Steve Borthwick will bring a "clarity" to England as their new boss, with defence coach Kevin Sinfield indicating they will prioritise memories over medals.

The duo departed Leicester Tigers last month, where they won the Premiership together, to take charge at Twickenham following Eddies Jones' exit.

With only an incoming Six Nations campaign and a handful of friendlies before the Rugby World Cup kicks off in September, the pair will immediately have their hands full.

But Sinfield is relishing the challenge, and has outlined how the two of them will strive to unite a side that struggled across a bruising November campaign.

"We will provide an environment where there is clarity, but also there is a togetherness and a fight and a spirit where they look after each other and care for each other," he told BBC Sport.

"That is really important to us. We need to have a system, we need to understand each other's roles within that, we need to understand within that we will get stuff wrong.

"But I think if they can understand that the things that are important in your career, [we will be alright].

"You can have a load of money and a load of medals, but ultimately the friendship and the memories are what is really, really important."

The second-in-command post with England marks a meteoric rise through the ranks for Sinfield, who cut his teeth as a player in rugby league with Leeds Rhinos.

Among the most successful players of the modern British game, he adds that he can feel the desire among his new charges, and that his role is to successfully translate it to the pitch.

"I think they are hungry; I've seen that over the last few days," he added. "I've sat in front of them and seen the sparkle in their eyes.

"I am learning every day and I don't think that ever stops. There is so much knowledge and rugby intelligence in our players.

"I need to tap into that too. To see the calibre of players we have available is really exciting."

Aryna Sabalenka secured a straight-sets win in her first match of 2023, but was made to work for it by Liudmila Samsonova at the Adelaide International.

The number two seed won 7-6 (10-8) 7-6 (7-3), saving seven set points after going 5-1 down in the first set, before roaring back to take both tie-breaks.

Sabalenka will face Marketa Vondrousova in the quarter-finals, with the Czech having produced a dominant performance in a 6-0 6-4 win against Kaia Kanepi. 

"When it's 1-5 down, it's like you have nothing to lose, and you just go for your shots without thinking," Sabalenka said.

"That really helped me to stay in the set, to keep fighting and to keep trying."

Fourth seed Veronika Kudermetova eased through after a 6-4 6-0 victory against Bianca Andreescu, while Marta Kostyuk also advanced with a hard-fought 6-7 (5-7) 6-2 6-3 win over Elena Rybakina.

At the ASB Classic in Auckland, second seed Sloane Stephens is out after falling to Rebeka Masarova.

Having been forced to resume on Wednesday after rain suspended play the previous day, Stephens struggled against her Spanish opponent, eventually losing 6-3 7-6 (7-5).

Fifth seed Wang Xiyu is also out after retiring from her match against Karolina Muchova, but seventh seed Danka Kovinic is through after a simple 6-1 6-4 win against Nao Hibino.

Kovinic will face Lauren Davis next after she overcame Tamara Zidansek 6-2 6-1, while fellow American Sofia Kenin will take on number one seed Coco Gauff in the last 16 after she beat Wang Xinyu in straight sets.

Giannis Antetokounmpo wants to make his performances so consistently brilliant that people become bored by him.

The Greece-born star scored a career-high 55 points in the Milwaukee Bucks' 123-113 win against the Washington Wizards on Tuesday, while also claiming 10 rebounds and seven assists.

Antetokounmpo is averaging 32.8 points per game after 31 appearances for Milwaukee this season, with only Luka Doncic (34.3) and Joel Embiid (33.5) averaging more in the league.

"I want to get in a position... that my game is boring," Antetokounmpo said after the win. "I just do what I do and people don't talk about it because it becomes boring, I do it every single night.

"That's what I want to do. I want other people to feel like my game is boring. But I don't get bored. The greats, the best players, never get bored. They go out there and they always give their best any given night."

The 28-year-old also became the first player to average 45.0+ points, 15.0+ rebounds and 5.0+ assists per game over a three-game period since Wilt Chamberlain 59 years ago.

