BRILLIANT BULLY BOY MARCHES ON
01/03/2025 By Aaron Nijjar
By Aaron Nijjar
MICHAEL SMITH continued his impressive start to the UK Open by dispatching Madars Razma 10-7.
‘Bully Boy’ sealed the win in style by hitting a sensational 164 checkout.
The former World champion beat Kevin Doets in Round Four and averaged a stellar 95 in a comfortable 10-6 victory.
World No.19 Smith will now face defending champion Dimitri van den Bergh for a place in the Quarter-final.
Reflecting on his victory, Smith acknowledged his early dominance but credited Razma for making the contest competitive.
He said: “I started the match well, I was 5-1 up. He crawled it back, and then I won the next four.
“But that 164 at the end was beautiful, wasn’t it?”
Despite his success, Smith remains grounded about his expectations at the tournament after battling multiple injuries in recent months.
He said: “I like it. There is no pressure on me. I’m not good enough to get on Stage Two or One. But look here—these fans are amazing. Even yesterday and today, they have been unreal.
“I’m sad I didn’t hit the nine-darter when I was on for it, but it’ll come.
“For the last 16 weeks, I’ve had an injury on my shoulder being a fool on the scooters with my kids. I’ve got a Grade 2 AC joint injury in my shoulder. Obviously, the arthritis in my hand.”
With limited practice, Smith admitted he only picked up his darts again just before the Winmau World Masters, leading to an amusing mishap at home.
The St Helens ace laughingly admitted: “I didn’t throw a dart before until the day before the Masters. The first one I threw, I put a hole in the new mural on the wall!”
However, Smith has shown signs of returning to top form, averaging 95 in both of his matches at the major.
He said: “To come back now and average 95 every game—I know it’s not great, but I know I’ve still got another 10 to 15 points to put on top of that.
“I’m starting to feel happy again now. I know my game is coming back. Just winning matches like that for my confidence—it’s one step in the right direction.”
Smith will now face defending champion Dimitri Van den Bergh today (Saturday) in Round Six.
Image by Kieran Cleeves.
