Michael Smith debated kicking his family out of the arena during his Grand Slam of Darts final victory over Nathan Aspinall. Smith finally got over the line in a major event after brushing Aspinall aside with a thumping 16-5 win.
Smith dominated the clash from the very off, and showed his very best on the Wolverhampton stage having previously beaten darts legend Raymond van Barneveld earlier in the afternoon. His victory over Aspinall ended a run of eight final defeats at major events.
And with the Englishman keen to finally end his duck, Smith joked about removing his family from the crowd, which he had already done in the semi-final a few hours prior.
Speaking after his victory, he said: "They were banned for semis because every time I made the semis [and they were there] I got beat. They then came down for the final. The way it started off, I thought ‘they’re going!’.
"I told Junior [one of his sons] to shut up twice because he was screaming! But I started to find my feet a bit and my doubles were pretty good. Then my scoring started to come in and my doubles didn’t disappear.
And it is good to have them there to witness that because it wouldn’t have been nice them being at home and me here celebrating on my own.” It was no doubt an emotional evening for Smith, who finally got his hands on major crown at the ninth time of asking.
Discussing what the win meant to him, 'Bullyboy' commented: "It is hard when you’re the only person in the top 10 [of the rankings] not to win a [major] title. I’ve been there in the top 10 for six or seven years and it does get to be a pain in the a*** when people keep asking ‘when are you going to win one?’ and you get beat in another [final].
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"Now I don’t have to keep telling myself ‘I’m going to win one’. I can now say ‘I’m going to win two, three and four’. Look what this tournament did for [Gerwyn] Price when he won his first one, he went on to become a world champion.
"[Michael] Van Gerwen when he won the Grand Prix [for the first time in 2012]… I was never going to start with the Grand Prix because I can’t get past the first round! But now it’s my time.”
