Ross Smith is one of the surprise champions of 2022, but with nearly 20 years experience behind him it was no overnight success and he wants plenty more glory now he has got a taste for it.
The 33-year-old won the European Championship in October, stunning Michael Smith to lift the trophy and pocket the £120,000 top prize in his first major final.
In fact, he had only ever been to one major quarter-final in his PDC career, so ‘Ross Smith major champion’ was not on too many bingo cards for 2022, but it has been a slow build for Smudger, and one he can thank his mum for.
‘I started at 14 when I used to go along watch my mum play for Kent darts,’ Smith told Metro.co.uk. ‘I got bored because I didn’t like watching so just got a set and went on the practice board.
‘I got asked to play for Kent youth system and within a year I was in the Kent Men’s A team at 15 playing alongside Andy Fordham. It was strange, in a way, but a dream come true. I watched him win the world title, the next minute I’m in the same side as him, so it did happen quite quick.
‘I’d come home from school and be on the dart board all night. I had a board in the bedroom and I’d stand there throwing darts until my mum and dad told me to shut up because they wanted to go to sleep.’
Despite being a standout talent in youth darts, Smith struggled for success in his first forays onto the PDC circuit as a teenager and ended up putting his arrows down as results were hard to come by and distractions were aplenty.
‘Probably my attitude slowed me down,’ Smith admits. ‘I didn’t have a lot of belief in myself, weirdly. I was never that confident. I knew I could win games, but it was a tough one.
‘Being a young lad, round 18, 19 I was travelling, playing with my friends and you can be led down the wrong path. It was all good fun though. I never took it seriously, which I should have done, that was a big part of it.
‘I wasn’t giving everything 100 per cent concentration. But you get older, mature, you realise you’ve got one shot at it and you’ve got to grasp it.
‘I gave up the game for a bit, had a couple of years out. Not because I was playing bad or anything, I’d had enough. Travelling quite a bit with darts and didn’t really feel like I was getting anywhere.
‘I knew I was good enough to be in the PDC but didn’t feel like I was going to do anything. It got to the point I’d rather be playing pub football then watching the football after with my mates than travelling up to places like Barnsley to play darts. I had no confidence in winning anything.
‘I had family issues as well, my dad was terminally ill, I had a son on the way, I just felt I needed to be more at home. I’m glad I took that step away because if I didn’t I don’t think I’d be where I am today, it would have spiralled out of control.’
Smith’s stint away from darts saw him driving lorries for a living, but on his return to the oche he kept up both jobs in an absolutely gruelling schedule which saw a lot of work and not much sleep.
‘I was professional for about three years. Then moved from Bolton back down to Dover and went back on the lorries, HGV driving,’ he said. ‘I was doing that for a couple of years, but then I came back and worked both jobs together.
‘It was tough, it was 12 hour days on the lorries, new born kid at home, my son Archie. Then driving straight up from work to Barnsley or Wigan, fly here, fly there, it was really difficult and tiring but it was good.
‘It was a year or two of doing both. I used to be up at three or four in the morning, back at six or seven at night. It wasn’t just the driving; get back, fuelling up, cleaning down, commute half an hour each way. Long old days.
‘I’d then go straight to the pub on the way home, round the corner from me. Pull up in my work uniform, all filthy, smelly, then I’d be on the board till about 9pm, just working for a solid couple of hours. Then go home, pass out and be up again at 3am. Hard work.
‘I had so much support from the family, they was all brilliant, so I can’t thank them enough. It is gruelling at times, especially when you’re not winning. The main thing is to stay positive, stay focussed.’
Those days have given Smudger both motivation not to return to them, but also an immense gratitude for what he has now as a full-time professional darts player again.
‘Since I packed in my job again and went full time, I realise what I’ve got now and appreciate it,’ he said. ‘I’ve done the graft outside of darts, not just on lorries, I’ve worked on building sites, supermarkets, any job you can think of. I’ve worked hard, I’ve never not worked, and I feel lucky and privileged to be in the position I’m in.
‘It motivates you, but it keeps your feet on the ground. I hear players saying they don’t want to practice, but I don’t want to get up at three in the morning driving the lorry again.
‘I think the PDC giving dart players that opportunity to earn a good living and support your family though games of darts…I have to pinch myself sometimes, I consider myself extremely lucky. I get to spend time with my little boy in the morning, do the school runs, I’m really grateful for that.’
Smith’s brilliant win at the European Championship also saw him down the likes of Peter Wright, Joe Cullen and Dimitri van den Bergh en route to the title, so he knows full well he can cut it with the cream of the crop.
He does not want that success in Dortmund to be the pinnacle of his career, he has bigger targets to hunt down now and the world number 19 feels more confident than ever in achieving them.
‘I feel like it’s done now,’ he said of European glory. ‘Going into the Worlds there’s always pressure, but that’s going into any tournament. You want to win.
‘That’s good pressure though, not bad pressure. You always want to strive to do better in whatever tournament you’re in. I really want to get in the Premier League for next year, I know I need to have a good run in the World Championships to do that.
‘It would be a privilege to play in it, it would be a dream come true, but I’m realistic, I know there’s players ahead of me. I need to perform at Ally Pally and the Masters to have a chance.
‘It’s a tough one because I think it’s a fine line between being cocky and being confident. I don’t think I’m a cocky person, far from it, but I think the Euros has done me the world of good confidence-wise.
‘At the same time I just want to be Ross and have my friends, enjoy life. But I believe in myself and believe I am a top player.
‘Since I came back into the game I’ve always believed I can be a top 16 player, it’s just never quite been there in terms of consistency. But I just need to keep pushing forwards, you don’t look back, you just keep looking forward.
‘Now I’ve won one, why can’t I win another one? There’s no reason why not. I’m trying to get in the Premier League, the top 16, the top 4, there’s always a goal.’
Smith takes on Darius Labanauskas in the second round of the PDC World Darts Championship in the afternoon session on 23 December.
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