Michael Smith considered himself darts' equivalent of Andy Murray after beating Michael van Gerwen to land his maiden world title triumph.

The 32-year-old claimed a 7-4 victory in Tuesday's thrilling PDC World Championship final at Alexandra Palace in London, which included a perfect nine-dart leg in the second set.

Smith, who had lost eight successive major finals before his breakthrough triumph at the Grand Slam of Darts in November, is now the world number one as a result of his victory.

He is just the 11th winner of the tournament in its 30-year history, with Phil Taylor having won it 14 times prior to his retirement in 2018.

And Smith believes there are parallels to tennis star Murray's memorable 2012 US Open final win against Novak Djokovic – his first of three grand slam triumphs after four final defeats.

"I'm like the Andy Murray of darts," Smith told Sky Sports. "He has come through with these three amazing players in [Roger] Federer, [Rafael] Nadal and Djokovic.

"He managed to get Queen's and then won the US Open, Wimbledon, and Wimbledon again, and he had to work hard for that. 

"I know he got to world number one and then, unluckily for him, he had his injuries, although it didn't cost him his career as he's still playing now."

Five different players have now had their name on darts' biggest trophy in the past six years, with Peter Wright the only multiple winner in that period. 

"Back in the day it was Phil Taylor and someone who pushed him," Smith said. "Barney [Raymond van Barneveld] was there, Adie [Adrian Lewis] pushed him for a bit as well. 

"Then Michael [Van Gerwen] came along, then you've got Gary Anderson, Peter Wright and Gez [Gerwyn Price].

"You've got really unbelievable players where anyone in the top 32 can win a TV title and it's not just Phil Taylor dominating the sport. The sport is wide open now, which is good."

Smith averaged 100.71 across the 11 sets, with that the highest in the World Championship final since Van Gerwen's 102.88 three years ago when losing to Wright (102.79).

Peter Wright captured his second PDC World Championship title after a 7-5 victory over Michael Smith in the final at Alexandra Palace.

The Scotsman claimed the top prize of £500,000 as he became the sixth multiple winner of darts' blue-riband event after Phil Taylor, John Part, Adrian Lewis, Gary Anderson and Michael van Gerwen.

It was his fourth title of the season, having already won the World Matchplay, Players Championship Finals and World Cup of Darts.

Wright, who also lifted the Sid Waddell trophy in 2020, was appearing in his third world final having hit 24 180s during his 6-4 win over compatriot Anderson in the semi-finals.

The 51-year-old took a 2-0 lead but 2019 runner-up Smith – who hit a record 83 maximums during the tournament – won five of the next seven sets to move two away from victory at 5-4 up.

However, Wright was not to be denied. The world number two, who also captured the World Matchplay title in July, averaged 113.93 during the next three sets as he won nine of the next 10 legs, before securing the crown on double 16.

Three-time champion Michael van Gerwen has withdrawn from the PDC World Darts Championship after testing positive for coronavirus on Tuesday.

The Dutchman's positive test was revealed ahead of his match against Chris Dobey, who receives a bye into the last 16 at Alexandra Palace.

World number three Van Gerwen's compatriots Raymond van Barneveld and Vincent van der Voort also returned positive tests at the tournament in London.

Five-time champion Van Barneveld tested positive following his second-round defeat to 2018 winner Rob Cross.

Van der Voort was unable to play James Wade on Monday after discovering that he had contracted COVID-19.

The PDC stated that the evening session on Tuesday would go ahead, with Cross up against Daryl Gurney and 2020 champion Peter Wright meeting Damon Heta.

Eddie Hearn will succeed his father Barry Hearn as the chairman of Matchroom Sport.

Hearn Sr founded Matchroom in 1982, with the company best known for its involvement in elite boxing, darts and snooker.

Eddie, who was already the head of Matchroom Boxing, will take on a host of new roles in the group, including becoming the chairman of the boxing division and of the PDC.

Steve Dawson will replace Barry as the chairman of World Snooker following the 2021 World Snooker Championship.

Hearn Sr, who will become president of the group in an advisory role, said: "It has been a huge honour to have worked with some of the greatest sports people on the planet across the last 40 years and enjoyed so many wonderful experiences across our spectrum of events in that time."

His son added: "We have seen astounding growth in the last 10 years but we have only just begun.

"I look forward to continuously evolving and continuing the global growth of this astonishing family business."

Eddie Hearn is in the process of negotiating a heavyweight unification bout between British rivals Anthony Joshua and Tyson Fury.

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