Michael Smith is 2 games away from clinching the World Matchplay after defeating Krzysztof Ratajski in the quarter-finals. He will now face his good friend Gary Anderson who stands between him and a place in the final. Smith is hoping to go one better than he did last year where he lost to Rob Cross in the final. He spent 4 hours prior to the match on the practice boards to make sure he was fine-tuned.
This one I want,” he said. “I want every TV event, it’s just I know I’ve got the biggest chance I could think of. I think I’m the highest seed left in and I just don’t want to ruin that chance. I know I’ve got a really tough game tomorrow and then hopefully I’m back for the final and it would be nice to get that first title.” Smith was in fine form throughout the match firing 13 maximums and left Krzysztof Ratajski to play catch up for the rest of the match. Ratajski pounced on a few unforced errors from Smith during critical stages of the match which Smith wasn’t too happy about.
“I was more annoyed when I think I was 8-7 down,” he added. “The legs he was winning I was giving so many chances away and I kept doing it. I was leaving like 161 and then hitting no trebles and he’d hit a big score. I was leaving myself not too much to do, but it should be a lot easier so I’m just glad to crawl over the line there in the end.” he said. “I’m happy with my scoring but in every leg, I hit a really dodgy score like a 60 or a 58 and it gave him a chance every time. I knew if I could just keep on top of him and keep scoring the way I can he wouldn’t be able to keep up and he couldn’t until I gave him the chance and he got straight back in.”
