The 2023 world darts champion dominates a decisive match on tournament night
Michael Smith, the 2023 world darts champion from England, secured a late 3–0 victory over Lisa Ashton, the 2023 Women’s Power Darts World Cup champion, on Wednesday evening in the semifinals of the international tournament.
Although the crowd strongly supported Ashton, who led for most of the match, she managed to claim two of the first three legs.
However, the 35-year-old British professional then went on a run of seven consecutive legs to reach the podium and seal the win.
Smith spoke about the match in an interview with BBC Radio 5 Live, saying: “The first round was risky. As soon as I stepped onto the stage, the crowd immediately pressured me. I expected that, but I thought that if I lost the first leg 1–0, things would get worse.”
The 2023 world champion continued: “I tried to force things that weren’t there, but once I won the first round, things started to get better. I began to relax more, but I almost lost the last leg — still, we’ll take the win we earned.”
In other matches from the same evening, Germany’s Arno Merk, making his tournament debut, won his match 3–1. Latvia’s Madars Razma also won 3–1 in his match against Belgium’s Kim Huybrechts and the Netherlands’ Doulia Van der Herik respectively, securing their spots in the second round.
The news source stated that 128 players are competing for the darts championship title, up from 96 the previous year, to win the top prize of £1 million.
According to predictions, the first stage of the championship is scheduled to continue until Friday, 19 December, after which the first round will conclude. The final is set for Saturday, 3 January 2026.
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