The World Matchplay kicks off this weekend at The Winter Gardens in Blackpool but 2023 World Darts Championship winner Michael Smith will not be in attendance for the first time in 12 years.
The third jewel in the coveted ‘Triple Crown’, along with the Premier League and the World Championships, offers the winner a mammoth prize pot of £200,000, with the tournament lasting nine days.
Only Phil Taylor, Michael van Gerwen, Gary Anderson, and Luke Humphries have won all three trophies, with the latter completing the set following his Premier League triumph over Luke Littler earlier this year.
Littler, along with Raymond van Barneveld, will be looking to add himself to the illustrious list with a triumph, taking the title from rival Humphries, who enters the tournament as the defending champion.
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|Luke Humphries is the current defending champion of the World Matchplay
Littler starts his campaign against fellow Briton Ryan Searle on Saturday evening, while Humphries faces the impressive young Dutchman Gian van Veen.
British stars James Wade, Nathan Aspinall, Rob Cross, Stephen Bunting and Chris Dobey also enter the event.
One huge name that won’t make the tournament is Smith, who misses out for the first time since 2012.
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Getty | Luke Littler is looking to win the tournament for the first time, and would make the third successive Englishman to lift the trophy after Luke Humphries (2024) and Nathan Aspinall (2023)Since his historic victory against Michael van Gerwen in the World Championships, including the leg dubbed the ‘greatest of all time’ with both himself and MVG on nine-darters with Bully Boy completing his in spectacular fashion, the former world No1 has endured a torrid time at the oche.
Speaking to Sky Sports, the 34-year-old announced he had been struggling with arthritis in his wrists, something that had gotten worse in recent years.
“I’ve had it for a few years now,” he said. “It was always in winter when it was minus [degrees] and stuff, so I thought it was just the cold that was affecting it, but it has just been getting worse and worse.
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“My wrists start swelling up, and just a constant pain where I can’t bend them. When I went to see the specialist, he said I was restricted a bit in my right wrist, so it wasn’t bending as much as it should, so I’ve got an MRI scan.
“It was a problem even when I was 19, and it was going to catch up with me eventually, and I think it has now.
Bully Boy was insistent that his struggles wouldn’t make him step away from the oche, however, confirming: “It doesn’t affect the amount of practice, I just have to split it up.
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Getty | Michael Smith won the World Championships in 2023, beating Michael van Gerwen in an astonishing encounter“I used to practice for 4/5 hours straight with no stops, now I have to do 20 mins with a five-minute stop. It’s fine, but it is a lot of painkillers.”
The 34-year-old failed to secure a qualification spot for the tournament after falling out of the top 16 in the PDC Order of Merit, who automatically qualify.
Bully Boy didn’t make the Pro Tour Order of Merit either, 16 players who also automatically qualify based on their performance in various tournaments.
Smith, who finished runner-up in the tournament in 2019, needed to reach at least the semi-final of last week’s Players Championship event, but faltered in the first round against Thibault Trickle.
The result marks another blemish on a difficult period for the former World Champion, who has seen his world ranking drop to No21.
Smith’s disappointment demonstrates the prestige and importance of the tournament, which kicks off on Saturday evening with an all-English clash between Wade and Joe Cullen, live on Sky Sports.