Edhouse, Rob Cross, Joe Cullen (second time in the tournament), and Raymond van Barneveld before defeating Nathan Aspinall 16–5 in the final. [80]
2023: World Championship win
Smith opened his 2023 World Championship campaign with a 3–0 win over Nathan Rafferty. In the third round Smith came from 3–1 down to beat Martin Schindler 4–3, before beating Joe Cullen and Stephen Bunting to reach the semi-finals. In the semi-final Smith beat Gabriel Clemens 6–2 to reach his third World Championship final. In the final, Smith hit a nine dart finish only seconds after Michael van Gerwen missed Double 12 for his own nine darter. [81] After a back and forth match, Smith broke van Gerwen's throw and held his own throw to lead 6–3. After losing the tenth set and going two down in the eleventh set, Smith won two legs in a row to throw for the match. Smith finished in eleven darts to win 7–4 and become world champion for the first time and move up to world number one in the PDC Order of Merit for the first time. He also became the first player to win both the PDC World Youth Championship and the PDC World Darts Championship. [82]
2024
At the 2024 World Championship, Smith opened the defence of his world crown with a 3–2 second-round victory over Kevin Doets. [83] In the third round, Smith defeated Madars Razma 4–1 and criticised his gamesmanship in an interview after the game, claiming, "He just tried to think about putting me off, I guess, but lessons learned. I learned my lesson, and he's learned his as well.". [84] [85] In the fourth round, Smith was whitewashed 4–0 by Chris Dobey, ending the defence of his world title. [86]
In May 2024, Smith won a first PDC ranking title for eleven months at PC9. [87] [88]
1 (7 May 2024) [1] 