"He's been kind of playing with this kind of determination, this kind of just willing us in games," Bucks coach Mike Budenholzer said. "Tonight we were able to win it. He's just been phenomenal."

Brooks Lopez, who scored 21 points along with 12 rebounds and three assists, claimed there were not enough words available to describe his team-mate.

"He's just constantly improving," Lopez said. "When you think where else can he go and how else can he improve, he just improves again. We're going to have to expand the English language in some way to come up with words [to describe him].

"I don't know if I've said that before, but I'm sure he's going to improve again. Who knows what he's going to do next? He's just so otherworldly."

Los Angeles Kings head coach Todd McLellan reserved special praise for Quinton Byfield after the youngster helped his team to a 3-2 victory over the Dallas Stars.

After placing forward Arthur Kaliyev on injured reserve last week, Byfield was promoted from the Kings' AHL affiliate, the Ontario Reign.

The 20-year-old – who was the No. 2 overall pick for the Kings in the 2020 draft – claimed an assist in Tuesday's contest at Crypto.com Arena, with goals on the night coming from forwards Rasmus Kupari, Anze Kopitar and Adrian Kempe.

Speaking after the win, McLellan outlined his admiration for Byfield's all-round performance, saying: "I thought he had a tremendous game. He's always been fast and quick, but he really used his body to his advantage.

"He stripped pucks, he created and loosened up pucks for his linemates, backchecking, he caught people from behind, he was responsible defensively and he set up a number of offensive plays.

"To me, that was as good a game as we've seen from Q all year and he had some good ones at the beginning. Real positive sign for him."

Although beaten twice in the contest, first by Miro Heiskanen and then Jason Robertson, Kings goaltender Pheonix Copley made 28 saves as his team produced their seventh win from their last nine games.

"The game as a whole was very competitive," McLellan said. "It was a hard, heavy, physical – not always big hits – but just the battles for loose pucks and for ice, it had a big forecheck component to it.

"That part of it and for us to play the way we did, a lot of things we had to fix from the last time we were in Dallas and I thought we accomplished some of that."

The Kings are now 22-13-6 for the season and sit second in the Pacific Division on 50 points, but their coach is only looking as far as the next game, which comes at home to the Boston Bruins on Friday before a trip to the Las Vegas Golden Knights on Sunday, who sit four points ahead of L.A.

"I think we can be [a 100 point team], we're working towards that, but our goal is to become a 52 point team," McLellan added.

"I know that's not what you want to hear but the team coming in here on Thursday, what are they shooting for, their 70th point, that's the type of challenge that we have.

"Then the next game after that, we've got to go into Las Vegas and play and then after that we have Edmonton coming in. So, this string of games right now, every night is a big battle and I think if we start thinking about big numbers and chunks, it's not going to do us any good. One at a time."

A new year may bring fresh hope, but the same old problems were clear to see for Chelsea in their 1-1 draw at Nottingham Forest on Sunday.

A team seemingly stuck in transition and unable to fully adapt to the methods of head coach Graham Potter, Chelsea face a huge battle to even finish in the Premier League top four this season – their absolute minimum target.

Amid all the talk of a struggling attack (only eight other teams have scored fewer goals per game than Chelsea this season), and the need for further freshening up in other areas, the situation regarding the goalkeeping position has all of a sudden gone very quiet.

The opening of the transfer window in recent years, whether prior to the start of a new season or midway through, would lead to strong speculation surrounding the future of Kepa Arrizabalaga.

Not so much this time around, with the Spain international usurping Edouard Mendy since Potter's arrival in September and performing steadily between the sticks in the four months since.

Indeed, it could be argued that Kepa has just about been Chelsea's most consistent performer under Potter, albeit far from perfect in what has been a difficult period for the Blues.

Eight times Kepa has been used in the Premier League this season, each of those appearances coming after Thomas Tuchel's departure, and he has kept a clean sheet in half of those matches.

