2023 World Darts Championship winner Michael Smith crashes out of this year’s Worlds as Kevin Doets stuns ‘Bully Boy’ in Alexandra Palace classic. This damning defeat for Smith means he could drop to 15th in the updated PDC Order of Merit after the tournament.
Kevin Doets Stuns Michael Smith With 3-2 Ally Pally Classic Win
Former world champion and world number one Michael Smith crashes out of the 2025 World Darts Championship at the hands of Dutchman Kevin Doets.
Doets, who was a huge underdog with the best UK betting sites pre-match, put on an incredible display of tungsten precision, hitting nine 180s en route to a 3-2 victory over one of the pre-tournament favourites.
That win for Doets means he reaches Round 3 at Alexandra Palace for the first time in his life, whilst pocketing a guaranteed £25,000 in World Darts Championship prize money in the process too.
The game was an incredible watch, with Doets eventually winning in the 10th leg of set five. The match went down to the wire, with the Dutchman eventually winning it in a sixth leg tie-break.
This monumental Round 2 victory for Kevin Doets over ‘Bully Boy’ means he now faces a Round 3 clash with either Krzysztof Ratajski or fellow Dutchman Richard Veenstra. Given his incredible display against Smith, you certainly wouldn’t put it past Doets from making it into the Last 15 of the 2025 World Darts Championship.
THIS IS WHAT IT MEANS! 🙌#WCDarts | @DoetsKevin pic.twitter.com/gz7m3OvhzV
— PDC Darts (@OfficialPDC) December 19, 2024
Round 2 Defeat For Michael Smith Sees Drop To Number 15 In PDC Order Of Merit
As one of the pre-tournament favourites with the best UK betting apps, Michael Smith headed into the 2025 World Darts Championship with hopes of potentially lifting his second Sid Waddell Trophy come the New Year.
However, those dreams were squashed after his Round 2 exit to Kevin Doets on Thursday night, but that’s not the only bad news for the former world number one darts player.
With the PDC Order of Merit running over two years, this means that this year ‘Bully Boy’ was defending the £500,000 he won back in 2023 when he beat Michael van Gerwen in the final to become world champion for the very first time.
Smith’s Round 2 exit means he pockets just £15,000 in prize money for this year’s Worlds, meaning he loses £485k in the Order of Merit. Depending on how other players fare, this means Michael Smith could drop to as low as 15th in the world rankings.
Here's the provisional PDC Order of Merit after day four of the World Championship. Nine-dart man and Challenge Tour #3 Christian Kist bows out in round one, but he will obtain a two-year tour card so long as Challenge Tour #1 Connor Scutt finishes the tournament in the top 64. pic.twitter.com/q742PoRIW8
— Weekly Dartscast (@WeeklyDartscast) December 19, 2024
Smith currently sits second in the PDC Order of Merit with £890,000 won in prize money in the last two years. Take £485k away from that and he’s on just £405,000. That would put him at 19th in the current rankings, with a quite stunning decline from the St Helens’ man.
With other players set to lose plenty of prize money too, it is unlikely Smith falls out of the Top 16. Added to this, Smith will likely not get picked for the 2025 Premier League Darts either. Work to do for Michael ‘Bully Boy’ Smith.
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