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Michael Smith has been crowned 2023 PDC World Championship winner after an outstanding final against the legendary Michael van Gerwen.
The final stages of the match, which played out at the Alexandra Palace in London, left people absolutely gobsmacked after the two played arguably the 'best leg of darts of all time'.
The crowd went wild when Smith produced a sensational nine-dart finish to pull level with van Gerwen.
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According to The Guardian, van Gerwen 'missed the bull for a 132 and Smith hit D7 with last dart in hand' to take the win with a score of 7-4.
Smith ran off the stage to hug his family after being declared the World Champion.
After shaking hands with his opponent, he walked back over to gently touch the coveted Sid Waddell Trophy, before he held it in the air and took in the moment.
When asked how it felt to the best darts player in the world, Smith replied: "Sounds amazing. I don’t want to start getting into the crying and emotions.
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"Michael let me off there, and for once I finally took a chance I didn’t deserve.
"I want to apologise to Michael, I’ve been in that position… well not in that position before.
"I don’t even what to say to you!
"I didn’t hit a nine-darter in practice today but I keep going 180, 180, miss, so I thought, ‘Do one now, give the crowd what they deserve.’
"I wanna do what this man’s [Van Gerwen] done, I wanna take over the sport. But he’s still here!"
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He added: "It’s 1-1 now in the worlds. I took my chances, but he knows and I do that it won’t be the last world final between us. He is the best player in darts, I’ve said it for years, and you have to take your chances and I finally did that."
Michael van Gerwen was graceful in defeat and said Smith is a worthy opponent to lose to on the biggest stage in the world.
"He played really well," van Gerwen said.
"I had my chances, we all know that: second set, seventh set, ninth set. When you don’t hit them, he’ll throw everything at you.
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"You can only blame yourself, but it doesn’t take anything away [from Smith] because he played brilliantly all the way through.
"I wasn’t what I wanted to be, but that’s part of the game and you have to take it on the chin.
"It’s part of the job unfonrtunately. When we celebrate it’s a nice job, and when we lose games it’s hard.
"We all know that.
"The hardest thing is that I have take it on my chin."
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What a finish. This will truly go down in history.
Topics: Sport
Stewart Perrie