For most sportsmen and women, no matter what their chosen vocation, winning a World Championship is the absolute pinnacle of their career.
It can be hard to find the motivation to reach those same heights again for some, while having a metaphorical ‘target’ on your back also means that opponents tend to prepare that little bit harder for games against you – only adding to the complexity for a reigning world champion.
Michael Smith has found 2023 tough by his own impeccable standards – winning the World Darts Championship in January has been followed by precious little since.
But ‘Bully Boy’ remains one of the most naturally-gifted throwers in the sport, so can he upset the formbook – and the history books – at the Alexandra Palace this December and January?
Starting Again
At World Darts odds of +1000, you already get a good idea of Smith’s perceived drop-off in fortunes – the likes of the in-form Luke Humphries (+300), Michael van Gerwen (+350) and Gerwyn Price (+550) are considered more likely protagonists in the Darts World Championship winner odds.
And with good reason – Smith’s form since the summer has not been great. A first-round exit from the Players Championship Finals, the last of the pre-Worlds events, followed similarly premature exits at the Grand Slam, the European Championship, and the World Series of Darts Finals.
A change in darts, switching to a new manufacturer, has been cited as one potential cause of his malaise, although Smith himself has been quick to shoot down any such claims.
He will need to find a solution fast, as his first opponent at the World Championships could be Stowe Buntz, the colorful American who reached the quarter-finals of the Grand Slam in his televised debut. If he returns to London in similar form, he will prove to be more than a handful for Smith.
The bracket draw has done Bully Boy few favors, with Chris Dobey and Ross Smith potential third-round opponents and Rob Cross and Jonny Clayton also lurking in that section of the draw.
And Smith would then likely have to overcome one of Price, Peter Wright, or Gary Anderson in the semi-finals, so his path to a world title defence is littered with almighty challenges.
Upsetting the Odds
As if his draw wasn’t tough enough, the 33-year-old will also have to overcome a peculiar pattern that is fast becoming a hoodoo for reigning world champions.
Only one – Anderson in 2016 – has been able to successfully defend their world title in the past decade, with Adrian Lewis and the legendary Phil Taylor the only other players to do likewise since the formation of the PDC in 1994.
As if that wasn’t enough, only Anderson, Lewis, Taylor, Smith, van Gerwen and Dennis Priestley have made it to back-to-back finals in nearly 30 years of action, which goes to show how difficult the assignment is courtesy of the sport’s incredible strength in depth.
So the formbook is not on Smith’s side, and neither is the historic fates of previous world champions either. But given his maximum-hitting prowess, only a fool would write off the Bully Boy from bucking the trend…
