Michael Smith has been hailed for a display of sportsmanship after he surprisingly lost a leg to a veteran Bahraini mechanic.
The new world champion is in the Middle East for the first-ever Bahrain Darts Masters, part of the 2023 World Series, and was drawn to face 62-year-old local qualifier Abdulnasser Yusuf in the first round.
As expected, Bully Boy dominated the first-to-six-legs affair and looked set to complete a whitewash, only to make a mess of the sixth leg and give Yusuf and his unique throwing style the chance to get on the scoreboard.
READ MORE: Michael Smith given 'good luck' cake before World Series match against Bahraini mechanic
To the delight of the home crowd, Yusuf did just that by taking out 60, despite a wayward first dart which cleared double top by a good couple of centimetres.
He followed up with single 20 and tops, a moment which drew applause from Smith as well as the fans inside the Dome at the Bahrain International Circuit.
Smith gestured to the crowd to make some more noise before shaking hands with a delighted Yusuf, who was enjoying the biggest match of his darting life.
The heart-warming moment delighted fans on social media, with one posting: “Bet there's not many on here who could take a leg off Smith so fair play.”
Another wrote: “Nice of Smith to do that with the crowd. He deserved a leg.” A third added: “Michael – what a gentleman. Abdul living the dream.”
One fan commented: “Just shows what Michael Smith is like, true sportsman.” Another wrote: “Class that from Smith, fast becoming one darts greatest ever good guys.”
Smith went on to close out the match 6-1. In the quarter-finals today (Friday), he will face Dimitri Van den Bergh, who was the closest of the PDC contingent to crashing out in round one. The Belgian survived a match dart against Alain Abiabi before edging through 6-5.
What do you think about the PDC taking darts to Bahrain? Tell us in the comments section
Bahrain Darts Masters
First Round
Dimitri Van den Bergh 6-5 Alain Abiabi
Rob Cross 6-2 Nitin Kumar
Luke Humphries 6-3 Man Lok Leung
Gerwyn Price 6-2 Paul Lim
Peter Wright 6-3 Toru Suzuki
Michael Smith 6-1 Abdulnasser Yusuf
Raymond van Barneveld 6-2 Yuki Yamada
Jonny Clayton 6-0 Basem Mahmood
Quarter-finals
Michael Smith v Dimitri Van den Bergh
Luke Humphries v Raymond van Barneveld
Peter Wright v Rob Cross
Gerwyn Price v Jonny Clayton
Best of 11 legs
Semi-finals
Smith/Van den Bergh v Humphries/Van Barneveld
Wright/Cross v Price/Clayton
Best of 13 legs
READ NEXT:
- Read the latest darts news from the Daily Star here
- Fallon Sherrock can still land Tour card despite Q-School loss as Arron Monk bags return
- Gerwyn Price to 'pick and choose' darts events during rugby return despite risk of injury
- F1 hospitality dome transformed into 'Ally Pally of the Middle East' for darts tournament
- Gerwyn Price doubles down on World Championship quit threat after ear-defenders saga
Source: Read Full Article