# Ross Smith (darts player)

Ross Smith (born 12 January 1989) is an English professional darts player who competes in Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) events, where he is currently ranked world number eighteen; he reached a peak ranking of world number nine in 2024. Nicknamed "Smudger", Smith won his first PDC major title at the 2022 European Championship, defeating Michael Smith 11–8 in the final. He reached his second major semi-final at the 2024 Players Championship Finals. Smith has won a total of five PDC ranking titles in his professional career.
Smith was a one-time quarter-finalist in the British Darts Organisation's BDO World Darts Championship, reaching the last four at the 2011 event.

## Career

Smith began playing in Professional Darts Corporation events in 2005 and made his debut in the Vauxhall Spring Open, reaching the last 16. Smith then reached the final of the WDF Europe Youth Cup, losing to Dutchman Johnny Nijs. Smith had little success afterwards on the PDC circuit and switched to the BDO in 2007. He reached the last 16 of the 2008 British Classic and the 2008 Czech Open.
Smith qualified for the 2009 BDO World Darts Championship, winning one of five places in the qualifiers in Bridlington. He gained victories over Stuart Kellet, Kevin Simm and Henny van der Ster before beating Scotland's Don Haughton to qualify. He faced Scott Waites in the first round, losing 3–0.
In the 2011 BDO World Darts Championship, he beat Tony O'Shea 3–1 in the first round and Willy van de Wiel 4–1 in the second round, before losing to eventual champion Martin Adams 1–5 in the quarter finals. It was announced at the end of the 2012 BDO World Championship that Ross would be one of many players to compete in the rival PDC's 'Q School' the following season. He earned a tour card through the qualifiers Order of Merit. His best result of 2012 came just one week later as he reached the quarter-finals of the second Players Championship and lost to Justin Pipe 6–3. Smith qualified for three of the five new European Tour events, but lost in the first round on each occasion. He came very close to defeating world number 5 Simon Whitlock in the third event, the 2012 European Darts Open as he led 5–2, but went on to lose 6–5.
Smith headed into 2013 ranked world number 79, and reached his first semi-final on the PDC tour in April at the seventh UK Open Qualifier, where he lost 6–3 to John Part. At the UK Open itself, he fought back from 7–4 down in the third round against Jelle Klaasen to level at 7–7, before being edged out 9–7. He threw a nine-dart finish in the second round of the 2013 Gibraltar Darts Trophy against Adrian Lewis, but lost 6–5; this remained the last nine-dart finish achieved on the PDC European Tour until June 2018. Smith won four events on the PDC Challenge Tour during 2013 to top the Order of Merit which has earned him a place in the Grand Slam of Darts and the 2014 World Championship and also a two-year PDC tour card which includes all of his 2014 entry fees. In the Grand Slam he lost each of his three games to Simon Whitlock, Wes Newton and Mark Webster to finish bottom of Group G. He played Whitlock in the first round of the World Championship and was beaten 3–0 in sets.
He began 2014 at 54th place in the rankings meaning he rose 25 positions during the previous year. He lost 9–5 in the third round of the UK Open to Kim Huybrechts. Smith's only quarter-final showing of the year came at the 19th Players Championship where he lost 6–3 to Gerwyn Price. He missed out on qualifying for the 2015 World Championship by just £500 on the Pro Tour Order of Merit.
Smith saw off Kevin Thomas at the German Darts Championship and came from 4–1 behind against Peter Wright in the second round to force a deciding leg in which he missed one match dart to lose 6–5. 2015 proved to be a difficult year for Smith as he could only record one more last 32 finish out of the events he played in. Smith explained that the birth of his child and starting a new job had left him with no time to practice. He fell to 74th on the Order of Merit meaning he needed to enter 2016 Q School. Smith hit a nine darter on the first day and on the final day eliminated seven players, concluding with a 5–4 victory over Mick McGowan to win a new two-year tour card and stated that his goal was to get in the top 40 in the rankings.