To put that in some perspective, only Newcastle United's Nick Pope – statistically the best keeper in the division this season – is keeping shutouts at a better rate, with Manchester United's David de Gea and Aaron Ramsdale of Arsenal close behind.

Heading into the midweek round of fixtures, meanwhile, no goalkeeper could boast a better save percentage return than Kepa's 83.3 among those to have played more than once, with Pope (80.7) the closest to him in that category.

While he perhaps could have done a little more to keep out some of the six goals he has conceded, Kepa has yet to commit an error leading to a goal in the Premier League this campaign, unlike De Gea, Mendy, Jordan Pickford (one each) and Hugo Lloris (a competition-leading three) among others.

High-profile errors were for a long time a hallmark of Kepa's game. Not only that, the 28-year-old never seemed to be far from the headlines, a perfect case in point being a little under four years ago when refusing to leave the field after Maurizio Sarri tried to substitute him off in the EFL Cup final.

Three years later, in last season's final at Wembley, it was Kepa's missed spot-kick – the 22nd of a remarkable shoot-out – that led to Liverpool lifting the cup at Chelsea's expense.

There have been plenty of highs and lows in between, but that City match in particular may well come to define Kepa's time at Stamford Bridge, however long it is he remains at the club.

But now at a relative high point of his Chelsea career, the former Athletic Bilbao stopper will be out to prove himself once more when Chelsea and City face off twice in the space of three days this week.

It may well be that Potter opts to rotate for the second of those matches, an FA Cup third-round tie on Sunday, but Thursday's league clash at Stamford Bridge will see Kepa get the nod.

He has a pretty mixed record against City in his five seasons as a Chelsea player, conceding 10 goals in five matches, albeit with six of those coming in a single game in the 2018-19 campaign, and has kept three clean sheets.

"I'm feeling very well, I'm feeling confident with and without the ball. I'm feeling like I'm helping the team when they need it, so I'm happy," Kepa said in October after producing another fine display to keep out Brentford in a goalless draw.

"Of course, every player needs this confidence, this push, and I think for the goalkeeper it's even more important when you have continuity. For a goalkeeper, when you're not playing, in training it's not the same. I have to keep going, I have to keep working."

Keep working he has and, aided perhaps by a slice of luck owing to Mendy's injury problems and reported off-the-field problems, Kepa is now Chelsea's first choice until at least the end of the campaign, bar any surprise January moves.

And on the basis of the numbers alone, there is no real reason why Chelsea should look to change in that department in the long term. Of all goalkeepers in the Premier League this term, only Liverpool's Alison (8.4) has prevented more goals than Kepa on 4.1 – rising to 5.1 when excluding own goals.

Essentially, Kepa has kept out four goals more than expected based on the quality of chances for the opposition, bailing out an underperforming defence a number of times. On three occasions this season, Kepa has had to make five or more saves in a single game.

This may all say just as much about Chelsea's defence, which is stuck between the old and new, as it does Kepa. But as Chelsea prepare for their double-header against City, Kepa can at least afford a little smile as his redemption arc perhaps comes full circle.

Frank Lampard believes he can get Everton back on track, as the pressure grew on the former Chelsea boss following a dismal 4-1 defeat to Brighton and Hove Albion.

Everton were no match for Brighton on Tuesday at Goodison Park, as they were condemned to a fourth Premier League defeat in five games.

Having stayed up by the skin of their teeth last season, Everton sit 16th with 15 points from 18 matches.

Everton might well be in the bottom three by the time they face fellow strugglers Southampton on January 14, but Lampard believes he can turn their fortunes around.

"Since I have been in here we have been in this situation, so it's not a case of fear, it's a case of just keep working," Lampard told reporters when asked if he feared for his future.

"I can't control the talk or the decisions, when you are around this area of the table this is what happens.

