Ross Smith (born 12 January 1989) is an English professional
darts
Darts or dart-throwing is a competitive sport in which two or more players bare-handedly throw small projectile point, sharp-pointed projectile, missiles known as dart (missile), darts at a round shooting target, target known as a #Dartboard, dar ...
player who plays in events of the
Professional Darts Corporation
The Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) is a professional darts organisation in the United Kingdom, established in 1992 when a group of leading players split from the British Darts Organisation (BDO) to form what was initially called the World ...
(PDC). He is the winner of the
2022 European Championship.
Career
Smith began playing in
Professional Darts Corporation
The Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) is a professional darts organisation in the United Kingdom, established in 1992 when a group of leading players split from the British Darts Organisation (BDO) to form what was initially called the World ...
events in 2005 and made his debut in the Vauxhall Spring Open, reaching the last 16. Smith then reached the final of the WDF Europe Youth Cup, losing to
Dutchman Johnny Nijs. Smith had little success afterwards on the PDC circuit and switched to the BDO in 2007. He reached the last 16 of the 2008 British Classic and the 2008 Czech Open.
Smith qualified for the
2009 BDO World Darts Championship, winning one of five places in the qualifiers in
Bridlington
Bridlington is a coastal town and a civil parish on the Holderness Coast of the North Sea in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. It is about north of Hull and east of York. The Gypsey Race enters the North Sea at its harbour. The 2011 Cen ...
. He gained victories over
Stuart Kellet,
Kevin Simm
Kevin Ian Simm (born 5 September 1980) is an English pop singer. He won ''The Voice UK'' on 9 April 2016. Simm was in the group Liberty X from 2001 until their split in 2007, and is currently the lead singer of the group Wet Wet Wet.
Early lif ...
and Henny van der Ster before beating Scotland's Don Haughton to qualify. He faced
Scott Waites
Scott Waites (born 17 February 1977) is an English professional darts player who plays in tournaments of the Professional Darts Corporation (PDC). He is a two-time BDO World Darts Champion having won the 2013 tournament and 2016 tournament. ...
in the first round, losing 3–0.
In the
2011 BDO World Darts Championship
The 2011 Lakeside World Professional Darts Championship was the 34th World Championship organised by the British Darts Organisation, and the 26th staging at the Lakeside Country Club at Frimley Green. Martin Adams was the defending men's champ ...
, he beat
Tony O'Shea
Tony O'Shea (born 9 May 1961) is an English professional darts player. His squat figure has resulted in the nickname "Silverback". O'Shea has reached the finals of seven British Darts Organisation (BDO) major darts tournaments, but to date ...
3–1 in the first round and
Willy van de Wiel
Willy van de Wiel (born 15 April 1982) is a Dutch former professional darts player.
BDO career
Van de Wiel won the 2008 Norway Open, beating Dave Chisnall, Stephen Bunting and John Henderson, before beating Paul Hanvidge in the final. He also ...
4–1 in the second round, before losing to eventual champion
Martin Adams
Martin Adams (born 4 June 1956) is an English professional darts player who plays in World Darts Federation (WDF) events. Nicknamed "Wolfie", he is a three-time BDO World Champion and three-time World Masters champion. He represents Cambridgesh ...
1–5 in the quarter finals. It was announced at the end of the 2012 BDO World Championship that Ross would be one of many players to compete in the rival
PDC's 'Q School' the following season. He earned a tour card through the qualifiers
Order of Merit
The Order of Merit (french: link=no, Ordre du Mérite) is an order of merit for the Commonwealth realms, recognising distinguished service in the armed forces, science, art, literature, or for the promotion of culture. Established in 1902 by K ...
. His best result of 2012 came just one week later as he reached the quarter-finals of the second
Players Championship and lost 3–6 to
Justin Pipe
Justin Pipe (born 9 November 1971) is an English former professional darts player who has played in the Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) events. He was a former top 10 player.
Playing career
Pipe was a boxer in his youth, and, as a staunc ...
.
Smith qualified for three of the five new European Tour events, but lost in the first round on each occasion. He came very close to defeating world number 5
Simon Whitlock
Simon Whitlock (born 3 March 1969) is an Australian professional darts player who plays in Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) tournaments, having also played in the British Darts Organisation (BDO) between 2004 and 2009. He uses the nickname T ...
in the third event, the
European Darts Open as he led 5–2, but went on to lose 5–6.
