The cream of Antipodean small missile experts heading to Adelaide for the second ADA weekend can breathe a sigh of relief – Raymond Smith is on the other side of the planet. And not even he is that accurate on treble twenty from 10,000 miles away.
After steamrolling the inaugural Australian Darts Association (ADA) weekend – and we do mean steamrolling – Smith has swapped the Queensland sunshine for the sultry subtleties of the MODUS Live Lounge in Portsmouth. Oh, and he’s brought his son along for the ride.
Long before that clean sweep and the tidy $6,400 prize haul, Ray had already booked his UK trip – back in March, in fact, when the ADA was still just a scribble on a page in someone’s ideas notebook.
The Smiths have now touched down in Portsmouth for the MODUS Super Series – Raymond returning to the scene of his 2023 Champions Week triumph, and Ky making his debut on UK oche soil.
“Yes, Ky’s first time and very excited for him to experience it,” Ray said – we assume with a proud nod and a cold one in hand.
As for his own memories of that Super Series win?
“I remember having a poor Friday and average night the Saturday, but I ground out legs so well. It was the most fun I’d had playing darts in a long time. At the time, I recall hoping I could start doing it more regularly.”
The ADA tour might still be finding its feet, but according to Smith, it’s laced up the right boots.
“ADA is every player focused and establishing a foundation for developing future players… They not only listened, they are providing the right environments.”
And on comparisons to the DPA?
“I won’t comment on the DPA. I’m sure my stance is pretty well known.
”Well, if you don’t, then grab a copy of the next Darts World, edition 590 when it comes out. We will fill in the gaps then. When asked why he’s skipping the upcoming ADA events in Adelaide, Smith kept it typically to the point:
“I’m going to play MODUS.”
Not quite the clarification I was after, so I dug a little deeper. That’s when Raymond explained this UK trip had been locked in long before the ADA calendar was finalised – back when the whole project was still an embryo. As for whether he expected to win all four ADA events?
“Not sure anyone in the Oceanic region could have expected to win all four… Some luck fell my way and the way I have been playing of late, I have consistently been in the 90’s.”
True – bit of a task unless your name is Beau Greaves who seems to do that kind of thing with regularity on the PDC Womens Series.
Now, with Ky by his side and the MODUS stage calling, The Guru is ready to make another statement – preferably with his darts, but probably with a gloriously dry one-liner too.
Fans can watch both Smiths at the MODUS Super Series this week on Pluto TV – double trouble in every sense. Just don’t ask them to go easy. That’s not the family brand.
—–ENDS—–
Images: PDC
