My arm was hurting me by the end of the day which is why I didn't play well in the final match against Adrian Lewis

STUDLEY'S Andy Smith is aiming to take the momentum gained from his performance at last week's Championship League Darts (CLD) event into the Skybet World Grand Prix which begins at Dublin's Citywest International Event & Conference Centre on Monday.
The Pieman picked up a healthy £1,300 in prize money for his efforts in Group Six of the CLD in winning three of his seven matches against some of the biggest names in the game and, by staying out of the bottom two of the eight players, will return to Essex's Crondon Park Golf Club for Group Seven on October 20.
The event, which is based on world rankings, saw Smith enter at the Group Six stage and sees the winning player from each group qualify for the Winners' Group final on October 22, for which six players - James Wade, Phil Taylor, Mervyn King, Mark Walsh, Wayne Mardle and Colin Osborne - have already booked their place.
Smith therefore has two more chances to book his place in the grand final as there are eight group stages but, regardless of progress to the final day or not, he was delighted to earn the £1,300 from a day's work last Thursday as he earned £50 for each leg won and claimed 6-5, 6-5 and 6-3 victories over Wayne Jones, Denis Ovens and Mark Dudbridge respectively, which left him in good touch ahead of his visit to Ireland.
"It was a pretty good day for me," said Smith, the world number 24 who faces Dutchman Vincent van der Voort in the first round of the World Grand Prix on Monday - a best of three sets match which can be seen on Sky Sports.
"I played some really good darts and also some not so good but that will happen in a day-long event.
"It's a good format and another one of the events which rewards players for their efforts at the floor tournaments over the year because if you earn the right to qualify you can see the good money which it offers.
"My arm was hurting me by the end of the day which is why I didn't play well in the final match against Adrian Lewis, but it's fine now and I am really looking forward to playing Vincent in Dublin.
"He's a good player but I feel confident and if I can make the second round then a game against Colin Lloyd or John Part is not a bad draw. No disrespect to them, they are great players, but the draw could have been worse given the current form of some players."
Smith is targeting a place in the world's top 16 in the near future and knows that this ambition, despite his consistent performances at floor tournaments, will be given a bigger boost by good performances at televised tournaments, of which Dublin brings such a chance.
He added: "My arm has played up before and cost me on TV, but I'm fitter now and really believe that perhaps getting to the semis in Dublin is within my reach.
"I like the double to start format as I was brought up playing that way in the Studley League and it's a good tournament because that format rewards more than just heavy scoring.
"I'm ready for it but as I always say it's hard to set targets because it's all about performance on the day."