He failed to qualify for the 2016 UK Open and reached the last 32 of an event for the only time this year at the fourth Players Championship event by beating Peter Wright and Dennis Smith, before losing 6–2 Rowby-John Rodriguez. He reached the main draw of the Gibraltar Darts Trophy and Austrian Darts Open, but was eliminated in the first round of both. After 2017, during which he took a break from playing darts, he lost his PDC Tour card.
In 2018 he won his Tour card back and in 2019 he reached the world championship where he defeated Paul Lim in the first round, but lost to Daryl Gurney in the second round. He also qualified for the UK Open in 2019 where he reached the quarter finals after defeating Dawson Murschell, Yordi Meeuwisse, Alan Norris, Steve West and James Wade.
In the same year, he also qualified for 2019 European Championship and he defeated in the first round the first seed and the current world number one, Michael van Gerwen 5–6. In the second round he lost to Ricky Evans. For the first time since 2013, he also qualified for 2019 Grand Slam of Darts when he was successful in PDC Qualifying Event. He was unable to win any match in his group that also contained Michael van Gerwen, Adrian Lewis and Jim Williams. For the second time in a row, he also qualified for 2019 Players Championship Finals, but he was eliminated in the first round, losing to Brendan Dolan.
Smith qualified for 2020 PDC World Darts Championship as the 10th highest ranked player via Pro Tour Order of Merit. However, he lost 0–3 to the debutant Ciaran Teehan from Ireland. After the championship, Smith placed 48th in PDC Order of Merit, his highest year end ranking ever, and secured his Tour card for another season. He was seeded into the third round of 2020 UK Open, but lost in his first match against Jamie Lewis 5–6. Even though the European Tour was cut short due to COVID-19, he qualified for 2020 European Championship, but lost in the deciding leg to Michael Smith. Smith had his best run in 2020 Players Championship Finals, reaching the third round after wins over Kim Huybrechts and Nathan Aspinall, before losing to Damon Heta.
At the end of 2020, he qualified for his third world championship in a row, 2021 PDC World Darts Championship, as fourth highest ranked player from Pro Tour Order of Merit.
In October 2022, Smith reached his first televised major final, defeating Michael Smith 11–8 to win a first major title at the 2022 European Championship. During the group stage of the 2022 Grand Slam of Darts, Smith hit nine 180s in his victory over Michael van Gerwen, a record number for a group stage for the Grand Slam. Smith's year ended with a third round World Championship defeat to Dirk van Duijvenbode in a sudden death leg, having missed five match darts. The match featured 31 180s, a record for a best of 7 sets match, nineteen of which from Smith which equalled the individual record for a match of this format.
Smith won a second PDC ProTour title in March 2023 with victory at Players Championship 5, defeating Gary Anderson 8–6 in the final. The win took him into the Order of Merit's top 16 for the first time in his career. He won a second ProTour title of the year in October 2023 at Players Championship 28, ensuring his position as the third-most in form player in the world over the previous 200 legs played ahead of his European Championship title defence in Germany.
At the 2024 European Darts Grand Prix, Smith survived ten match darts across the tournament as he reached a first European Tour final, where he lost 8–6 to Gary Anderson. He won a first title of the year at PC13. Smith reached the last 16 at the 2024 World Grand Prix, after defeating Gian van Veen 2–0 in sets in the first round.
At the 2024 Players Championship Finals held in November, Smith reached his second televised ranking semi-final, after beating Scott Williams 10–3 in legs in the quarter-finals.
At the 2025 PDC World Darts Championship, Smith suffered a shock exit as he was defeated 3–0 by Paolo Nebrida in the second round.

