Coverage of the World Darts Championship final gets underway on Sky Sports Darts from 8pm on New Year's Day
Tuesday 1 January 2019 21:07, UK
Michael Smith's dream of being introduced at his wedding as the world champion while Walk the Moon's 'Shut Up and Dance with Me' welcomes him to the aisle remains alive, write Paul Prenderville.
While 2018 has been a year of learning, 2019 could see Bully Boy become a man. He has been adamant, in every single press conference at Alexandra Palace, that the centrepiece of his wedding day next weekend will be the World Championship trophy.
That remained the case after Smith's semi-final victory over Nathan Aspinall, even with his blushing bride looking on from behind the media scrum.
At the same time Smith's son Michael, or Junior as dad refers to him, ran around in his Bully Boy Junior replica shirt before joining his dad at the top table as he took in the fact the goal of a first World Championship final had been reached.
Smith is a poster boy for everything the PDC want the sport of darts to be, a young man fulfilling a dream, a lifetime ambition - he has said so at every briefing in the press room over the last three weeks.
"I've never felt like that during or after a match. I couldn't be happier - I'm now just one step away from living my dream," he said after beating Aspinall with a display that saw him register a semi-final record of 17 maximums.
Inspired by Gary Anderson - his great mentor, great friend and now great rival - the 28-year-old from St Helens faces Michael van Gerwen on New Year's Day, aiming to become the first player to win both the World Championship and the youth version which he claimed in 2013.
It's the first time since Keith Deller and Eric Bristow faced off in 1983 that two men under the age of 30 will have met in a World Championship final and it's a repeat of this year's Premier League final
With both men piling in 180s and 100+ averages, it promises to be quite the occasion. As Smith knows, Van Gerwen is an ominous opponent; a two-time world champion as well as a two-time World Youth Championship runner-up - he is also a staging post for the education that Bully Boy has undergone.
Heading to Alexandra Palace this year, Smith had never gone beyond the quarter-finals but, having had the fortune to be drawn in the bottom half of this year's tournament, it has opened up for him.
Despite the presence of Peter Wright, Mensur Suljovic and Rob Cross, most observers had Smith as their pick from the bottom half -and he has come through dropping just six sets, but the job is not done.
No one is putting more pressure on the world No 10, who will rise to at least sixth when the updated list comes out after the final, than himself.
"There was pressure before Peter [Wright] went out - I didn't want to be the first seed out, I think I even put that on Twitter," Smith told the media after beating Ron Meulenkamp.
"Then Peter went, then another went, and another but I didn't want to go home and have a rubbish Christmas, being depressed while the kids open their presents."
Last year at Ally Pally, Smith was beaten by eventual champion Cross and missed match darts in a thriller.
He recalled: "Last year Rob's name just seemed to be on the trophy - he could have thrown darts backwards but I still would have kept missing. He was always going to win it.
"I believe if it's your time, it's your time and I always believe it could be my time, but I need to put my words into actions.
"I know I will win one of these (world titles), it is just a case of when - if I don't I won't have fulfilled my potential."
This year has almost been Smith's. He has added Pro Tour titles to his tally, a TV crown with the Shanghai World Series, but has also lost in a couple of big finals.
Tuesday's showdown with Van Gerwen will be his first ranking final. The pair met in April at The O2 with the Premier League at stake, a showpiece in the season but not a ranked event. Shanghai and the World Series Finals are not ranked either and a measure of Smith's standing is that he was in the fields, but now it's time to deliver trophies.
He was no match for an inspired Van Gerwen in the Premier League final, and no-one would have been; but speaking afterwards with his son in his arms, he felt it had been a huge step.
Smith has spoken of the trainers coming on as he has learned to run and he has reflected well on missed match darts against James Wade in the final of the World Series of Darts in Vienna,
"When Wadey beat me, he said it's a case of getting the first one. Look at Van Gerwen in 2012 at the Grand Prix, I just need to get the first one and the pressure will be lifted and my own expectations will be too."
Smith has every right to feel good about himself. His darting progress has been steady, he is getting married four days after the final and his young sons are blossoming - "It's all for them, I hate being away, they hate me being away but I do it for them, my wife, my kids.
"I always refer to my kids, they don't walk, they talk a lot of rubbish and then start crawling, I think I have been crawling for too many years,
"I want to start running, it's time to get the trainers on and start playing darts as best as I can. It's been slowly, slowly but now I want to play the best darts that I can.
Smith told Sky Sports before Premier League Finals Night that he never touches a trophy until it's his, and he has made good on that again in north London as the only one of the big names not to touch the trophy in the promotional photos.
If he does lift the Sid Waddell Trophy on New Year's Day, the future Mrs Smith may have to make a couple of final tweaks to the order of service - starting with the entrance music and an extra seat at the top table, but for Smith the darting journey will be complete.
You can follow the final of the World Darts Championships on Sky Sports Darts from 8pm on New Year's Day and stay up to date with all the action behind the scenes by following us @SkySportsDarts
