Nathan Aspinall hoopt dat de herinneringen die hij van de vorige editie van het William Hill World Darts Championship heeft meegenomen hem helpen in het toernooi van dit jaar.
Vorig jaar was Aspinall 500/1 bij de bookmakers voorafgaand aan het wereldkampioenschap. Hij haalde ondanks dat de halve finales van het toernooi, en won daarmee £100.000 in prijzengeld.
De UK Open kampioen van 2019 is nu de nummer 12 op de wereldranglijst en Aspinall geeft toe dat zijn resultaten van vorig jaar erg motiverend werken in de voorbereidingen voor dit jaar.
ASPINALL: "I've got some happy memories from last year and hopefully this year I can be more relaxed from the start, perform well straight from the off and hopefully go one further,
I've had a really good year. The last couple of months hasn't gone how I'd have like it to have gone but I've still been playing well.
I proved that with hard work, self-belief and dedication you can achieve a lot of things in the world of darts.
I've always believed in my own ability but did I think I'd reach the heights that I have this year so quick into my career? Probably not, but I have done so you've got to build on that.
I enjoy it, I've always got a smile on my face because I'm playing with the best players in the world, I'm enjoying my life, my family is secure and every time I walk on stage I think how my life could be if I wasn't doing this.
At the end of the day I know how good I am, but now the fans are seeing how good I am and they believe that I'm one of the best players in the world, so I'm obviously doing something right.
I do believe I belong with these tops boys but because it's happened so quickly it's hard for me to process it all, but I'm loving it."
Het William Hill World Darts Championship wordt gehouden van 13 december 2019 t/m 1 januari 2020 in het Alexandra Palace in Londen.
© Foto: Professional Darts Corporation (PDC)