## World Championship results
### BDO

* 2009: First round (lost to Scott Waites 0–3)
* 2011: Quarter-finals (lost to Martin Adams 1–5)

### PDC

* 2014: First round (lost to Simon Whitlock 0–3)
* 2019: Second round (lost to Daryl Gurney 0–3)
* 2020: First round (lost to Ciaran Teehan 0–3)
* 2021: Second round (lost to José de Sousa 1–3)
* 2022: Third round (lost to Dirk van Duijvenbode 3–4)
* 2023: Third round (lost to Dirk van Duijvenbode 3–4)
* 2024: Third round (lost to Chris Dobey 2–4)
* 2025: Second round (lost to Paolo Nebrida 0–3)

## Career finals
### PDC major finals: 1 (1 title)

* Legend
* European Championship (1–0)
| Outcome | No. | Year | Championship | Opponent in the final | Score | Ref. |
| Winner | 1. | 2022 | European Championship | Michael Smith | 11–8 (l) | |
* ↑ (l) = score in legs, (s) = score in sets.

## Performance timeline

BDO
| Tournament | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 |
| BDO World Championship | 1R | DNQ | QF | DNQ |
| Winmau World Masters | 3R | PR | 4R | DNP |
PDC
| Tournament | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 |
| PDC World Championship | DNQ | DNQ | 1R | Did not qualify | Did not qualify | Did not qualify | Did not qualify | 2R | 1R | 2R | 3R | 3R | 3R | 2R |
| World Masters | Did not qualify | Did not qualify | Did not qualify | Did not qualify | Did not qualify | Did not qualify | Did not qualify | Did not qualify | Did not qualify | Did not qualify | Did not qualify | 2R | 1R | 1R |
| UK Open | Prel. | 3R | 3R | Did not qualify | Did not qualify | Did not qualify | Did not qualify | QF | 3R | 3R | 3R | 4R | 5R | 5R |
| World Matchplay | Did not qualify | Did not qualify | Did not qualify | Did not qualify | Did not qualify | Did not qualify | Did not qualify | Did not qualify | Did not qualify | 1R | DNQ | 1R | QF | |
| World Grand Prix | Did not qualify | Did not qualify | Did not qualify | Did not qualify | Did not qualify | Did not qualify | Did not qualify | Did not qualify | Did not qualify | 2R | 2R | 2R | 2R | |
| European Championship | Did not qualify | Did not qualify | Did not qualify | Did not qualify | Did not qualify | Did not qualify | Did not qualify | 2R | 1R | DNQ | W | 1R | 1R | |
| Grand Slam of Darts | DNQ | RR | Did not qualify | Did not qualify | Did not qualify | Did not qualify | Did not qualify | RR | DNQ | DNQ | 2R | DNQ | 2R | |
| Players Championship Finals | Did not qualify | Did not qualify | Did not qualify | Did not qualify | Did not qualify | Did not qualify | 1R | 1R | 3R | 2R | 2R | 2R | SF | |
| Non-ranked televised events |||||||||||||||
| World Series of Darts Finals | Not held | Not held | Not held | Did not qualify | Did not qualify | Did not qualify | 1R | DNQ | DNQ | DNQ | DNQ | DNQ | 1R | |
