The major season finally kicks into full swing over the weekend, with the World Series of Darts Finals in Amsterdam. The action kicks off on Thursday evening, with the defending champion and top seed Michael van Gerwen taking Lourence Ilagan’s reserve – Daryl Gurney – while Luke Humphries and Gian van Veen are also both in action against top twenty opponents.
If that were not enough, Josh Rock and Stephen Bunting face off in an all-Premier League encounter, as well as Rob Cross taking on Ryan Searle on his debut.
There are also some more opportunistic matches, with Viktor Tingstrom taking on a struggling for form Dirk van Duijvenbode, as well as Karel Sedlacek facing Kiwi number one Ben Robb. However, the match I believe to be the most intriguing comes in the middle of the night between two unseeded players.
Ross Smith comes into the event in potentially the consistent form of his career, winning his first two European Tours, including one in Budapest less than three weeks ago, before making a fourth final of the season in Antwerp over last weekend. Despite being the 2022 European Champion, there is little doubt that Ross Smith playing better now than ever before.
A yearly average of 95.67 is impressive, but a checkout rate of 40.95% is incredible, helping him to win almost 70% of legs on throw, as well as 44% against.
Kevin Doets comes into his nation of birth having broken new ground in 2026, winning his very first ProTour Title in May, beating reaching his first big stage final that same week in Graz, losing out to Josh Rock. Multiple 100+ averages, including a 117.12 in a 6-0 whitewash of Jonas Masalin in Göttingen, “Hawkeye” is in some form.
An almost identical yearly average of 95.56 shows how tight the game could be, as well as a 39.72% checkout rate for the last 12 months.
Ross Smith qualified for this event having been invited to the Australian and New Zealand Darts Masters, his debut on the World Series of Darts, but didn’t go to plan. While it is safe to say he has sorted that form out, he will have another gargantuan task infront of him on Thursday. Kevin Doets plays having successfully navigated his way through the Tour Card Holder Qualifier, beating Olde Kalter, Evans, Gilding and Kuivenhoven en-route.
The pair have a level head-to-head, having met eight times, and are also tied for their meetings in 2026 at one a piece. The Dutchman won each of their first three meetings, all in floor events between 2022 to 2024, before Smith returned the favour in similar fashion between 2024 and 2025.
Their first meeting in 2026 once again came on the floor, with Kevin Doets winning 6-2 in a Players Championship Last 16 encounter in May with an average of 106.55. On that day, Doets managed to reach the Semi-Finals with 100+ averages in four of his six games, eventually losing out an 111+ average from Jermaine Wattimena.
Their second meeting of the year was the first time the pair had met on a stage, coming at the Winter Gardens. Despite Smith taking the win, it has to be said that Doets didn’t do much wrong on his debut, losing 10-6 with a 104.19 average. Producing a 100.55 average himself, Smith took his important and won the match having won the important moments. Smith got a bye through the next round after the withdrawal of Cameron Menzies, before being taken out by Gerwyn Price in the Quarter-Finals.
Two players very much playing the best darts of their careers, looking to do serious damage at the World Series of Darts Finals for the first time in their career. Will certainly be an intriguing watch.
Images: PDC
