Jeff Smith (darts player)
Jeff Smith (born 6 November 1975) is a Canadian professional darts player who plays in Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) events. He reached the semi-final of the 2015 BDO World Darts Championship and the final of the 2016 BDO World Darts Championship in the following year where he faced Scott Waites.
Jeff Smith | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Personal information | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Nickname | "The Silencer" | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Born | Saint John, New Brunswick, Canada[1] | 6 November 1975||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Home town | Hampton, New Brunswick, Canada | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Darts information | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Playing darts since | 1979 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Darts | 21 Gram Winmau Signature | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Laterality | Right-handed | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Walk-on music | Summer of '69 by Bryan Adams | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Organisation (see split in darts) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
BDO | 2008–2011, 2014–2017, 2019–2020 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
PDC | 2012–2013, 2018–2019, 2020– | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Current world ranking | 77 14 (3 January 2021)[2] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
BDO majors – best performances | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
World Ch'ship | Runner Up: 2016 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
World Masters | Last 16: 2019 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
World Darts Trophy | Semi Final: 2015 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
PDC premier events – best performances | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
World Ch'ship | Last 64: 2018, 2021 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Grand Slam | Last 16: 2016 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
UK Open | Last 128: 2020 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
World Series Finals | Last 16: 2020 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Other tournament wins | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Career
In his first tournament, Smith reached the semi-final of the Canada National Championships in 1996.[3] He won the tournament in 2008 beating Jeff Noble.[4] Smith entered the Professional Darts Corporation Q School in January 2011. He won a PDC tour card on the third and final day by defeating Ross Smith 6–2 in his final match. He took part in the 2013 PDC World Cup of Darts with John Part.[5] In 2014, he returned to the BDO, and won the Halifax Open and the Canadian Open.[6][7]
He qualified for the 2015 BDO World Darts Championship, and entered the preliminary stage, where he beat Mike Day of New Zealand 3-0, hitting three 100+ checkouts. He then played two-time semi-finalist Wesley Harms in the last 32, winning 3–1 after losing the first set. Smith then beat Gary Robson 4-3 in the last 16, after Robson had recovered from 3-1 down to level the match. In the quarter-finals, Smith caused yet another upset as he beat bookmakers' favourite Robbie Green 5-1, crucially hitting a 160 checkout to win the fourth set, with Green waiting on 56. Smith was beaten 6-0 by fourth seed and eventual champion Scott Mitchell in the semi-finals.[8] Smith followed this good run by reaching the semi-finals of the 2015 BDO World Trophy, losing to Jeffrey de Graaf.[9]
He qualified for the 2016 BDO World Darts Championship, and entered the preliminary stage, where he beat Matthew Medhurst 3–0 with a 130 checkout. He played Martin Adams in the first round, winning 3–0. In the second round, be beat Brian Dawson 4–1. He played Dennis Harbour in the Quarter-Finals, winning 5–2 to reach the Semi-Finals. He played Richard Veenstra and won 6–5 to reach his first Final, where he played Scott Waites. In the final, Smith lost to Waites 7–1. In the post match interview, Smith promised to return next year. He received the runners up cheque of £35,000. In the 2017 BDO World Darts Championship Smith entered in the preliminary round, where he beat Seigo Asada 3–1. In the first round Smith beat Brian Dawson 3–2. In the second round Smith lost 4–1 to Martin Adams.
Smith was a wild card entry into the 2018 PDC World Darts Championship. He hit a 170 checkout on his way to a 2–0 win against Luke Humphries in the preliminary round. In the first round Smith lost 3–0 to Gary Anderson. After his first round defeat in the 2018 PDC World Darts Championship he announced ‘I definitely will be playing Q-school this year, based on the current situation. I owe it to my family and my sponsors to carry on playing, wherever it takes me. I will do just that.’ Smith failed to gain a tour card at Q-School. Smith qualified for the 2019 PDC World Darts Championship by winning the North American Darts Championship, securing his place with a 6–4 win over John Norman Jnr.[10]
On 18 January 2020, Smith regained his PDC Tour Card by beating Seigo Asada 5–4 in the play-off match at day 3 of UK Q-School. He will play on the ProTour in 2020 and 2021.
World Championship results
BDO
- 2015: Semi-final (lost to Scott Mitchell 0–6)
- 2016: Runner-up (lost to Scott Waites 1–7)
- 2017: Second round (lost to Martin Adams 1–4)
PDC
- 2018: First round (lost to Gary Anderson 0–3)
- 2019: First round (lost to Josh Payne 2–3)
- 2021: Second round (lost to Chris Dobey 2–3)
Career statistics
W | F | SF | QF | #R | RR | Prel. | DNQ | DNP | NH |
Performance timeline
Tournament | 1996 | 1997 | 1998 | 1999 | 2000 | 2001 | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 |
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PDC Ranked televised events | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
PDC World Championship | Non-PDC | 1R | 1R | DNQ | 2R | |||||||||||||||||||||
UK Open | Not held | DNQ | 2R | |||||||||||||||||||||||
Grand Slam of Darts | Not held | DNQ | 2R | DNQ | ||||||||||||||||||||||
PDC Non-ranked televised events | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
PDC World Cup of Darts | Not held | DNQ | NH | DNQ | 2R | DNQ | QF | |||||||||||||||||||
World Series of Darts Finals | Not held | DNQ | 2R | |||||||||||||||||||||||
BDO Ranked televised events | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
BDO World Championship | DNQ | SF | F | 2R | DNQ | DNP | DNQ | NH | ||||||||||||||||||
World Masters | Prel. | DNQ | 1R | DNQ | 2R | DNQ | 4R | 3R | 5R | 3R | DNQ | 5R | NH | |||||||||||||
BDO World Trophy | Not held | DNQ | SF | 1R | 2R | DNP | NH | |||||||||||||||||||
Career statistics | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Year-end ranking | Non-PDC | 145 | 165 | 172 | Non-PDC | 206 | - |
Career finals
BDO major finals: 1 (1 runner-up)
Legend |
World Championship (0–1) |
Outcome | No. | Year | Championship | Opponent in the final | Score[N 1] |
Runner-up | 1. | 2016 | World Darts Championship | Scott Waites | 1–7 (s) |
- (l) = score in legs, (s) = score in sets.
References
- Twitter R. Smith. Twitter
- "PDC Order of Merit". PDC.tv. 3 January 2021. Retrieved 3 January 2021.
- 1996 Canada National Championships. DartsDatabase
- 2008 Canada National Championships Results. DartsDatabase
- 2013 PDC World Cup of Darts Results. DartsDatabase
- 2014 Halifax Open. DartsDatabase
- 2014 Canadian Open. DartsDatabase
- 2015 BDO World Championship Results. DartsDatabase
- 2015 BDO World Trophy Results. DartsDatabase
- "Smith Relishing Ally Pally Return". PDC. 6 July 2018.