| Career statistics |||||||||||||||
| Year-end ranking | 92 | 54 | 51 | 83 | 121 | 160 | 62 | 48 | 41 | 33 | 17 | 17 | 21 | |
PDC European Tour
| Season | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 |
| 2012 | ADO 1R | GDC DNQ | EDO 1R | GDM DNQ | DDM 1R |
| 2013 | UKM 1R | EDT 2R | EDO DNQ | ADO 3R | GDT 2R | GDC DNQ | GDM 1R | DDM 2R |
| 2014 | GDC DNQ | DDM DNQ | GDM 1R | ADO DNQ | GDT DNQ | EDO DNQ | EDG DNQ | EDT 2R |
| 2015 | GDC 2R | GDT DNQ | GDM DNQ | DDM DNQ | IDO DNQ | EDO DNQ | EDT DNQ | EDM DNQ | EDG DNP |
| 2016 | DDM DNQ | GDM DNQ | GDT 1R | EDM DNQ | ADO 1R | EDO DNQ | IDO DNQ | EDT DNQ | EDG DNP | GDC DNP |
| 2017 | Did not play | Did not play | Did not play | Did not play | Did not play | Did not play | Did not play | Did not play | Did not play | Did not play | Did not play | Did not play |
| 2018 | EDO DNQ | GDG DNQ | GDO DNQ | ADO DNQ | EDG DNQ | DDM DNQ | GDT 2R | DDO DNP | EDM DNQ | GDC 1R | DDC 3R | IDO 2R | EDT DNQ |
| 2019 | EDO 3R | GDC DNQ | GDG 3R | GDO DNQ | ADO 1R | EDG 2R | DDM 1R | DDO DNQ | CDO DNQ | ADC 1R | EDM 1R | IDO DNQ | GDT DNQ |
| 2020 | BDC DNQ | GDC DNQ | EDG DNQ | IDO QF |
| 2021 | HDT 2R | GDT DNQ |
| 2022 | IDO DNQ | GDC DNQ | GDG DNQ | ADO 2R | EDO DNQ | CDO QF | EDG DNQ | DDC 2R | EDM DNQ | HDT DNQ | GDO QF | BDO 2R | GDT DNQ |
| 2023 | BSD DNQ | EDO 3R | IDO 2R | GDG 2R | ADO DNQ | DDC 2R | BDO 1R | CDO 2R | EDG SF | EDM 2R | GDO 2R | HDT 2R | GDC 3R |
| 2024 | BDO 2R | GDG 3R | IDO QF | EDG F | ADO SF | BSD 3R | DDC 2R | EDO F | GDC 2R | FDT 3R | HDT SF | SDT 3R | CDO 2R |
| 2025 | BDO SF | EDT | IDO | GDG | ADO | EDG | DDC | EDO | BSD | FDT | CDO | HDT | SDT | GDC |
PDC Players Championships
| Season | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 |
| 2012 | ALI 1R | ALI QF | REA 1R | REA 2R | CRA DNP | CRA DNP | BIR 3R | BIR 2R | CRA 1R | CRA 1R | BAR 1R | BAR 2R | DUB 1R | DUB DNP | KIL 1R | KIL 1R | CRA 1R | CRA 2R | BAR 3R | BAR 1R |
| 2013 | WIG 2R | WIG 1R | WIG 2R | WIG 1R | CRA 2R | CRA 2R | BAR 3R | BAR 1R | DUB 2R | DUB 1R | KIL PR | KIL 2R | WIG 1R | WIG 2R | BAR 3R | BAR 1R |
| 2014 | BAR 1R | BAR 1R | CRA 1R | CRA 2R | WIG 3R | WIG 2R | WIG 2R | WIG 3R | CRA 1R | CRA 1R | COV 1R | COV 2R | CRA 1R | CRA 1R | DUB 3R | DUB 2R | CRA 4R | CRA 1R | COV QF | COV 4R |
| 2015 | BAR 2R | BAR 1R | BAR 1R | BAR 1R | BAR 2R | COV 2R | COV 2R | COV 1R | CRA 2R | CRA 3R | BAR 2R | BAR 1R | WIG 1R | WIG 1R | BAR DNP | BAR DNP | DUB 1R | DUB 1R | COV 1R | COV 2R |
| 2016 | BAR 2R | BAR 2R | BAR 2R | BAR 3R | BAR 1R | BAR 1R | BAR 1R | COV 1R | COV 1R | BAR 1R | BAR 1R | BAR DNP | BAR DNP | BAR DNP | BAR DNP | BAR DNP | DUB DNP | DUB DNP | BAR DNP | BAR 2R |
