#463: Raymond Smith, Ben Francis, World Series Down Under Special

Alex Moss is back with a new episode of your go-to darts podcast ahead of the World Series double header Down Under!   Raymond Smith (1:41) joins the show ahead of making his first appearance on the World Series in eight years. 'The Guru' reflects on his last 12 months on the oche, reaching the final of the inaugural ANZ Premier League and going back to Lakeside at the back end of 2025, along with an impressive first half of 2026 which has seen him win five titles on the ADA circuit so far this season. Raymond discusses the continued growth of darts in Australasia, including the introduction of the Trans-Tasman Championship and an Australia vs New Zealand Test Match later this year, as well as his own plans for the future including a possible trip to Q-School.   Ben Francis (19:17) also calls in ahead of a busy fortnight of World Series events coming up in New Zealand and Australia. Ben looks back on last year's New Zealand Darts Masters, the first to be held in Auckland's Spark Arena, and Luke Littler's astonishing 115 average in the final against Luke Humphries, before looking ahead to this year's double header of events. The multimedia sports journalist for the NZ Herald takes a deep dive into darts in New Zealand, including Jonny Tata's emergence and Ally Pally debut last year, Ben Robb making a deep run at Lakeside, and Nicole Regnaud impressing on the predominantly-male DPNZ circuit and qualifying for the inaugural Trans-Tasman Championship as one of the top 16 players on the tour.   *** Get your own Alex Moss replica shirt (as worn by our co-host at the Las Vegas Open 2026) from DJD here! A % of the profits will be donated to The Ethan King Fund for Ewing Sarcoma Research *** This podcast is brought to you in association with Darts Corner - the number one online darts retailer! Darts Corner offers the widest selection of darts products from over 30 different manufacturers.  This podcast is sponsored by Darts Atlas - the platform for darts players, venues, and organisations. Darts Atlas is the home of the Amateur Darts Circuit (ADC) with hundreds of tournaments held on the platform every week.  Have you used Darts Atlas before? Share your feedback and experiences with Darts Atlas with us by sending an email to [email protected] and be in with a chance of winning some new logo Weekly Dartscast stickers! Check out Condor Darts here: UK site *** Enjoy our podcast? Make a one-off donation on our new Ko-Fi page here: ko-fi.com/weeklydartscast Support us on Patreon from just $2(+VAT): patreon.com/WeeklyDartscast Thank you to our Patreon members: Phil Moss, Gordon Skinner, Connor Ellis