Adam Smith-Neale

Adam Smith-Neale (born 29 October 1993) is an English professional darts player.

Adam Smith-Neale
Personal information
NicknameBig Dog
Born (1993-10-29) 29 October 1993
Coventry, England
Home townNuneaton, Warwickshire
England
Darts information
Playing darts since2010
Darts22 Gram Red Dragon
LateralityRight-handed
Walk-on music"Big Dog" by Akon
Organisation (see split in darts)
BDO2018–
PDC2010–2018
Current world ranking(BDO) 15
BDO majors – best performances
World Ch'shipLast 32: 2020
World MastersWinner (1): 2018
World Darts TrophyLast 32: 2019
PDC premier events – best performances
Grand SlamGroup Stage: 2018
UK OpenLast 96: 2012
Other tournament wins
TournamentYears
PDC Development Tour Germany2012
Other achievements
Erdington Day of Darts 2011
King of The Castle Challenge 2010
LPKD The Pint Pot 2011

Darts career

Early career

Smith-Neale started playing in the Professional Darts Corporation at the age of 17 in 2011 when he entered the World Youth Championships and lost in the last 64 to Lewis Venes. The following January Smith-Neale entered Q School and after making the last 16 all 4 days he was given a 2-year tour card to play the Pro tour.[1] Through those 2 years Smith-Neale split his time between playing on the main tour and on the Youth tour, on the main tour he failed to make an impact and only made one TV major which was the 2012 UK Open where he made the last 96. On the Youth tour however Smith-Neale had much more success where he managed to finish the 2011 season 9th in the Rankings which qualified him for the 2012 PDC World Youth Championship where he again went out at the last 64 stage.

In 2012 Smith-Neale won his first PDC tournament when he won Event 7 of the Youth tour [2] and finished the season in 14th qualifying for the 2013 PDC World Youth Championship where he went out in the first round.

After not making the top 64 of the PDC Order of Merit by the end of 2012, Smith-Neale lost his tour card and went to Q-School again. He failed to gain a tour card in 2013, 14, 15, 17, but continued to play on the Challenge Tour and Development Tour during that time.

2018 season

After failing to get a Tour Card at the start of the 2018 season, Smith-Neale started to play in more BDO events which lead him to qualify for the BDO World Masters. Not being a seed meant that he had to start the tournament at the first round but Smith-Neale won through the first 6 rounds on the floor to reach the stage finals. He defeated Aaron Turner 3-1 in the last 48, Daniel Day 3-0 in the last 32, Mark McGeeney 3-2 in the last 16, Wayne Warren 4-1 in the quarter-finals, Jim Williams 5-3 in the semi-final and BDO Number 1 Glen Durrant 6-4 in the final. Winning the World Masters meant Smith-Neale qualified for the 2019 BDO World Championship, and the 2018 Grand Slam of Darts.

Prior to the 2019 BDO World Darts Championship, Smith-Neale suffered a broken leg in a fall following a tournament in Italy, with Smith-Neale admitting he was inebriated before the fall. He managed to play his preliminary round match, but did so on crutches, using both during his walk-on and using his right crutch while throwing his darts. He was beaten 3-0 by New Zealand's Mark McGrath.

World Championship results

BDO

Career finals

BDO major finals: 1 (1 titles)
Legend
Winmau World Masters (1–0)
Outcome No. Year Championship Opponent in the final Score[N 1]
Winner 1. 2018 Winmau World Masters Glen Durrant 6–4 (s)
  1. (l) = score in legs, (s) = score in sets.

References
  1. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 24 September 2012. Retrieved 13 October 2018.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  2. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 27 September 2012. Retrieved 13 October 2018.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
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