Michael Smith fired up by Stephen Bunting ’embarrass him’ taunts in QF win
Michael Smith finger-painted the Red V of rugby league's Grand Final champions across his chest after being crowned king of St Helens – now he wants to rule the world.
But as 'Bully Boy' stumbled into the the Cazoo PDC World Championship semi-finals, there was more needle than a knitting circle in his 5-3 win against fellow St Helens resident Stephen Bunting. Smith revealed he had been fired up to humiliate the 'Bullet' after being sent video clips of Bunting shouting the odds and chuntering: “I wanted to embarrass him.”
Bunting outgunned the two-time finalist 14-6 on maximums, and if he hadn't missed 44 of his 58 darts at a double, it would have been a different story.
READ MORE: Stephen Bunting clearly regrets avoiding double just seconds before Michael Smith wins QF
From 4-1 down, the 2014 Lakeside world champion launched a thrilling fightback and was threatening to force a decider when Smith pulled out of his nosedive and sank double 10 to reach the last four.
But in this St Helens derby, there was no love lost. Smith said: “I got sent a lot of videos of Stephen saying he has been playing well, he has been watching me.
“People who know me know I don’t watch darts. On New Year’s Eve, I watched films of Stuart Little and Aquaman – not Stephen.
“I went on that stage and I wanted to embarrass him. I told myself, ‘Why does he even think he has a chance?’
“I wanted to embarrass him off the board. It didn’t go to plan but I managed to fall over the line and you never write off a Saint – that's why I made that gesture with the V towards my kids when I was celebrating at the end.
“I think I'm the best player in St Helens, but it would have been a different story if I had lost to Bunting. I haven't got previous with anybody, but at the European Championship when I played Josh Rock, the bookies made him favourite and I thought, 'Hang on, I'm No.4 in the world.'
“And before this game, Bunting made a few comments on Sky – I was sent clips by my missus, my dad, loads of people telling me to show who you are and what you're about. The stats show how badly I played, but I'm in the semi-finals again.”
Smith, 32, is through to the last four without setting the world alight at Ally Pally after making a false start to 2023
“My New Year resolution was that I'm not going to sleep in any more – I want to turn up with more energy – so I set the alarm for 8am and woke up at 9.10, so my resolution bit the dust nine hours later.”
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