Michael Smith has matched an unwanted record following his second round defeat to Kevin Doets at the World Darts Championship.
The 2023 world champion earned a bye through to round two as a result of his position in the top 32, with Doets beating Alexandra Palace debutant Noa-Lynn van Leuven in a closely-contested match in round one.
Doets hasn't had a hugely successful second half of 2024, but will have taken confidence in taking Smith to a final set when they faced each other at the same stage in last year's World Championship.
This time around, though, the Dutchman reversed the scores and beat 'Bully Boy' 3-2 via winning six legs in the final set.
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The result was a major shock for St Helens-born Smith, who was one of the favourites to win the entire tournament and add to the title he won in 2023.
But the defeat could have dramatic implications for the 34-year-old in 2025.
That is because, entering the World Championship, Smith was positioned in second place in the two-year PDC Order of Merit ranking system.
His fourth round defeat to Chris Dobey last year did little to affect his ranking, as he still maintained the £500,000 prize money from winning the tournament.
However, that prize money will now be removed from the record books, meaning that Smith has plummeted down the rankings.
He now sits in the lower reaches of the top 16 in 15th position, and faces the very real risk of dropping out of the top 16 entirely with a number of players below him still in the World Championship.
Six players - including Dobey, Josh Rock and Ross Smith - will all surpass 'Bully Boy' should they win two matches and reach the fourth round.
Twitter user @PrimeWallace noted that Smith had dropped £485,000 prize money in one night as a result of his defeat, matching the record set by two-time champion Peter Wright when he lost at the same stage last year.
Under the current PDC ranking system, the record will never be beaten as it would require a player to be knocked out in round one two years after winning the tournament.
However, any darts player with £500,000 to their name would automatically be above the qualification threshold and therefore enter the World Championship from round two.
Smith is not the only top 16 player to have been eliminated from this year's tournament, as James Wade has also gone home early.
The majority of the remaining top 16 players have yet to play in round two but Wright, Luke Humphries, Nathan Aspinall and Gerwyn Price all won their matches.
Topics: Darts
Ryan Smart