Smith starts 2024 BetMGM Premier League Darts with win

Michael Smith silenced a partisan Welsh crowd to take victory on the opening night of the 2024 BetMGM Premier League Darts.

Playing in the final against home favourite Gerwyn Price, Bully Boy looked in control of the whole contest. He hit five maximums and two 100+ checkouts to take a 6-2 victory and go top of the table.

It means the 2023 World Champion has now won four of the last five weekly nights in the event, going back to his back-to-back-to-back successes at the end of last year’s event.

Smith sees off Price for opening win

The two players shared holds to start the final, but it was Bully Boy who got the first break, hitting 75 to go 2-1 up. A double 10 in the next leg got him halfway to the night win.

The turning point of the match came in the next two legs. First, the 2023 World Champion found a 120 outshot to go a double break in front, before finding a 107 out to go within one.

Price then found a 100 outshot of his own, but Bully Boy, who’d been in control of the whole match, hit double 10 for the win, denying Price a second straight nightly win in Cardiff in two years.

Earlier in the evening, Smith came through a last leg decider against Michael van Gerwen in his last eight tie, while Price beat Nathan Aspinall 6-4 in a back and forth quarter final.

In the semis, Smith had to come through a second last leg decider of his evening to take his spot. He once again went 4-2 up, this time against Luke Littler, but The Nuke came back to win three of the next four legs to force the shootout. There, Littler missed double 15 for a win, allowing Smith to find tops to win 6-5 once again.

The Iceman won 6-2 against 2018 World Champion Rob Cross. Initially the game went on throw at 2-2, before Price won four legs on the spin including an 87 checkout on the bull to take victory.

What else happened?

While Cross and Littler did not reach the final, they did at least pick up two points for making the last four.

Cross defeated Peter Wright 6-3 in the first game of the night, as Voltage returned to the Premier League Darts stage for the first time since 2021 with a victory. It was another poor performance from Snakebite, as the two time World Champion averaged just 83.78.

Littler on his debut in the Premier League looked at home on the big stage. He averaged 105 in his defeat to Smith, while hitting a 100.3 average in a routine victory over World Champion Luke Humphries. Littler came through 6-2, winning four of the first five legs before finding an 85 outshot for the win.

The 2024 BetMGM Premier League Darts continues in Berlin next Thursday.

2024 BetMGM Premier League Darts Night One Results

Final

Gerwyn Price 6-4 Michael Smith

Semi Finals

Gerwyn Price 6-2 Rob Cross

Michael Smith 6-5 Luke Littler

Quarter Finals

Rob Cross 6-3 Peter Wright

Gerwyn Price 6-4 Nathan Aspinall

Michael Smith 6-5 Michael van Gerwen

Luke Littler 6-2 Luke Humphries

2024 BetMGM Premier League Darts Night Two Schedule of Play

Mercedes-Benz Arena, Berlin (Thursday 8 February, 1900 GMT, 2000 local time)

Nathan Aspinall v Michael van Gerwen

Michael Smith v Gerwyn Price

Luke Littler v Rob Cross

Luke Humphries v Peter Wright