SMITH TARGETS RANKINGS RISE AFTER INJURY STRUGGLES
23/02/2026 By Aaron Nijjar
MICHAEL SMITH admits KINESIO TAPE is helping keep his comeback on track after months of agony.
The former world champion has endured a difficult year at the oche, hampered by injury problems and a long-running battle with arthritis.
‘Bully Boy’ enjoyed his best run on the Euro Tour since last May, reaching the quarter-finals of the Poland Masters before eventually falling to Chris Dobey.
Smith revealed he is finally beginning to reap the rewards of the treatment he underwent late last year but insists he is still not completely pain free.
He said: “Since December, when I had all my injections, I have been practising amazingly and everything has been going really well.
“It is only starting to come out in bits now. I’m not pain free but it’s manageable.
“Whereas before December, before I had the injections, I couldn’t walk for five months.
“I was just sat on the couch and only able to practise when I came to the tournaments. That was a struggle, getting here.
“Now I have kinesio tape strapped on both ankles with the arthritis. It helps, and my arm, my wrist and my shoulder are all fine.
“It feels like it is going in the right direction now.”
World No.31 Smith has booked his place at the Belgian Open and the German Grand Prix after producing a series of impressive performances in qualifying.
Smith is targeting a full schedule on the ProTour and believes he has the confidence and form to start climbing back up the rankings.
He added: “Everything seemed to click in the qualifiers for Belgium. I won my first match with an 88 average and then it was like 98 — there was a 104 in there.
“I feel like now it is starting to come out and I am feeling good again. The plan this year was to enter the first six qualifiers and, if I got through them, I would do the rest.
“I am only missing the second event, so this is going to be massive for me this year. I will try my best to qualify for the remainder of them.
“That is how I got up the rankings in the first place. I got to No.4 in the world without ever making a TV major final.
“I’m confident I will get the job done.”
Image by Taylor Lanning.
