Michael Smith could be set for a worrying spiral down the PDC’s Order of Merit after being dumped out of the World Darts Championship. Bully Boy is set to have £485,000 wiped off his winnings from the rankings due to his Ally Pally triumph coming over two years ago.
The Order of Merit calculates the leaderboard by prize money won over the last two years. Smith shot to the top by winning the World Championship in 2023, succeeding in an epic final against Michael van Gerwen.
However, the 34-year-old has endured a tough year since his triumph and has been unable to build a big prize pot in 2024. Almost all of the £500k he won at Ally Pally two years ago will be stripped from his PDC calculation after the tournament.
Smith is currently ranked No. 2 in the world, although his £890k is nearly £1million off Luke Humphries’ unassailable lead at the top of the Order of Merit. A shock defeat against Kevin Doets is set to send Smith a lengthy way down the rankings – potentially out of the top 16.
“The only pressure that is added to me is when I get asked the question about pressure,” Smith told the Daily Mail ahead of his second-round clash with Doets.
“Everyone else is thinking about me defending half a million, other than me. I am defending half a million but I don’t have to give it back if I get beaten in the first round. The money is still sat there safe, it is invested.
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“I don’t give two flying… you know what I’m going to say! I think this is my 13th year at the Worlds and every single year I show up. I have had a couple of shockers in there but I’ve had three finals, more quarter-finals, some last 16s.”
Smith will drop out of the world’s top 10 after his 3-2 defeat against Doets, who sought revenge after losing against the same opponent in a final-set decider on the Ally Pally stage 12 months ago.
“Last year I won the bull and he won 3-2. This year he won the bull and so I thought to myself, I’m gonna win it 3-2,” said Doets. “But this is the most stressful game I’ve had in my life. It was so very tight, but I’m just so happy, to get over the line is amazing. I kept on going and it just to win this game means so much.”
