Premier League Dart: Michael Smith redemption win comes after truth behind PDC exit revealed

Michael Smith’s victory may have come as surprise to his opponents on Thursday. The St Helens ace emerged as victor on the first night of the new Premier League Darts season. And Bully Boy finally looked like his old self.

Its no secret Smith has had a rough couple of months in the darts world. He was unable to retain his PDC World Darts Championship, being eliminated before the quarter-final stage. He then failed to win the Bahrain or Dutch Masters, only making it to the semi-final.

Following his 4-0 defeat to Chris Dobney at the World Championship, Smith revealed it all to Rob Cross about his shock elimination.

The 2018 PDC World Darts Champion said: “Mike said that he didn't really practise. He really enjoyed being world champion and rightfully so. Knowing what I know now, I would have enjoyed it ten times more. But at the same time it's hard because you have minimal days at home with your family.

Cross told LuckyBlock.com: "If you haven't quite put enough practice in, for me anyway, I struggle sometimes just to find my form. I think it's very tough with the calendar. He’ll be calming down this year, I think we'll start to watch him come on and he'll be back to where he was.”