European Championship: Ross Smith won the European Championship final against Michael Smith with an excellent performance, winning his first televised championship in Dortmund on Sunday.
The Kent thrower defeated Michael Smith 11-8 to complete a remarkable comeback on stage after becoming so fed up with darts that he quit the sport in 2017 and never returned.
In order to get to Sunday’s final day of play, he had defeated Joe Cullen, the winner of the Masters, in the first round, as well as Dimitri Van den Bergh, the winner of two World Series tournaments this year.
In the quarterfinals, he overcame World Champion Peter Wright 8-3, and in the semifinals, he defeated Chris Dobey 11-9 to win the $120,000 top prize.
Smith said to ITV4, holding the prize closely, “I guess I’m dreaming.”
“It hasn’t really hit home yet, and probably won’t for a few weeks. No words can adequately express it because I’ve never won a Euro Tour.”
The 33-year-old from Dover posted a 101.32 average in his first TV final, nailing eight 180s and pinning 50% of his double tries in an impressive performance.
In a top-notch final, Michael Smith also averaged over 100 and made eight 180s, but he was never able to overtake an unyielding Ross Smith for the lead.
Ross Smith got things rolling quickly with a 133 checkout in the first leg.
Then, when his nameake was having a difficult time keeping up, he delivered a 121 finish on the bull and was never challenged.
Although Michael Smith did even the score at 3-3, “Bully Boy” couldn’t get much closer than that.
Ross Smith, who averaged 101.32 with a 50% return on the doubles, won the seventh leg and held his St Helens opponent at arm’s length afterwards.
In a match of the highest calibre, both players hit eight 180s.
The newly crowned winner declared, “‘m going to keep my feet on the ground and probably go the gym tomorrow.
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