Smith headed into 2013 ranked world number 79, and reached his first semi-final on the PDC tour in April at the seventh
UK Open Qualifier, where he lost 6–3 to
John Part
John Part (born June 29, 1966) is a Canadian former professional darts player and current commentator. Nicknamed Darth Maple, he is a three-times World Champion, having won the 1994 BDO World Darts Championship on his world championship debut, a ...
. At the
UK Open
The Cazoo UK Open is a ranking major darts tournament held annually at the Butlins Minehead Resort by the Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) in England. Often referred to as the "FA Cup of darts", the UK Open replicates the abolition of seedin ...
itself, he fought back from 7–4 down in the third round against
Jelle Klaasen
Jelle Klaasen (born 17 October 1984), nicknamed The Cobra, is a Dutch professional darts player who plays in the Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) and World Darts Federation (WDF) events. In 2006, he became the youngest darts player to win the ...
to level at 7–7, before being edged out 9–7. He threw a
nine-dart finish in the second round of the
Gibraltar Darts Trophy against
Adrian Lewis
Adrian Lewis (born 21 January 1985) is an English professional darts player currently playing in the PDC. He is a two-time PDC World Darts Champion, winning in 2011 and 2012. He is nicknamed Jackpot, as he won a jackpot gambling in Las Vegas ...
, but lost 5–6; this remained the last nine-dart finish achieved on the PDC European Tour until
June 2018. Smith won four events on the PDC Challenge Tour during 2013 to top the Order of Merit which has earned him a place in the
Grand Slam of Darts
The Grand Slam of Darts is a darts tournament organised by the Professional Darts Corporation and is known as the Cazoo Grand Slam of Darts for sponsorship purposes. The PDC also invited the best performing players from its rival, the British Dart ...
and the
2014 World Championship and also a two year PDC tour card which includes all of his 2014 entry fees. In the Grand Slam he lost each of his three games to
Simon Whitlock
Simon Whitlock (born 3 March 1969) is an Australian professional darts player who plays in Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) tournaments, having also played in the British Darts Organisation (BDO) between 2004 and 2009. He uses the nickname T ...
,
Wes Newton
Wesley Newton (born 27 August 1977) is an English professional darts player.
Darts career
Newton's first PDC major was the 2003 UK Open where he lost 8–6 to Mark Thomson in the last 32. He was beaten in the semi-finals of the Eastbourne Op ...
and
Mark Webster to finish bottom of
Group G. He played Whitlock in the first round of the World Championship and was beaten 3–0 in sets.
He began 2014 at 54th place in the rankings meaning he rose 25 positions during the previous year. He lost 9–5 in the third round of the
UK Open
The Cazoo UK Open is a ranking major darts tournament held annually at the Butlins Minehead Resort by the Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) in England. Often referred to as the "FA Cup of darts", the UK Open replicates the abolition of seedin ...
to
Kim Huybrechts
Kim Huybrechts (born 16 November 1985) is a Belgian professional darts player currently playing in Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) events. He made the final of a major TV event, the 2012 Players Championship Finals, losing to Phil Taylor 13 ...
. Smith's only quarter-final showing of the year came at the 19th
Players Championship where he lost 6–3 to
Gerwyn Price
Gerwyn Stephen Price (born 7 March 1985) is a Welsh professional darts player and former professional rugby union and rugby league player. Nicknamed "The Iceman", he competes in events of the Professional Darts Corporation (PDC), where he is cu ...
. He missed out on qualifying for the
2015 World Championship by just £500 on the Pro Tour Order of Merit.
Smith saw off
Kevin Thomas at the
German Darts Championship
The German Darts Championship is a Professional Darts Corporation event that takes place in Germany as part of the PDC European Tour. Since 2013, it has been held at Halle 39 in Hildesheim, after previously being held in Berlin
Berlin ( , ) ...
and came from 4–1 behind against
Peter Wright in the second round to force a deciding leg in which he missed one match dart to lose 6–5. 2015 proved to be a difficult year for Smith as he could only record one more last 32 finish out of the events he played in. Smith explained that the birth of his child and starting a new job had left him with no time to practice.
