Michael Smith was left ‘fuming’ with himself after his 18-13 loss to Rob Cross made it yet another defeat in a major final for the Bully Boy.
After losing the first nine legs of the match, it looked set to be an embarrassing evening for Smith, but he battled back to make it a thrilling final, taking the score to as close as 15-13 at one stage.
The 28-year-old pockets £70,000 for his run to the final in Blackpool and moves up to world number four as a result, but he still remains without a major trophy to his name and that is starting to rile him.
Smith has now made it to the World Championship, Premier League and Matchplay finals without lifting the title, something he wants to put right as soon as possible.
‘My doubles deserted me tonight. I was constantly chasing and I didn’t turn up,’ said Smith after the final.
‘Even at 9-0 down I still believed that I was going to win, but you pay the price for being 9-0 down. I proved that I can fight but when I got back in it, my doubles disappeared again.
‘My scoring wasn’t there and my finishing wasn’t, but all credit to Rob because he did a job. I’ve made another final and it’s another runner-up trophy but it won’t stop me.
‘I’d rather have got beaten in the first round than lose in that final – it hurts less.
‘I’m fuming – I keep making finals but I don’t want to be “the nearly man”, I want to be the one that wins them.’
Smith ended with a respectable 95.91 average, actually higher than Cross’ 95.16, but it was his poor 29% on the doubles that cost him.
Cross even admitted afterwards that Smith’s woes on the outer ring made concentration difficult for himself.
‘It was a weird game,’ said the champion. ‘I went so far in front and towards the end I switched off, so the double 16 to put me 17-13 up was what won it for me.
‘Michael played great darts all week but he struggled on doubles tonight and it made me more edgy. He came back well but I had to stay calm.
‘The crowd were amazing, they carried me through yesterday and carried Michael today.’
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