Michael Smith ready to defend his ranking at World Darts ...

Former world champion Michael Smith heads to Alexandra Palace defending a lot of ranking money but insists his only focus is winning the whole thing.

Smith has been inconsistent ever since he won his maiden world title in January 2023, admitting to spending a year celebrating completing his dream, the St Helens man hitting a nine-darter on the way to being crowned champion of the world.

In May, he then picked up his first ranking title in 11 months before winning the World Cup of Darts alongside Luke Humphries, giving glimpses of the sensational talent every darts fan knows he possesses.

Due to the PDC's two-year Order of Merit system, Smith needs a good run at the Worlds just to stay in the top 10, a feat many would see as pressurised, especially as a former world no 1.

However, Smith maintains that he only has one focus and that is becoming a two-time world champion and from that, the rankings will sort themselves.

But if he were ever to drop out of the top 64, you wont be seeing 'BullyBoy' at Q School.

"I really don't (think about it), because the only thing that stresses me out now is the questions about that. But I'm not bothered about it, because I'm not going to fall out of the top 16," Smith said.

"I might fall out of the top 10 if I don't pull my finger out, but it means next year then, because I've virtually took a year now, I've got nothing to defend.

"So I've got probably about £120,000 to defend next year, so I'll be back to work along anyway. So next year, not bothered, no pressure, I just want to play darts. The other side of that, my management team can worry about it, my family can worry about it, I just want to play.

"As long as I don't fall out of 64, because then I'll retire then. If I fall out of 64, I won't do Q School, because I know I wasn't good enough, so I'll just literally start something else."

With so much at stake and a mixed year so far, Smith knows he could turn up at Alexandra Palace and turn a 50/50 year into a brilliant year and with that in mind, his "bare minimum" target is a run to the semi-finals.

"Every time I play, I want to win. So the main goal is just to win the World Championships. The bare minimum I'd want is at least a semi-final. Even then, semis, I'd lose £400,000 on my ranking," Smith added.

"But semis for me is bare minimum, but I'm only turning up to win. Like you shouldn't think about, I'd love to get to the third round of the World's, or the last 16, you want to be the World Champion. That's my main target, my only target, is winning.

"It is all going down to December 15 when a month of the Worlds starts. If I can have my game ready for that, or win the Worlds, my year's been amazing again.

"So it's just that one event that we worked 12 months for, win that, and then everything's forgotten about then.

"The Ally Pally, there's no better feeling, especially when you're standing on that stage as well. You spent 12 months of the year trying to get there, you're finally there, and you don't want to blow it then. That's the only bit of pressure on yourself that you think, forget being out, it's been a wasted year."

The tournament gets under way at Alexandra Palace on Sunday December 15, with three first-round matches and one second-round match on the opening evening.

There will be live darts over each of the following eight days, including seven afternoon sessions, with the usual three-day break from Christmas Eve to Boxing Day before returning with the third round and a double session on December 27.

The third and fourth rounds will be completed by December 30 before a night off on New Year's Eve, with the quarter-finals held across two sessions on New Year's Day ahead of the semi-finals on January 2 and the final on Friday January 3.

The full day-by-day schedule for this year's tournament can be found here.

Who will win the Paddy Power World Darts Championship? Watch every match exclusively live from December 15-January 3 on Sky Sports' dedicated darts channel. Stream darts and more top sport with NOW.