"You lose a game like this, I absolutely understand any reaction. I don't listen to too much of it because if you do then it becomes your focal point, so I don't focus on it.

"I'm very confident in myself and will work to turn it around. I can't predict the future. We have to try and win games — it's all we can look at."

Lampard was appointed as Rafael Benitez's successor in January 2022. Of the 36 league games he has overseen, Everton have won just nine (25 per cent), losing 19. 

Three days prior to Tuesday's defeat, Everton had frustrated Manchester City to claim a 1-1 draw at the Etihad Stadium, and Alex Iwobi believes a lack of consistency is the main issue.

"I don't think confidence is the issue," Iwobi told Sky Sports. "We showed how we can play against Man City.

"We can't be one minute good one minute bad. We've got to be consistent. The way we discussed in the changing room now is we all want to fix it.

"I'm confident we can get ourselves out of this."

Everton's hierarchy also faced ire from the fans that remained at Goodison Park on Tuesday, with chants of "sack the board" aimed at the directors' box.

Giannis Antetokounmpo continued his red-hot form on Tuesday as he scored a season-high 55 points in the Milwaukee Bucks' 123-113 win over the Washington Wizards.

His 55-point outburst on 20-of-33 shooting – including an impressive 15-of-16 at the free throw line – comes after games of 43 points and 20 rebounds against the Minnesota Timberwolves on Friday, and 45 points, 22 rebounds against the Chicago Bulls on Wednesday.

In doing so, Antetokounmpo became the first player since Hall-of-Famer Wilt Chamberlain in 1964 to average at least 45 points, 15 rebounds and five assists over a three-game span.

He added 10 rebounds and seven assists against the Wizards, while fellow defensive stalwart Brook Lopez was also terrific. Lopez scored 21 points on 10-of-13 shooting while grabbing 12 rebounds and blocking six shots. 

His 2.7 blocks per game is the best figure among those who have qualified for the league leaderboard by playing at least 70 per cent of their team's games, although Memphis Grizzlies forward Jaren Jackson Jr is averaging 3.1 blocks in his 20 appearances.

Meanwhile, Antetokounmpo boosted his scoring average to 32.8, placing him third in the league, and he is also third in rebounding at 11.8 per game.

With the win, the Bucks are now 24-13, which is tied with the Denver Nuggets for the third-best record overall.

Thunder shock the Celtics

The Oklahoma City Thunder produced one of the more unlikely performances of the season as they broke their franchise scoring record with a 150-117 home win against the league-leading Boston Celtics.

Making the feat even more impressive was the fact that the Thunder were without franchise player and the NBA's fifth-leading scorer Shai Gilgeous-Alexander after he was a late withdrawal due to an illness.

OKC were led by Josh Giddey with 25 points (10-of-15 shooting), five rebounds, five assists and two steals as one of five Thunder players to score at least 20.

The 150 points is the second-most the Celtics have ever conceded in a game as Oklahoma City piled on quarters of 34, 40, 48 and 28 in a completely one-sided contest.

Fox delivers game-winner for the Kings

De'Aaron Fox nailed a game-winning lay-up with under one second remaining to give the Sacramento Kings a 117-115 road win against the Utah Jazz.

Fox led all scorers with 37 points on 15-of-22 shooting, adding six assists, three rebounds, two blocks and a steal. 

He was supported strongly by two-time All-Star Domantas Sabonis, who had 21 points (eight-of-13), 14 rebounds and eight assists to help the Kings into the Western Conference's fifth seed as they seek to break the NBA's longest active playoff drought (2006).

New Orleans Pelicans star Zion Williamson will be reevaluated in three weeks he suffered a right hamstring strain during Monday’s loss to the Philadelphia 76ers, the team announced Tuesday.

Late in the third quarter of Monday’s game, Williamson grabbed a defensive rebound and began pushing the ball in transition, before pulling up sharply as he crossed mid-court, holding his hamstring.

He was evaluated in the locker room by the team’s training staff and did not return to the game.

