Smith ready to “grab it with both hands” if handed Premier League call-up

ROSS SMITH says he is ready to “grab it with both hands” if handed a Premier League call-up after ending Luke Littler’s remarkable major-event run.

The world No14 produced the biggest win of his career by thrashing Gerwyn Price 11-5 to lift the World Series Finals title in Amsterdam.

Smith, 37, became the first player other than Littler to win a PDC Premier event since the European Championship last October.

Smudger has had a stunning year which has seen him win two European Tour titles and two Players Championship crowns.

The Dover thrower currently sits fourth in the year-to-date Order of Merit picking up a whopping £266,000 and believes his recent consistency makes him a contender for the Premier League.

He said: “Yeah, I think I have, but at the same time, you know, lesson learned from last time. We're only halfway through the season. We've got all the majors coming up.

“I'm not going to sit here and lie. Of course, I want to be in it. If you give me the opportunity, I'm going to grab it with both hands and I won't play like I did in the World Series.

“But honestly, it's a privilege to play this game and if I get a call-up, then fantastic. I think I'm ready, but that's not up to me, is it? It's out of my hands.

“All I can do is keep doing what I'm doing, keep performing and yeah, I just want to keep picking up titles and yeah, money.

“I love playing in Europe, more so than England by the looks of it. I do rubbish in England.

“But no, everything's going well. I can't grumble at all. I love playing in Europe.”

But Smith knows he still needs to keep grinding out results during a huge back end to the year and climb further up the rankings if he is to earn a place in the weekly invitational tournament.

He added: “The only way I am getting in that is top four maybe something like that.

“Hopefully they won’t change the rules. I’ll just keep my head down and keep working bloody hard.”

Smith has also switched up his walk-on this year, ditching his old Red Light Spells Danger entrance for Fleetwood Mac’s Go Your Own Way.

A journalist pointed out that his mum was a big fan of his old tune and asked why he had decided to change it.

He continued: “I've just got a bit bored. I got a bit bored, so I thought I'd spruce it up a little bit.

“But if your mom's got any other recommendations, I'm all ears. So as long as it's not Frank Sinatra, I'm all ears.”

Words: Aaron Nijjar

Image: Taylor Lanning