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Topics: Darts
Nasir Jabbar
A PDC card holder was banned for eight months for punching his opponent in a moment of rage.
Adam Smith-Neale was suspended by the Darts Regulation Authority after assaulting his opponent at the Nuneaton Darts Open.
In footage that was captured on CCTV, Smith-Neale's opponent offered his hand before the former PDC World Championship competitor punched his rival in the face.
He could be seen hitting out at his opponent in shocking scenes.
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Smith-Neale was hit with an eight-month ban after he was filmed striking his fellow darts player after losing his match at the amateur event in 2024.
The ex-BDO competitor was immediately suspended by the Darts Regulation Authority and later received a ban.
Smith-Neale returned to darts after serving his ban and was involved in a few tournaments, including the Modus Super Series.
The 32-year-old, who regained his PDC Tour card in 2023 after a five-year absence, expressed no regrets over the controversial incident and revealed he would do it again.
"It was on a Saturday afternoon in a local near where I live in Nuneaton," he explained.
"I was in the semi-final of this tournament and playing a lad who is just a couple of years older than me.
"There was a bit of needle, and he made threats towards me, which plenty of people heard.
"Then my mum got involved and he had a go back at her, making threats also. It was kind of decided between us that we would sort things out after the match.
"Then as he threw the winning dart and walked to retrieve it from the board, he made a derogatory comment under his breath. Well, it was loud enough to clearly hear.
"So, when he turned round, I gave him a kind of hard slap, which I guess looked like a punch on the video footage.
"They told me I was suspended pending an investigation for bringing the game into disrepute."
Smith-Neale added: "If someone threatens my family, I would do the same thing again."