Imaging on Tuesday revealed a strain that will keep him off the floor until late this month at the earliest.

Williamson’s absence will be a blow to a New Orleans club that has been without co-star Brandon Ingram since November 25 because of a left toe injury.

Despite Ingram’s injury, the Pelicans began Tuesday with the third-best record in the Western Conference at 23-14.

Ingram has begun doing individual shooting drills and appears nearing a return, but C.J. McCollum will likely be asked to carry the offensive load in the meantime.

Larry Nance Jr. would be the most obvious candidate to step into Williamson’s forward spot in the starting lineup, but he has played in just two of the past eight games due to a neck contusion and soreness in his right Achilles tendon. Third-year forward Naji Marshall may fill that role until Nance can return.

Dominant when on the court, Williamson has had his young pro career marred – and perhaps defined – by a series of injuries that have kept him on the sidelines. Since being drafted first overall in 2019, Williamson has played just 114 games, and he missed all of last season with a fractured right foot.

Williamson is averaging 26 points, 7 rebounds and 4.6 assists this season in 29 games.

Buffalo Bills offensive lineman Dion Dawkins said the entire team is "devastated" after witnessing team-mate Damar Hamlin suffer a cardiac arrest during Monday's game against the Cincinnati Bengals.

Hamlin was administered emergency CPR on the field before being loaded into an ambulance and rushed to hospital, with the game being suspended halfway through the first quarter.

The Bills confirmed he is currently sedated and in a critical condition, while Hamlin's uncle Dorrian Glenn told NFL Network that his nephew is on a ventilator.

Speaking to CNN, Dawkins reflected on the frightening moment when he realised this was not a normal situation.

"I seen Tre [Tre’Davious White] turn around, I seen Dane [Jackson] sprint over towards him," he said. 

"You see the medical staff doing their job, when things like this are going on and they’re waving really fast and calling for the elite medical staff, that’s when we realised something is really really wrong.

"In that moment you kind of just realise you really can’t take anything for granted. It’s just a drastic state… you’re thinking 'what can I do?' 

"It immediately breaks you down into prayer, whether you’re a believer or not. In that moment you kind of just have to be vulnerable."

He went on to discuss the risks each player takes every time they step on the field.

"All of us out there, we’re giving our lives to this game," he said. "Not one second of our life is promised, this play has shown this. 

"This play has taken a 24-year-old man to his knee and he’s fighting. This is real life. Football is real, it takes 100 percent to play this game. He gives it his all and he’s still giving it his all to this second.

"Damar is a fighter and he’s going to keep fighting. He’s gonna make it and he’s going to just keep pushing."

He added: "We are all devastated, it’s a shock to all of us. It’s a dramatically unique thing that has happened. 

"We’re all going through it together. We’re all handling it in different ways."

The Brooklyn Nets will look to extend their winning streak to 13 games when they travel to take on the Chicago Bulls on Wednesday.

Brooklyn's current 12-game run is the best streak in the NBA this season, and they are showing no signs of slowing down, with their past two victories against the San Antonio Spurs (139-103) and the Charlotte Hornets (123-106) coming by a combined 53 points.

Over that 12-game span, the Nets have gapped the field as the best offensive team in the league. In fact, their 124.2 points per 100 possessions is 6.0 points better than the second-placed Portland Trail Blazers (118.2).

That gap is greater than the distance between the Trail Blazers and the 24th-ranked Minnesota Timberwolves (112.9).

Their offensive firepower has been ignited by some unbelievable, and perhaps unsustainable efficiency by their All-NBA duo.

Over the past 12 games, Kevin Durant is shooting 59.2 per cent from the field – well above his career-best field goal percentage of 53.7 from his 2016-17 and 2020-21 campaigns. It is the same story for Kyrie Irving, who has led the team with 29.3 points at 54.3 per cent shooting, which would both comfortably set new career-highs.

