When did you start playing darts? When did it start getting ‘serious’?
I started playing darts about 6 years ago when i was 42, i suppose it got serious after the first year when i realised i was quite good at it. Started playing Superleague in my second year and then got picked for Essex County at the start of my third year, where i won 9 matches out of 9 which qualified me for the Winmau World Masters at Hull..i got to the TV stages where i was beaten by Andrew Gilding..
What darts do you use?
I use a copy of the Dennis Priestly's which Target Darts made for me, 25 gram.
Who do you play your non PDC darts for?
I only play for one team and that is Southend in the Essex Superleague, where we won the League last year.
What darting ambitions do you have?
My darting ambitions are quite tame really, i would like to get into the Top 64 of the PDC for starters then go from there, but I'm 48 years old so i cant expect to take over the world..lol, Also would like to play at the Ally Pally.
What’s your favourite tournament?
My favourite tournament is probably the UK open, where i have managed to get to the Friday for the last three years, getting beat by MVG and Andy Hamilton so didnt do too bad.
Describe your throw in 3 words?
Brilliant at times.
What was the highlight of 2012?
Had a few highlights in 2012, mainly getting my Pro Tour card at Q school on the first day.. getting to a quarter finals on the tour in my first year and getting in the last 32 of the UK open qualifiers where every player in the PDC had to compete.
What do you do to relax away from darts?
I go fishing..Carp and Match fishing.
Tell me something we don’t know about you?
I've had 18 Century Breaks in Snooker, my highest 118... but was a long time ago.
Do you have any darts weaknesses?
My main darts weakness at the moment is lack of consistancy.
Whats your walk-on tune and If not that what else would you walk on tune be?
Night Boat to Cairo....Madness. If not then probably The Birdie Song.
Do you take much notice of the social media side of darts i.e: Twitter, Facebook etc
I use Twitter and Facebook quite a lot, easy to keep intouch with fellow Pro's and keep up with whats going on.
When your not playing do you enjoy watching any other players play? Who?
I enjoy watching the darts on the TV, PDC and BDO...dont tend to watch that many games on the tour, mainly friends.. My wife sponsors 3 young players on the Challenge and Youth tour so enjoy watching them play, and i love watching Adrian Lewis, makes it look so easy.
Do you have any darting heroes?
Adie Lewis, Phillip Taylor.
Have you always wanted to be a darts pro? If you hadn’t of been that what would you be doing now?
I never thought about playing darts on the Pro Tour, I still work as well where I am a Cabinet Maker...Happy to carry on working and trying to enjoy playing the best players in the world.
Do you enjoy the practice side of darts?
I love the Practice side, whether on my own or with someone, try to do at least 2-3 hours a day.. would like to do more but work makes it very hard... i believe that is the difference in going to the next level, hard to do whilst working.
Do you have any funny printable darts stories you can tell me?
Not really that i can think of, I recently played young Ben Ward, a fantastic talent, and the first four legs i finished on 160,110,161 and 164..I beat Ben 6-0 and the look on his face was only surpassed by the surprised look of my own at what had just happened...Dont want to play him again as he's going to want to smash me all over the board, these youngsters have no fear..
If you could change the outcome of a match you have played in what would it be?
If I could change the outcome of a match it would probably be my game against Colin Osbourne in Austria in my first year, I was totally in charge of the match, was 4-2 up and missed 6 darts at tops to break Colin and go 5-2 up with the throw in the next, he came back and beat me. if i had won that game i would of qualified for the World Championships at the Ally Pally.... The other game that sticks out was my quarter final match against Ian White, I had been playing awesome darts all day and to get to a quarters in the first few months of being on the tour was unbelievable and i was so hyped up and happy to get there i switched off and just didnt focus.. Ian gave me a telling off afterwards and I have learned a valuable lesson there...
A big thank you to Richie for doing this interview, it was a pleasure.
This interview was done by Richard on 19th February 2014.
No comments:
Post a Comment