Daryl Gurney more determined than ever after Ally Pally revival

Following a hugely frustrating season, ‘Superchin’ showed he’s far from a spent force in the sport on the biggest stage with a stunning run to the quarter-finals at the Alexandra Palace.

The two-times major winner produced superb performances against Willie O’Connor, Chris Dobey and Vincent van der Voort before losing out to eventual world champion, Gerwyn Price in an epic nine set classic on New Year’s Day.

Losing to the newly installed World No.1 was no consolation for missing out on an historic semi-final appearance for an Irishman but Gurney showed he still has the passion and the skillset to challenge for the game’s biggest prizes.

“It was only a matter of time before I took my practise game onto the stage and eventually it came at the biggest tournament in the world,” reflected Gurney.

“I still would’ve preferred if it had come six months earlier.

“I’ve been playing now for 22 years and I love darts now more than I ever did,” he claimed. “I’m as passionate about it as I was whenever I picked up my first dart.

“I’m not finished for a long while yet and, if anything, I’m more determined than ever. The players coming through, the standard is unbelievable. But I’m still one of the best players in the world and I still believe I haven’t played my best.

“I still need to improve bits of my game and if I can do that and take it to tournaments, I’ll be even harder to beat,” added the 2017 World Grand Prix champion.

Gurney missed the cut for the upcoming 2021 Premier League Darts tournament which reverts back to its original 10-player format.

The 10th and final spot, however, remains up for grabs and having failed to qualify for the first time in three years as he slipped outside the top 10 rankings, Gurney hasn’t given up hope of making it four in a row at the glamorous, money-spinning roadshow.

The new campaign was scheduled to begin at Cardiff’s Motorpoint Arena on February 4th but has been postponed due to heightened Covid-19 restrictions.

It’s likely to get underway around Easter with the final participant expected to be announced after the season-opening Ladbrokes Masters tournament later this month.

That’s set to begin on January 29th at Milton Keynes where Gurney enters the first round against Dutchman, Jeffrey de Zwann as world championships semi-finalist, Dave Chisnall awaits the winner.

World No.11 seed, Gurney hopes he can pick up where he left off at the Ally Pally.

“I was inside the top 10 until Gary (Anderson) made it to the final,” he explained. “Once he made the final, he moved from behind me up into No.8 in the world rankings. If he had got beat at any other stage he would’ve probably gone behind me and I would’ve stayed in the top 10.

“But I’ve had the three years in the Premier League and you can’t really put me in the Premier League based on one good World Championships.

“They’re right not to put me in but at the same time I’m more determined now. I’ve got a few months now before the Premier League to see if I can put my name forward to still get that 10th spot.”

Gurney’s 2020 Covid-interupted season didn’t get off to a good start but he insists he won’t make the same mistakes this year.

“Whenever the tournaments got the go aheadat the last minute I needed probably a good month’s practice to get ready. I wasn’t ready. I’ll not make the same mistake this year.

“Any time I thought they were going to cancel a tournament last year it went ahead so I won’t have the same mentality this year and I’ll be ready for every tournament.”

The 34 years-old former plumber seems to have got his mindset right and his scoring and finishing was of the highest order at the worlds.

He puts that down to a change in his practice regime and he’s feeling a lot more confident when the pressure is on at the oche.

“I think it was bad board management beforehand whenever it came to practising before games. I was burning myself out. If I was bad on a treble or bad on a double I was taking that into games and had no confidence I would hit them.

“Whereas leading up to the Worlds I was practising for 20 minutes, took a break for half an hour and then went about my business.

"If I was poor on something I just told myself I would get it right on the game or when practising just before I go on stage. That’s just how I went about it.”

It certainly worked a charm at the ‘Ally Pally’ as he took Price all the way in that emotionally charged last eight clash which had fans on the edge of their seats with 24 maximums and five ton-plus finishes.

Gurney had a chance for a 108 checkout to win the match but failed to put a dent in it and the Welshman hit tops to book a semi-final place.

While he admits the best player on the night won, he can boast that he won more legs than Price in his match against the 2021 world champion.

“I was always behind so I didn’t really ever get the chance to take out a double for the match. Don’t get me wrong I would’ve loved to have taken out that 108 to be in front for the first time would’ve been great.

“I think, all in all, the better player won, even though I won more legs than him.

“At least that can be my claim to fame. - the person who won the World Championships, I won more legs in a game in our quarter-final,” he laughed.

Having enjoyed the remainder of the festive period with his two year-old son, Daryl, he’s recharged and ready to get back to business.

“It’s good to get back to see Daryl and spend Christmas with him as I didn’t get any time to see him enjoy his new toys and stuff but I’m still on the practice board trying to keep up the form so whatever tournament comes about I’ll be ready,” claimed the Waterside man.