Darts results: Michael Smith crashes out as Martijn Kleermaker snatches top spot

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Bully Boy was hot favourite to progress to the next stage of the online tournament having reached five major finals over the past two years, including the 2020 Masters, and earlier this season raised the roof with a nine-darter in the Premier League.

However, he joined Peter Wright and Gerwyn Price on the list of high profile casualties despite averaging close to 100 in all three of his matches from his own home.

The St Helens star, who also hit a tournament record 11 maximums on the ninth night of action, started brightly enough as he stormed into a 3-0 lead over our Chris Hammer's 9/2 tip Kleermaker but the Dutchman stormed back to win five legs on the trot in a high-class affair in which both players averaged 98.

Smith bounced back with a 5-3 victory over Harry Ward, averaging 98 in the process, but had it all to do in the final match of the night against veteran Matt Clark.

Prior to this encounter, Clark had edged out both Kleermaker and winless Ward by 5-3 scorelines to take top spot on legs difference, but the Dutchman kept himself in the hunt with a 5-2 triumph over 'Big H'.

Smith therefore needed to beat Clark either 5-0 or 5-1 while a 5-4 defeat would have been enough for 'Superman' to qualify for the second round next month.

Clark sensationally ended Bully Boy's chances with a stunning 161 checkout in the fourth leg to make it 2-2 but his eventual 5-3 loss sent Kleermaker through by just one leg.

The Dutchman, who earned his Tour Card at Q School after an impressive BDO World Championship, joins Jonny Clayton, Jamie Lewis, Nick Kenny, Luke Woodhouse, Geert Nentjes, Dave Chisnall, Ryan Searle and Jelle Klaasen in the next round.

The result was also good news for followers of Chris Hammer's daily tips as he nailed both his best bets for the second day running. Firstly he tipped Kleermaker to go through at 9/2 while he also said his match with Smith would feature over 7.5 legs, a high checkout over 88.5 and more than 3.5 total 180s at 5/2

• Each night’s action begins at 1930 BST, and will include webcam footage of each player and their dart board, live score graphics and commentary from Dan Dawson. All PDC Home Tour action will be broadcast live on PDCTV for FREE to ALL registered PDCTV users, regardless of whether you have a paid or free membership

PDC Home Tour Darts: Saturday results and Sunday Fixtures

Play begins at 1930 BST each night
Best of nine legs
Click here for Sky Bet odds

Group Nine Fixtures - Saturday April 25

• Michael Smith 3-5 Martijn Kleermaker
• Harry Ward 3-5 Matt Clark
• Martijn Kleermaker 3-5 Matt Clark
• Michael Smith 5-3 Harry Ward
• Harry Ward 2-5 Martijn Kleermaker
• Matt Clark 3-5 Michael Smith

GROUP STANDINGS

1. Martijn Kleermaker P 3 W 2 L 1 Leg Diff +3 Pts 4
2. Michael Smith P 3 W 2 L 1 Leg Diff +2 Pts 4
3. Matt Clark P 3 W 2 L 1 Leg Diff +2 Pts 4
4. Harry Ward P 3 W 0 L 3 Leg Diff -7 Pts 0

Group 10 Fixtures - Sunday April 26

• Nathan Aspinall v Steve Brown
• Ryan Joyce v Simon Stevenson
• Steve Brown v Simon Stevenson
• Nathan Aspinall v Ryan Joyce
• Ryan Joyce v Steve Brown
• Simon Stevenson v Nathan Aspinall

GROUP STANDINGS

1. Nathan Aspinall P 0 W 0 L 0 Leg Diff +0 Pts 0
2. Steve Brown P 0 W 0 L 0 Leg Diff +0 Pts 0
3. Ryan Joyce P 0 W 0 L 0 Leg Diff +0 Pts 0
4. Simon Stevenson P 0 W 0 L 0 Leg Diff +0 Pts 0

CLICK HERE FOR FULL TOURNAMENT RESULTS & FIXTURES

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