He fell to 74th on the Order of Merit meaning he needed to enter 2016 Q School. Smith hit a nine darter on the first day and on the final day eliminated seven players, concluding with a 5–4 victory over
Mick McGowan
Michael McGowan (born 1 February 1973) is an Irish professional darts player who last played in events for the British Darts Organisation (BDO).
Career
McGowan last played on the PDC pro tour in the Killarney Pro Tour 1 in October 2013 and his ...
to win a new two-year tour card and stated that his goal was to get in the top 40 in the rankings.
He failed to qualify for the
2016 UK Open
The 2016 Coral UK Open was a darts tournament staged by the Professional Darts Corporation. It was the fourteenth year of the tournament where, following numerous regional qualifying heats throughout Britain, players competing in a single eliminat ...
and reached the last 32 of an event for the only time this year at the fourth
Players Championship event by beating
Peter Wright and
Dennis Smith, before losing 6–2
Rowby-John Rodriguez
Rowby-John Rodriguez (born 27 March 1994) is an Austrian professional darts player currently playing in events of the Professional Darts Corporation (PDC).
Career
In 2010, as a 16-year-old, Rodriguez won the Austrian National Championship by bea ...
. He reached the main draw of the
Gibraltar Darts Trophy and
Austrian Darts Open, but was eliminated in the first round of both.
After 2017, during which he took a break from playing darts, he lost his PDC Tour card.
In 2018 he won his Tour card back and in 2019 he reached the world championship where he defeated
Paul Lim in the first round, but lost to
Daryl Gurney
Daryl Gurney (born 22 March 1986) is a Northern Irish professional darts player who plays in Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) events. Gurney is a winner of two majors, having won the World Grand Prix in 2017 in his native Ireland, and the P ...
in the second round. He also qualified for the UK Open in 2019 where he reached the quarter finals after defeating
Dawson Murschell,
Yordi Meeuwisse
Yordi Meeuwisse (born 31 January 1988) is a Dutch professional darts player who plays for the Professional Darts Corporation events.
Career
BDO
In 2013, Meeuwisse made his television debut at the Zuiderduin Masters. In his first group match h ...
,
Alan Norris,
Steve West and
James Wade
James Martin Wade (born 6 April 1983) is an English professional darts player, currently playing in the Professional Darts Corporation (PDC). He became the youngest player to win a major PDC title, when he won the 2007 World Matchplay at the ...
.
In the same year, he also qualified for
2019 European Championship and he defeated in the first round the first seed and the current world number one,
Michael van Gerwen
Michael van Gerwen (; born 25 April 1989) is a Dutch professional darts player. He is currently ranked number 3 in the world, having been number 1 from 2014 to 2021. He is also a three-time PDC World Champion, having won the title in 2014, 2 ...
5–6. In the second round he lost to
Ricky Evans. For the first time since 2013, he also qualified for
2019 Grand Slam of Darts when he was successful in PDC Qualifying Event. He was unable to win any match in his group that also contained Michael van Gerwen,
Adrian Lewis
Adrian Lewis (born 21 January 1985) is an English professional darts player currently playing in the PDC. He is a two-time PDC World Darts Champion, winning in 2011 and 2012. He is nicknamed Jackpot, as he won a jackpot gambling in Las Vegas ...
and
Jim Williams. For the second time in a row, he also qualified for
2019 Players Championship Finals
The 2019 Ladbrokes Players Championship Finals was the twelfth edition of the PDC darts tournament, which sees the top 64 players from the 30 Players Championship events of 2019 taking part. The tournament took place from 22–24 November 2019 ...
, but he was eliminated in the first round, losing to
Brendan Dolan
Brendan Gabriel Dolan (born 2 August 1973) is a Northern Irish professional darts player from County Fermanagh, Northern Ireland, who plays in Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) events. He is best known for becoming the first player to hit a ...
.
Smith qualified for 2020 PDC World Darts Championship as the 10th highest ranked player via Pro Tour Order of Merit. However, he lost 0–3 to the debutant
Ciaran Teehan from Ireland. After the championship, Smith placed 48th in PDC Order of Merit, his highest year end ranking ever, and secured his Tour card for another season.
He was seeded into the third round of
2020 UK Open, but lost in his first match against
Jamie Lewis
Jamie Lewis (born 8 November 1991) is a Welsh professional darts player who currently plays in Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) and World Darts Federation (WDF) events. His biggest achievement to date was reaching the semi-finals of the 2018 ...