The all-time record for team three-point percentage in a season belongs to the 1996-97 Charlotte Hornets at 42.7 per cent, while during this stretch the Nets have shot the three-ball at an unprecedented 44.2 per cent.

Unless that pair – who are both in their 30s – as well as the Nets as a whole are truly about to shatter their own personal and franchise records, they will, at some point, have to come back down to earth.

However, there is no indication the Bulls will be the team equipped to stand in their way.

During the Nets' winning streak, the Bulls have had the third-worst defense in the NBA, conceding 119.2 points per 100 possessions.

A big part of that has been their inability to rebound and finish off their defensive possessions. They are allowing 16.8 second-chance points per game – the second-most – while at the same time being the league's worst offensive rebounding team, grabbing only 21.9 per cent of their own misses.

The Bulls have also been the absolute worst team in the league at restricting three-pointers, allowing an average of 15.7 made threes per game at an efficient 38.6 per cent.

But while the three-pointer has been the Nets' best friend and the Bulls' worst enemy, it is also the most volatile method of scoring, and teams will generally regress to the mean over the course of an 82-game season.

It means the Nets will not keep shooting this well, and the Bulls will not continue to get lit up from long range at this rate – and while it is impossible to predict when things will begin to swing in the opposite direction, both teams are due for a change of fortune.

PIVOTAL PERFORMERS

Brooklyn Nets – Kyrie Irving 

While Durant is the Nets' undisputed best player, Irving is the X-factor, and his strong games generally coincide with wins.

Irving is shooting 52.6 per cent from the field and 43.7 per cent from deep in the 18 wins he has been a part of, while those figures plummet to 44.9 per cent from the field and 24.7 per cent on three-pointers in his nine losses.

Chicago Bulls – Zach Lavine

It is a similar story for the Bulls, who have DeMar DeRozan as their consistent centrepiece, but rely on Zach Lavine to bring the additional firepower to a team lacking in three-point threats.

For the season, the Bulls are hitting just 10.6 three-pointers per game – the fourth-worst figure in the league – but in the 15 wins Lavine has played in he has hit 3.5 threes per game at a red-hot 46.1 per cent clip. It is a stark difference to his 2.2 made threes at 30.6 per cent in his 18 losses.

KEY BATTLE – Who can control the paint?

It seems clear that whoever catches fire from long range will likely emerge victorious, but with so much volatility attached to high-volume three-point shooting, it may come down to whichever team gets the easiest baskets.

A diet of lay-ups, dunks and free throws will always be the most sustainable form of offense, and the Nets are a team that lack much true size beyond starting center Nic Claxton.

If Bulls center Nikola Vucevic can impose his will on Claxton early and perhaps get him into foul trouble, it could open up the paint and force Ben Simmons to play extended minutes as the Nets' primary rim protector, which is not where he shines defensively.

HEAD-TO-HEAD

The Bulls have won three of their past four meetings with the Nets, including the most recent fixture on November 1, coming away 108-99 victors after holding Irving to just four points.

The Oklahoma City Thunder will be without their franchise player for Tuesday's home game against the Boston Celtics after Shai Gilgeous-Alexander was ruled out due to an illness.

Gilgeous-Alexander, 24, is in the midst of a breakout season that has him the favourite for the Most Improved Player award.

After averaging 24.5 points per game this past season on shooting splits of 45/30/81, the Canadian has jumped up to 30.8 points per game on 49/35/91 to sit fifth in scoring.

Almost a lock for his first All-Star appearance this season, Gilgeous-Alexander has helped his relatively mediocre Thunder team to a 10-9 home record, although they are 5-12 on the road, leaving them with the sixth-worst record in the league at 15-21.

On the flip-side, the Celtics own the league's best record at 26-11, and the league's best offense, scoring 117.2 points per 100 possessions. Meanwhile, the Thunder are way down with the 24th-ranked offense (110.5) despite Gilgeous-Alexander playing all but three games.

