Fuming Michael Smith deletes Facebook post about ‘horrible player’ after qualifier exit

Michael Smith was left fuming with his opponent after losing in the final round of the first European Tour qualifier of the year.

The former world champion missed out on a spot at this month’s Poland Darts Open on Wednesday.

PA

Smith had seen off Jeffrey Sparidaans and Samuel Price in his opening two matches of the day.

However, he suffered a 6-3 defeat to Mickey Mansell in the final round as his opponent instead took a place in the draw.

Smith slams opponent

Bully Boy hit out at Mansell’s antics on the oche following their match in a since deleted social media post.

Smith labelled the Northern Irishman a ‘horrible player’ as he reacted to the defeat on Facebook.

The 35-year-old wrote: “Imagine doing that to win a game. Tinkerbell won’t come along and move your darts for you.

“No need (to) stand looking at the board for 15 seconds. Horrible mentality. And a horrible player.”

Mansell’s win saw him claim one of 10 places in Krakow from the Tour Card holder qualifier.

The event is scheduled to be played next week across February 20 to 22.

Smith had missed out on an automatic place in the field after slipping down the world rankings in recent years.

European Tour events see the top 16 in the two-year PDC Order of Merit qualify automatically.

Getty

The next 16 highest-ranked players in the ProTour Order of Merit also earn a spot in the draw.

A further 10 Tour Card holders can then qualify for each event alongside host nation, Nordic and Baltic and Eastern European qualifiers.

Smith is the current world No.32 having not won a PDC title for almost two years.

His last event victory came at the 2024 World Cup of Darts alongside Luke Humphries.

Meanwhile, he failed to qualify for the World Matchplay, World Grand Prix and European Championship last year.

Those setbacks were followed by a second round exit at the PDC World Darts Championship in December.

Rex

Smith’s injury battle

Smith will also be absent from the second European Tour event of the year in Germany next month.

The Tour Card holder qualifier for the European Darts Trophy also took place on Wednesday.

Although Smith had initially entered the event, he withdrew ahead of his first round match.

As a result, Kai Gotthardt received a walkover victory to advance to the next stage.

Smith later took to social media to show off the injuries he battles with whilst travelling after three days of events in Germany.

Alongside his post, he attached a pair of pictures of his swollen feet after landing on Sunday ahead of Players Championship 1.

Explaining the injuries, he wrote: “Just want to show what happens now when I travel and what the pressure of the plane does to me.

“It’s not sympathy or anything, it’s just annoying because I put myself through this to play the sport I love and (it) just infuriates me I have to deal with tactics like that.

“It shouldn’t bother me but it does because it makes me question why do I bother to put up with the pain and suffering to please everyone else over my health.

“This was Sunday night just after I landed. And this (is) what I have to deal with now for no doubt the rest of my life.

“And I know flying tomorrow it will be bad again for another few days before it settles again. But please ignore my trotters by the way.”

It has been a tough start to the year for Smith, who failed to reach the main draw at the World Masters.

Meanwhile, he picked up just one win across the first two Players Championship events of the season on Monday and Tuesday.

Smith is next expected to play at Players Championship 3 and 4 in Wigan next week.