Michael Smith has progressed to the quarter-finals of the World Matchplay after an 11-9 win over Chris Dobey on Wednesday evening and revealed that he feels the “pressure is off” following an 11 month title-less tenure with Shot Darts.
Michael Smith has moved to the quarter-finals of the 2024 World Matchplay at the Winter Gardens in Blackpool where he will meet Rob Cross on Friday evening.
Smith beat Chris Dobey 11-9 which ended up being a much closer game than it should have been after Smith raced off to a 4-0 lead early on.
Michael Smith has come into this competition as the 3rd seed but he’s had a difficult 12 months after winning the 2023 World Championship and signing with new sponsor Shot darts in July of last year…
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Michael Smith on Playing Without Pressure and ‘Taking a Full Year Off’
Michael Smith has seen an upturn in form in recent months winning the Players Championship 9 and World Cup of Darts. However, this was after a barren run of 11 months without any titles.
An interviewer mentioned that the World Cup of Darts win last month was Smith’s first televised title while being sponsored by Shot darts, and that people had been questioning his decision to move to Shot after winning the World Championship with Unicorn in 2023.
Many fans believed that switching sponsors and changing his darts as a result was a key reason why Michael Smith did not perform as well in 2023 as the World Champion.
Smith has now given some more perspective on this though, as he never felt that was the cause for his dip in form.
Smith said:
“I wasn’t playing well because I put pressure on myself.
“I put pressure on myself because they signed me as the World No 1, the World Champion.
“I said I’ll get you your first professional title, I’ll get you your first Major, I’ll get this, I’ll get that…
“It was just the pressure that I did to myself.”
“When I won Hildesheim [Players Championship 9] I thought I don’t care anymore, I’ve given you a title, just settle down”
The Player Championship 9 victory in early May of this year was Smith’s first in 11 months.
While he cites the internal pressure he placed on himself to win, there was also a lot of external pressure from people questioning his decision to switch from a sponsor that ultimately helped him to become a World Champion.
Michael Smith talks about PRESSURE of NEW DARTS and says he's no longer LAZY after full year off
— Darts Now (@DartsNow_) July 17, 2024
🐂 Bully Boy spoke honestly about being lazy after winning the World Championship and the year he’s had since switching darts
🎥FULL INT.👇🏼https://t.co/YrJ75BDEcI pic.twitter.com/PftFjQkxtO
The pressure he put on himself wasn’t the only reason for Smith’s downturn in form though as he also revealed his mindset once he became the World No 1…
“I won them a floor title and a Major title and it just went [the pressure].
“That was down to me not being lazy any more. I had to put the hard work in.
“I had a full year off, basically. When I won the Worlds I didn’t do anything and I had to get back on the boards then and show everyone why I won the Worlds and I think that’s starting to show now.”
Smith has mentioned this before. When he says he took the year off he doesn’t mean literally, more that he felt as World Champion he could relax and just enjoy being the top ranked player.
This meant he focused more on leisure than practice but as a result of not winning anything like he’d promised his new sponsor he would, the pressure started to build on him as the year went on.
Now that the ‘pressure is off’ as Smith states, he could be a much more dangerous player for the remainder of the 2024 darts season.
He’ll be looking to prove this when he faces Rob Cross on Friday evening…
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