Antonio Conte acknowledges he will have to leave Tottenham if he can no longer accept the club's position as unlikely Premier League and Champions League contenders.

Spurs approach Wednesday's Premier League trip to Crystal Palace five points adrift of fourth-placed Manchester United after suffering a dismal 2-0 defeat against Aston Villa on New Year's Day.

Tottenham have now won just one of their past four Premier League games either side of the World Cup break, and their poor run has added fuel to speculation regarding Conte's future.

The former Chelsea, Juventus and Inter boss has been linked with an exit on several occasions since taking the reins in November 2021.

While Conte is content at Tottenham for now, he says his commitment to the club can only last while he remains comfortable with their inability to compete for major honours.   

"My task is to help the club, to create a base, and then to try to improve," Conte said on Tuesday.

"If you say to me, 'the challenge for you is to win the Premier League, to win the Champions League'… This is not the task in this moment.

"I found the club in a difficult position for many reasons. Now my task – I understand it very well – is to help the club go in the right direction and to create a foundation.

"Then, if I am satisfied to continue to do this work and to one day see the result, I will continue to stay. If I'm not convinced 100 per cent, then I can leave my work.

"This is my big challenge here. If I want to stay here, then I have to accept this. Otherwise, if I don't want to accept this, then I have to go."

Spurs supporters vented their frustration towards chairman Daniel Levy during Sunday's loss to Villa, but Conte outlined the need for unity.

Asked about audible chants calling for Levy to leave at Tottenham's last game, Conte said: "Honestly, I did not hear this. 

"All I can say is it is important in this moment to have togetherness between fans, players and the club. We must stick together.

"I understand fans want to win trophies and be competitive, but to go to this step you need to create a base. I can't tell you anything different."

Michael Smith wants to "take over the sport" after becoming world champion for the first time with a stunning 7-4 victory over Michael van Gerwen in an epic final on Tuesday.

Smith is a two-time runner-up at Alexandra Palace, having been beaten in the 2019 and 2022 finals by Van Gerwen and Peter Wright respectively, but he finally got over the line with a stunning display in which he hit a nine-dart finish - only the second time that has been done in a PDC World Championship final.

After Van Gerwen won the opening set, they took a leg each in the second before an extraordinary third leg, with the Dutchman missing double 12 for a nine-dart finish, only for Smith to step up to the oche and take out 141 for the nine-darter himself and send the crowd into ecstasy.

The match continued to be a topsy-turvy affair, with Van Gerwen looking to have seized control by taking a three sets to one lead, only for Smith to roar back and win four sets on the spin to open up a 6-3 advantage.

Van Gerwen pulled it back to 6-4, but Smith sunk in double-eight with the 11th set tied at two apiece to win the title, as well as become world number one.

Asked how being described as a world champion sounded, Smith told Sky Sports: "[It] sounds amazing. I don't want to start getting into the crying and emotions.

"Michael let me off there, and for once I finally took a chance I didn't deserve. I want to apologise to Michael, I've been in that position.

"It's 1-1 now in the worlds. I took my chances, but he knows and I do that it won't be the last world final between us. He is the best player in darts, I've said it for years, and you have to take your chances and I finally did that.

"I want to do what this man has [Van Gerwen] done, I want to take over the sport."

Smith says the crowd spurred him on to hit the incredible nine-dart finish, explaining: "I didn't hit a nine-darter in practice today but I keep going 180, 180, miss, so I thought, 'Do one now, give the crowd what they deserve.'

Van Gerwen was humble in defeat after missing out on the opportunity to become a four-time world champion, stating: "He played really well. I had my chances, we all know that.

"When you don't hit them, he'll throw everything at you. You can only blame yourself, but it doesn’t take anything away [from Smith] because he played brilliantly all the way through.

"I wasn't what I wanted to be, but that’s part of the game and you have to take it on the chin.

"It's part of the job unfortunately. When we celebrate it's a nice job, and when we lose games it's hard. We all know that."