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THE World Grand Prix will miss a huge player this year after a former world champion has failed to make the tournament for the first time.

Michael Smith, 34, has been ever-present in the tournament since his first appearance in 2012, but will fall short of qualification for this year’s event.

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Smith’s position at 21st in the PDC Order of Merit and 34th on the PDC Pro Tour Order of Merit means that he has been unable to qualify for the Leicester tournament.

It comes after a year of injury and struggle at the oche, which has seen Bully Boy fail to win an event on the PDC circuit.

In fact, Smith has only got past the quarter-finals on two occasions in 2025 – doing so at the Players Championship 10 and 14.

His last tournament win came back in May 2024, beating Ryan Joyce 8-6 to win last year’s Players Championship 9.

It’s a stark contrast to the year he had in 2023, a campaign in which he was crowned world champion.

Smith has been battling with arthritis in his right wrist, an issue that was caused by breaking both his wrists when he was 19.

While he also has a grade two acromioclavicular joint injury in his shoulder, leading to a host of missed tournaments that have hampered his ability to rack up enough prize money to reach the top 16 in the world rankings.

Smith isn’t the only big name star that will miss out on the World Grand Prix either.

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Fellow ever-present Dimitri Van den Bergh will also be absent from the tournament.

The Belgian thrower, 31, has made the decision to focus on his life away from the oche after opening up about experiencing burnout from the intense darts schedule.

As well as taking more time to spend with family after welcoming his second daughter in July, that decision has meant Van den Bergh has missed a slew of tournaments and is all the way back at 98th on the Pro Tour Order of Merit.

He misses out on the competition for the first time since 2019.

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AN OAP tried to smuggle £640,000 of cocaine into the UK by stashing it in his mobility scooter.

Canadian Ronald Lord, 71, said he had been on holiday in Barbados and was here for sightseeing when stopped at Gatwick.

Border Force officers put his scooter through an X-ray machine and found 8kg of the Class A drug hidden within the back-panel of his seat.

He denied knowing how the coke got there, but a screw from the panel was discovered in his pocket in the February search.

Lord admitted drug smuggling at Croydon crown court and was jailed for six years.

Richard Wickham, from the National Crime Agency, said: “Organised crime groups need smugglers like Lord to bring class A drugs into the UK.

“They are sold for huge profit by gangs who deal in violence and exploitation.

“He obviously thought that because he was a pensioner he would be less of a target for law enforcement.

“He was wrong.

“I hope this case sends out a message to anyone who would consider doing the same.”

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