5–6. Even though the European Tour was cut short due to
COVID-19
Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was COVID-19 pandemic in Hubei, identified in Wuhan, China, in December ...
, he qualified for
2020 European Championship, but lost in the deciding leg to
Michael Smith. Smith had his best run in
2020 Players Championship Finals, reaching the third round after wins over
Kim Huybrechts
Kim Huybrechts (born 16 November 1985) is a Belgian professional darts player currently playing in Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) events. He made the final of a major TV event, the 2012 Players Championship Finals, losing to Phil Taylor 13 ...
and
Nathan Aspinall
Nathan Aspinall (born 15 July 1991) is an English professional darts player currently playing in Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) events. He won the 2019 UK Open with a 170 checkout in the final leg against former World Champion Rob Cross.
...
, before losing to
Damon Heta
Damon Heta (born 10 August 1987) is an Australian professional darts player who plays in Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) events. He won the Brisbane Darts Masters in 2019 and also, in pair with Simon Whitlock, World Cup of Darts in 2022. H ...
.
At the end of 2020, he qualified for his third world championship in a row,
2021 PDC World Darts Championship, as fourth highest ranked player from Pro Tour Order of Merit.
In October 2022, Smith reached his first televised major final, defeating
Michael Smith 11–8 to win a first major title at the
2022 European Championship.
During the group stage of the
2022 Grand Slam of Darts, Smith hit nine 180s in his victory over Michael van Gerwen, a record number for a group stage for the Grand Slam. Smith's year ended with a Third Round
World Championship
A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game, ...
defeat to
Dirk van Duijvenbode
Dirk van Duijvenbode (born 30 June 1992) is a Dutch professional darts player who plays in Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) events. He is known for his energetic walk-on, combined with hardstyle music. More recently, he has become known for ...
in a sudden death leg, having missed five match darts. The match featured 31 180s, a record for a best of seven set match, nineteen of which from Smith which equalled the individual record for a match of this format.
[ ]
World Championship results
BDO
* 2009: First round (lost to
Scott Waites
Scott Waites (born 17 February 1977) is an English professional darts player who plays in tournaments of the Professional Darts Corporation (PDC). He is a two-time BDO World Darts Champion having won the 2013 tournament and 2016 tournament. ...
0–3)
* 2011: Quarter-finals (lost to
Martin Adams
Martin Adams (born 4 June 1956) is an English professional darts player who plays in World Darts Federation (WDF) events. Nicknamed "Wolfie", he is a three-time BDO World Champion and three-time World Masters champion. He represents Cambridgesh ...
1–5)
PDC
* 2014: First round (lost to
Simon Whitlock
Simon Whitlock (born 3 March 1969) is an Australian professional darts player who plays in Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) tournaments, having also played in the British Darts Organisation (BDO) between 2004 and 2009. He uses the nickname T ...
0–3)
* 2019: Second round (lost to
Daryl Gurney
Daryl Gurney (born 22 March 1986) is a Northern Irish professional darts player who plays in Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) events. Gurney is a winner of two majors, having won the World Grand Prix in 2017 in his native Ireland, and the P ...
0–3)
* 2020: First round (lost to
Ciaran Teehan 0–3)
* 2021: Second round (lost to
José de Sousa
José Augusto Oliveira de Sousa (born 12 February 1974) is a Portuguese professional darts player. He is based in Tarragona and represented Spain at the 2011 WDF World Cup, but played for the Portuguese team afterwards at the PDC. He won his ...
1–3)
* 2022: Third round (lost to
Dirk van Duijvenbode
Dirk van Duijvenbode (born 30 June 1992) is a Dutch professional darts player who plays in Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) events. He is known for his energetic walk-on, combined with hardstyle music. More recently, he has become known for ...
3–4)
* 2023: Third round (lost to
Dirk van Duijvenbode
Dirk van Duijvenbode (born 30 June 1992) is a Dutch professional darts player who plays in Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) events. He is known for his energetic walk-on, combined with hardstyle music. More recently, he has become known for ...
3–4)
Performance timeline
BDO
PDC
''PDC European Tour''
PDC major finals: 1 (1 title)
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Smith, Ross
1989 births
Living people
Sportspeople from Dover, Kent
People from Deal, Kent
English darts players
European Championship (darts) champions
Professional Darts Corporation current tour card holders