Michael Smith's darts 'a criminal offence' as star is dumped out of Players Championship

Darts fans have urged Michael Smith to change his arrows ahead of his world title defence following a lacklustre first-round exit at the Players Championship Finals.

Smith has endured a disappointing year since capturing the world title in memorable fashion by beating Michael van Gerwen at Alexandra Palace in January. Bully Boy, of course, hit a nine-darter in the greatest leg in the sport’s history that night.

But that devastating form was nowhere to be seen as he struggled desperately against Dutch battler Richard Veenstra, who took a 6-3 win despite not exactly lighting up the oche himself. Smith changed darts midway through this year, moving to Shot from long-time supplier Unicorn.

And some fans reckon Smith should bite the bullet and revert back to his old equipment to revive his hopes of retaining his world crown. One said: “These darts Smith is using are a criminal offence to darts, really really needs to change them.”

Another urged: “Get back to your old darts @Michael180Smith.” A second added: “Smith must regret changing darts, he’s seriously struggling.” A fourth agreed, posting: “Needs to go back to his old darts sharpish!”

Explaining his decision to change darts, Smith insisted he wasn’t worried about a potential lean period as he got used to his new arrows. He told Online Darts TV in July: “No, as long as I’m mentally right and prepared. And in the game, I think I’m one of the mentally strongest. Hopefully I can do what Adrian Lewis did, win the world championship with one company, switch darts, and then win it again.”

However, Smith will head to the Ally Pally showpiece, which begins on December 15, behind the likes of Gerwyn Price and World Grand Prix and Grand Slam champion Luke Humphries in the bookies’ odds. Straight after Smith was dumped out by Veenstra at Minehead Butlin’s, Price destroyed Ricky Evans 6-0 in just 10 minutes.