The greatest sporting moment of 2023 took place on a darts podium.
And it lasted 61 seconds.
The World Darts Championships wrapped up Tuesday night at Alexandra Palace in London.
Since then, the third leg of the second set of the final has been viewed tens of millions of times on social networks.
While Michael Van Gerwen missed the perfect round of a dart, Michael Smith managed this performance in stride, before flying away to his first world title.
Phenomenal, historic, mind-boggling... according to those in the know.
THE BEST LEG OF ALL TIME!
🤯🔥
MICHAEL VAN GERWEN MISSES D12 FOR A NINE-DARTER, AND THEN SMITH PINS A PERFECT LEG HIMSELF!
ONE OF THE GREATEST THINGS YOU'LL EVER SEE IN SPORT.
pic.twitter.com/WyKWFcxq5V
— PDC Darts (@OfficialPDC) January 3, 2023
If it is not necessary to be an expert to feel the tension and the madness which took hold of the room, a deciphering of the rules and the range of the duel is essential.
Thibault "The French Touch" Tricol, number 1 in darts in France, sets the scene.
“It was a duel between the two best players of the year, assures the Breton.
Van Gerwen, triple world champion and Michael Smith, who was playing his third final but had lost the first two.
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At the Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) World Championships, the first to hang seven sets, played in three winning rounds, is crowned king of the discipline.
Each inning, the pitchers leave with a counter of 501 points.
Opponents alternately shoot ends of three darts and subtract the points scored from their total.
Objective: to be the first to drop the score to 0 points, “right”.
Pressure, pints and bubble
“The perfect round is nine darts, sums up Tricol, vice-world champion in another federation.
There were 144 points left for Van Gerwen to take in the third end.
He misses the last dart.
Behind, Smith finishes.
We have never seen that in history.
That a player misses the perfect round on his ninth attempt and his opponent succeeds in stride, it had never happened.
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Typically, a round is decided in 15 rolls and one player “mentally cracks once the other gets ahead”.
“The goal of the game is to put pressure on your opponent, explains
The French Touch
.
Just after Van Gerwen fails, Smith claps him in the hand.
I never thought he was going to succeed behind, he put his emotions aside.
Led by a set, the Englishman risked seeing the Dutchman escape in case of failure.
The atmosphere rose to a crescendo, boosted by the frenetic throwing frequency of the protagonists.
“Mechanically, it's easier to quickly repeat the gesture.
This avoids shaking and thinking.
If the first dart finds the right area, we say to ourselves that the other two will follow, ”describes Tricol.
Smith's success at home – the World Cup still takes place in London – has finished drowning the audience in madness.
“The English love to sing and come to party.
Some are disguised and drink pints, smiles the French expert.
Two players on a podium must withstand this pressure of 5 or 6,000 spectators.
It's crazy, they are in their bubble.
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“One of the most beautiful finals in history”
High-level players muscle their nerves with their mental trainer.
The dart is played "90%" in the head.
The rest of the magic recipe?
A training comparable "to that of a musician who repeats his scales", an innate skill and mathematics.
“You have to know how to count but at this level, it's automatic.
We do the subtraction in a few tenths of a second so as not to stop between two darts,” explains Professor Tricol.
If darts is not recognized as a sport in France, it is in many other countries and can pay off big.
Nearly one million euros per year for the best.
Two perfect rounds are also rewarded with a bonus.
Beyond having participated in "one of the most beautiful finals in history" and seeing his figure posted all over Twitter, Michael Smith has therefore hit the jackpot.
It must be said that the FDC multiplies the advertisements and applies to feed the
storytelling
.
“She succeeded in transforming ordinary players into stars, into characters, like wrestling.
The launchers are charismatic, they have a nickname, an entrance music”, greets Tricol.
On Tuesday, the final crowned the vengeful hero, propelled to world number 1 thanks to this first planetary title gleaned at 32 years old.
The Smith-Van Gerwen duel gave the dart a bath in digital light, yet this historic round may never have reached its climax.
“If Van Gerwen had succeeded in his ninth throw, we would never have known if Smith would have imitated him, rewrites Tricol.
At the high level, it is an advantage to throw first: the first to reach 0 points ends the round, even if he has thrown three more darts.
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