| 2017 | BAR DNP | BAR DNP | BAR DNP | BAR DNP | MIL DNP | MIL DNP | BAR DNP | BAR DNP | WIG 1R | WIG DNP | MIL DNP | MIL DNP | WIG DNP | WIG DNP | BAR DNP | BAR DNP | BAR DNP | BAR DNP | DUB DNP | DUB DNP | BAR DNP | BAR DNP |
| 2018 | BAR 2R | BAR 2R | BAR 1R | BAR 2R | MIL 1R | MIL 1R | BAR 2R | BAR 1R | WIG 2R | WIG 2R | MIL 3R | MIL 1R | WIG 2R | WIG 3R | BAR 3R | BAR 1R | BAR 4R | BAR 1R | DUB 4R | DUB 1R | BAR 2R | BAR 2R |
| 2019 | WIG 1R | WIG 1R | WIG 2R | WIG 2R | BAR 4R | BAR 3R | WIG 4R | WIG 1R | BAR 4R | BAR 2R | BAR 2R | BAR 2R | BAR 3R | BAR 2R | BAR 1R | BAR 3R | WIG 2R | WIG 4R | BAR 2R | BAR 1R | HIL 1R | HIL 1R | BAR 2R | BAR 3R | BAR 1R | BAR QF | DUB 2R | DUB 1R | BAR 3R | BAR 1R |
| 2020 | BAR 4R | BAR QF | WIG 2R | WIG 3R | WIG 1R | WIG 1R | BAR 1R | BAR 1R | MIL 3R | MIL 1R | MIL 2R | MIL 1R | MIL 2R | NIE 2R | NIE 4R | NIE QF | NIE QF | NIE 1R | COV 2R | COV 3R | COV 4R | COV 2R | COV 1R |
| 2021 | BOL 2R | BOL 2R | BOL 2R | BOL 1R | MIL 1R | MIL 1R | MIL 1R | MIL 2R | NIE 4R | NIE F | NIE 2R | NIE 1R | MIL 1R | MIL 4R | MIL 1R | MIL 3R | COV 3R | COV 1R | COV W | COV 1R | BAR 3R | BAR 2R | BAR 2R | BAR 2R | BAR 3R | BAR 4R | BAR F | BAR 3R | BAR 3R | BAR 2R |
| 2022 | BAR 3R | BAR 1R | WIG 1R | WIG 1R | BAR 2R | BAR 1R | NIE 1R | NIE 1R | BAR 1R | BAR 4R | BAR 1R | BAR 1R | BAR 2R | WIG 4R | WIG 1R | NIE 2R | NIE 4R | BAR 2R | BAR 1R | BAR 2R | BAR 3R | BAR 1R | BAR 1R | BAR 4R | BAR 3R | BAR 1R | BAR 1R | BAR QF | BAR 1R | BAR 4R |
| 2023 | BAR 2R | BAR 2R | BAR 4R | BAR 1R | BAR W | BAR QF | HIL 2R | HIL QF | WIG 2R | WIG 1R | LEI 1R | LEI 1R | HIL 1R | HIL 4R | LEI 1R | LEI 1R | HIL 3R | HIL 1R | BAR QF | BAR 4R | BAR QF | BAR 2R | BAR 4R | BAR 1R | BAR 3R | BAR 2R | BAR 4R | BAR W | BAR 4R | BAR 4R |
| 2024 | WIG 3R | WIG 2R | LEI 3R | LEI 1R | HIL SF | HIL SF | LEI SF | LEI 2R | HIL 1R | HIL 2R | HIL 2R | HIL 2R | MIL W | MIL 2R | MIL 2R | MIL 4R | MIL SF | MIL QF | MIL 4R | WIG 1R | WIG 2R | LEI 1R | LEI 3R | WIG 4R | WIG 1R | WIG 1R | WIG DNP | WIG DNP | LEI 4R | LEI 1R |
| 2025 | WIG 4R | WIG SF | ROS 2R | ROS 1R | LEI 3R | LEI SF | HIL | HIL | LEI | LEI | LEI | LEI | ROS | ROS | HIL | HIL | LEI | LEI | LEI | HIL | HIL | MIL | MIL | MIL | HIL | HIL | LEI | LEI | LEI | WIG | WIG | WIG | WIG | WIG |
* ↑ Not a Tour card holder
Performance Table Legend :
| W | Won the tournament | F | Finalist | SF | Semifinalist | QF | Quarterfinalist | #R RR Prel. | Lost in # round Round-robin Preliminary round | DQ | Disqualified |
| DNQ | Did not qualify | DNP | Did not participate | WD | Withdrew | NH | Tournament not held | #R RR Prel. | Lost in # round Round-robin Preliminary round | NYF | Not yet founded |