Darts star who hit two nine-darters in a day ‘looks at HGV jobs’ | Other | Sport
Darts star Ross Smith has an unusual method when dealing with a loss of form that revolves around looking for HGV driving jobs. The 37-year-old certainly won’t be browsing for lorry shifts anytime soon after winning his seventh career Players Championship title last month.
‘Smudger’ comprehensively defeated Chris Dobey 8-2 in the final, but it was his oche heroics in the run-up to the match that demonstrated the sheer confidence Smith was playing with. Amid a stunning 24 consecutive legs won en route to lifting his eighth PDC ranking title, the Dover thrower hit a remarkable two nine-darters in the same day.
He first hit the perfect leg in his opening round clash against Dylan Slevin, which he won 6-3. After defeating Steve Lennon and Pero Ljubic, he met Chris Landman in the fourth round and struck again with the second nine-darter, with the Dutchman being the last player to win a leg against Smith for the remainder of his run that day.
Smith won an astonishing 45 of the 55 legs he played, marking a dominant winning rate of 81.8 per cent. Despite his level of performance, a first-round exit at the World Championship before his second-round World Masters elimination left the darts ace low on confidence.
The early knockouts saw Smith – who operated lorries for years before becoming a full-time professional player – look up HGV jobs. He revealed: “At the start of this year, the first couple of Players Championships and stuff like that, I thought I was rubbish to be fair. I was a bit nervy trying to get off to a good start and probably put too much pressure on myself.
“I’m a bit like that if I’m honest with you. I start looking up HGV jobs. I genuinely do. I’m absolutely mental with certain things.” He added that his improvements at the oche have come from daily swims, which have helped him recover mentally. He explained: “I’ve been swimming in the sea every day. I’ve been going into the sauna and then straight into the sea.
“I’m just enjoying the basic things in life now. I’ve probably turned into a bit of a hippie. Life’s short. Enjoy it. Be grateful. I’m grateful to be here and grateful for the opportunity of darts. I’m just happy in life.”
