- Michael Smith won the PDC World Darts Championship in January 2023
- But Kevin Doets eliminated him from the 2025 edition in the second round.
- Smith’s average was slightly higher than Doets’, but the Dutchman won 3-2.
Second seed Michael Smith is out of the PDC World Darts Championship after losing 3-2 to Kevin Doets in an epic match in the second round.
Smith, who won the tournament in January 2023, blanked Doets in the first and third sets to take a 2-1 lead.
But the final set went to the tie-break, which Doets eventually won 6-4 after missing three darts of the match.
Smith recorded a three-dart average of 96.93, while Doets averaged 96.90.
Doets, who beat Noa-Lynn van Leuven 3-1 in the first round, will now face Krzysztof Ratajski, Richard Veenstra or Alexis Toylo in the round of 32 after Christmas.
Speaking on Sky Sports after his shock victory, Doets said: ‘I can’t describe this.
Former winner Michael Smith has been eliminated from the PDC World Darts Championship
Smith was defeated 3-2 by Dutchman Kevin Doets after a dramatic tiebreaker in the final set.
‘This game was strange. He took his own set easy, I took mine easy, he took his set easy, I took mine easy. The last set was incredible.”
Doets hit nine 180s, five more than Smith.
Smith finished the match with a 35.5% success rate in doubles, while Doets hit 31.6%.
Both men posted triple-figure finishes, including an impressive 123 from Smith.
Thursday’s game was a rematch of last year’s second round, when Smith beat Doets 3-2.
Doets said: ‘Before the match, I beat the bull and he won 3-2. This year the bull won and I won 3-2. This is the most stressful match of my life and I won it, yes!’
His impressive victory came despite missing 11 darts in a double in the first set.
Doets concluded: “I felt like my scoring power was great, I just couldn’t get a double. When I got one, it just kept going and going.”
Smith’s three-dart average was higher than Doets’ and his doubles success rate was also better.
But Doets did more 180s and scored a crucial victory by winning the final set six games to four.
In Tuesday’s only other second-round match, Robert Owen beat Gabriel Clemens 3-1.
The other matches on Tuesday were all in the first round. Lok Yin Lee beat Chris Landman 3-1 in the first match of the afternoon before Callan Rydz and Martin Lukeman beat Romeo Grbavac and Nitin Kumar respectively.
Nik Kenny won 3-0 against Stowe Buntz in the afternoon session, before Matt Campbell beat Mensur Suljovic 2-3.
Scott Williams defeated Niko Springer 3-1 before Doets stunned Smith.