Peter Wright beats Michael Smith to win second title
Smith 5-7 Wright
Scotland's Wright storms back from 5-4 down to take trophy
Wright, 51, won the 2020 title, beating Michael van Gerwen after finishing runner-up to him in 2014
Smith, 31, was also beaten by Van Gerwen in the 2019 showpiece
Michael Smith said he wants to rectify his mistakes from the 2019 final and one of them is hopefully not breaking his hand during the match.
‘Bully Boy’ Smith was so angry at 3-0 down he punched a wall, breaking his left hand, during the interval in the last, and only, World Championship final he was involved in when he eventually lost 7-3 to Michael van Gerwen.
And here's the head-to-head stats for this tournament...
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There's the small matter of £500,000 in prize money to play for tonight (just £200,000 for the runner-up) over the best of 13 sets - and Peter Wright enters the final as the favourite.
Given the stats below, that's perhaps no surprise. Can this be the breakthrough moment that Michael Smith - a perennial major runner-up or semi-finalist - has long threatened?
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Siân Price
BBC Sport at Alexandra Palace
Peter Wright said last night after his 6-4 semi-final victory he 'felt liquid building up underneath the bottom of the knee cap' which was causing him some pain on the oche.
Since arriving at the Palace to prepare, 'Snakebite' says his knee is much better today so it shouldn't be causing him any trouble during the game.
Image source, Getty ImagesMuch like the previous round, 50% of the last eight were absolute corkers.
While James Wade and Gary Anderson cruised past Mervyn King and Luke Humphries respectively, there was utter drama elsewhere.
Price's defence of his maiden world title came to an end with the Welshman - not for the first time - unhappy about his treatment at the hands of the crowd as he was edged out 5-4 by Michael Smith.
Smith's fellow would-be finalist Wright also had to come through an ordeal, battling back from 3-1 down to beat impressive youngster Callan Rydz.
Four of the eight last-16 ties went to a deciding set and each was a classic in its own right.
Veteran Mervyn King came from 3-1 down to beat unseeded Australian Raymond Smith while Luke Humphries outlasted fellow Englishman Chris Dobey.
But the standout games featured two pairs of big-hitters as Gary Anderson hung on in the face of a revival from fellow former world champion Rob Cross and Michael Smith edged a dramatic and unforgettable tussle with Jonny Clayton.
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Image source, Getty ImagesThe last 32 provided drama on and off the oche - with three-time champion Michael van Gerwen forced to withdraw from the tournament after a positive Covid test.
His fellow Dutchman Vincent van der Voort was also forced to pull out, as was England's 14th seed Dave Chisnall.
Defending champion Price survived another scare, coming from behind to beat Kim Huybrechts 4-3 in a sudden-death deciding leg.
Anderson and Cross, meanwhile, set up a mouthwatering last-16 meeting by winning 4-3 thrillers against Ian White and Daryl Gurney respectively.
The last 32 yielded a string of surprise results as 2021 semi-finalist Stephen Bunting, former Premier League winner Glen Durrant, ex-World Championship runner-up Simon Whitlock and fifth seed Dimitri van den Bergh all departed.
World number one Gerwyn Price survived a scare against unknown Ritchie Edhouse, while Price's compatriot and eighth seed Jonny Clayton came from behind to win an absolute thriller against Irish youngster Keane Barry.
Scotland' Alan Soutar produced one of the performamces of the tournament as he survived match darts from 2-0 down to beat Austrian 26th seed Mensur Suljovic, while Gary Anderson and Rob Cross each triumphed 3-1 in battles against fellow former world champions Adrian Lewis and Raymond van Barneveld.
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Image source, Getty ImagesThe 2022 PDC World Championship has been, without doubt, one of the competition's greatest editions - and the drama began from the very start.
Fallon Sherrock was unable to replicate her heroics of two years previous when she reached the last 32 - but it was not for the want of trying as she fell 3-2 to former world champion Steve Beaton in a nail-biting preliminary round tussle.
That game was far from the only entertainment in the opening stages as the raucous Ally Pally audience were thrilled by two nine-dart finishes before Christmas.
Scotland's Willie Borland produced one of the most memorable perfect legs of all time to win a fifth-set decider against fellow youngster Bradley Brooks, while Lithuania's Darius Labanauskas also hit a nine-darter but still lost to Belgium's Mike de Decker.
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Darts is a game for the people - as proven by the capacity crowds at the Ally Pally each year - and we want to hear your thoughts on the final tonight.
But, also, let us know of your brushes with darting royalty on and off the oche - for example I once got down to a double (still lost) against former PDC star Andy 'The Pieman' Smith at a pub exhibition, albeit that probably owed more to the number of complimentary pints he'd been offered than any quality on my part.
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Siân Price
BBC Sport at Alexandra Palace
It’s a sellout tonight in north London, 3,100 fans will be enjoying the action in the arena at Alexandra Palace.
Here's what Michael Smith and Peter Wright are vying for - one of sport's most iconic trophies, named after, without doubt, one of sport's most iconic commentators, the late, great, Sid Waddell.
Image source, Getty ImagesNinth seed Smith - runner-up to Michael van Gerwen in his solitary previous Ally Pally final appearance in 2019 - has arguably had a tougher route to his second World final than Wright.
The St Helens thrower's quarter-final win over defending champion and world number one Gerwyn Price grabbed the headlines but he had to outlast Grand Prix and Premier League winner Jonny Clayton prior to that and multiple major champion James Wade in the semis.
Scotlnad's Peter Wright relatively cruised through his opening three tests, albeit he had to come from behind against Australia's Damon Heta in round three.
But he showed real bottle to prevail from 3-1 down against explosive youngster Callan Rydz in the quarter-final before holding off fellow Scot Gary Anderson in that semi-final classic.
If tonight's final is half the match that Peter Wright's semi-final triumph over two-time champion Gary Anderson was, we're in for an absolute treat.
Not only was it one of the games of a tournament - no mean feat after some of the classics we have been treated to over the past three weeks - it was one of the highest-quality World Championship matches of all time.
The pair combined for a frankly ridiculous 39 180s - including a record-breaking 24 from Wright as he prevailed 6-4 in a match where both players averaged more than 100 per three-dart visit.
Smith also broke the three-figure average mark in his 6-3 win over James Wade - and with the form both finalists are in, we can expect fireworks at the Ally Pally tonight.
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Image source, Getty ImagesJust under three weeks ago, 96 players began the PDC World Darts Championship at the Alexandra Palace dreaming of lifting the Sid Waddell Trophy.
Now, only two remain, as Michael Smith and Peter Wright engage in a titanic tungsten tussle for the title on the third day of the new year.
Will 'Snakebite' Wright, the 2020 champion, produce the venom needed to become a multiple titlist?
Or will 'Bully Boy' Smith grab the final by its horns and lift the trophy for the first time?