Who will take the title?
Showdown at the Ally Pally. The year 2022 is just three days old and already the highlight of the arrow throwers is on the agenda. The grand final of the PDC World Championship will once again captivate all fans of darts. It is not the final one had hoped for before but it is a final that brings two more than worthy opponents to the oche.
Englishman Michael Smith already reached the final at Alexandra Palace in 2019 but was beaten by Michael van Gerwen on that occasion. The Bully Boy is still waiting for his first major tournament title. His performance at this World Championship gives hope that the number nine in the PDC ranking will finally win his first major trophy.
But his opponent is none other than the World Champion of 2020. Peter Snakebite Wright has had a big year and the second World Championship title would be the crowning glory for the Scot on his surely again well coiffed head. At the bookmakers tested, the prediction goes slightly to a win for the Scot in the final between Michael Smith and Peter Wright.
Michael Smith, however, has played the toughest programme at the World Championship and has looked commanding almost every time. Anyone who can dethrone Gerwyn Price is certainly capable of winning against Peter Wright, although it will be a very different match on Monday. Therefore we can imagine to place a tip on a win of the Englishman between Michael Smith and Peter Wright.
Michael Smith – Statistics & Current Form
Current Position Order of Merit: 9
Position in the seedings list: 9
Three years ago Michael Smith lost the final of the World Championship against Michael van Gerwen. Now he wants to make the most of his second chance and take the World Championship crown. His performances in the Ally Pally so far were outstanding. In three of five matches the Bully Boy got an average of more than 100 points. At the top it was even 106.32 in the second round against Rob Meulenkamp.
Smith as favourite
Overall Michael Smith had the toughest programme at this World Championship. The matches against Ron Meulenkamp and William O’Connor were perfect warm-ups. But then the Bully Boy had to face Welshman Jonny Clayton, who has won four tournaments in 2022 and was one of the secret favourites.
In the quarterfinals the man from St. Helens defeated still reigning World Champion and number one in the PDC Ranking Gerwyn Price. In the semi-finals he was highly superior against his fellow country man James Wade. In the last three matches Michael Smith eliminated the numbers eight, one and four of the Order of Merit.
If he manages to keep up his performances of the last matches in the final – surely again with the support of the fans who would like to have the World Championship title back in England – then it is certainly no mistake to check the odds on a win of the local hero in the duel between Michael Smith and Peter Wright.
Last matches of Michael Smith:
World Darts Championship
01/03 2022 – Michael Smith 5 – 7 Peter Wright
01/02 2022 – Michael Smith 6 – 3 James Wade
01/01 2022 – Gerwyn Price 4 – 5 Michael Smith
12/29 2021 – Jonny Clayton 3 – 4 Michael Smith
12/27 2021 – Michael Smith 4 – 2 William O’Connor
Peter Wright – Statistics & current form
Current Position Order of Merit: 2
Position in the seedings: 2
Peter Wright has come to London with big ambitions. Winner of the Players Championship, the World Matchplay and the World Cup of Darts, the world number two went into this tournament as one of the big favourites and has proved his great form several times at the Ally Pally too
Smith as a favourite
After Michael Smith he threw the second best average at this World Championship, with 104.38 in the semi-final against his compatriot Gary Anderson. It was one of the best matches Snakebite has ever played. He alone threw the 180 24 times and set a new record in the title matches.
It’s not like Peter Wright had an easy path to this final. Ryan Searle and especially the great playing Callan Rydz forced the Scot to play his best darts which just culminated in an outstanding semi-final so far. At the moment the World Champion of 2020 seems to be hardly beatable because he still knows how to improve against stronger opponents.
By now Peter Wright has eleven wins in a row on his account and after the Players Championship he could now win the second big title in a row. Even though the Bully Boy will probably give the Scot a run for his money, bettors are predicting a Snakebite win between Michael Smith and Peter Wright.
Last matches of Peter Wright:
World Darts Championship
01/03 2022 – Michael Smith 5 – 7 Peter Wright
01/02 2022 – Peter Wright 6 – 4 Gary Anderson
01/01 2022 – Peter Wright 5 – 4 Callan Rydz
12/30 2021 – Peter Wright 4 – 1 Ryan Searle
12/28 2021 – Peter Wright 4 – 2 Damon Heta
Michael Smith – Peter Wright Direct comparison / H2H record
To date there have been 29 duels between Michael Smith and Peter Wright. The direct comparison is in favour of the Scotsman who has the lead after wins with 18:11. In the PDC Darts World Championship the two opponents met only once. In 2013 Snakebite won in the last 16 with 4:3 sets after Michael Smith had eliminated Phil Taylor before.
This year the two finalists met three times. Peter Wright won the World Matchplay and the Grand Slam, Michael Smith got the upper hand once on the European Tour. All in all the Scot won five of the last six duels against the Englishman and is rightly the favourite for the big final on Monday.
Michael Smith – Peter Wright Tip
There are no two opinions – the two best players in the World Championship are also in the final on Monday. Actually Michael Smith would probably be the clear underdog but the Englishman almost sensationally performed at the Ally Pally.
After all he eliminated Jonny Clayton, Gerwyn Price and James Wade. Peter Wright had the slightly easier way, but has also been able to play very well. They are the two players with the biggest averages in this tournament. Still, between Michael Smith and Peter Wright, we’d hold off betting on more than 33.5 180s because you can get your hands a little sweaty in a World Championship final.
We think it will be a close match. We can imagine that the Englishman will even prevail in the end. Should he not succeed, however, he will quite certainly give his Scottish opponent a tough fight. That’s why we have decided to play the betting odds on more than 10.5 sets in this Best-of-13 match between Michael Smith and Peter Wright.
