Michael Smith, the 2023 PDC World Champion, continued a miserable year by failing to qualify the this weekend’s World Matchplay in Blackpool.
It’s the first time in 12 years that the 34-year-old will have failed to make it to the oche, after performing badly in the Players Championship 21.
Needing to make at least the last four of that Leicester-based tournament ‘Bully Boy’, as he is known, went out in the first round to Thibault Tricole and misses another chance to lift the World Matchplay for the first time.
Although his best finish at Blackpool was when runner-up to Rob Cross in the 2019 final, it’s been taken as read that he’d be there each year, along with many of the big names from the sport.
Just two years after being the world’s number one player, Smith will miss out, his ranking now as low as 21. He could drop even lower than that, depending on how others perform on the west coast.
Smith’s fall from grace has amazed fellow archer Matt Edgar, who said on his YouTube channel Edgar TV: “Most surprisingly, the number one seed from two years ago hasn’t qualified. Crazy, I know.
"I still can’t believe this: two years ago, Michael Smith was the number one seed at the World Matchplay. Now, he’s not even in the event. How does that happen? It’s madness.
"The prize money from that run – where he reached the second round – is now coming off. He beat Steve Beaton 10-2, then lost a high-quality game 11-10 to Chris Dobey.
“That means £15,000 comes off Smith’s ranking, and that could drop him down to world number 23 by the end of this event. It could be even lower depending on results. Just let that sink in – from world number one to world number 23 in two years."
However, Edgar did have a positive outlook for Smith, adding: “(he) could definitely turn it around – he’s got the quality, a former world champion and multiple-time winner.
“He could easily get back into the top 16 next year with a form turnaround and the prize money cycle shifting."
