TEESSIDE darts icon Glen Durrant fell to defeat in the Seniors Darts Masters at Sunderland and has hinted it could be his last competitive outing at the oche.
Playing at Nissan Sports Complex in Washington, Durrant lost in the first round against Paul Hogan despite a home crowd willing him on every step of the way.
After a promising start ‘Duzza’ headed into the break tied at 1-1, but failed to capitalise on his set win and lost every following set.
The 2020 PDC Premier League champion told The Northern Echo after the match that it could be his last competitive match saying that he lacked the ‘fire’ to see him through a game.
Durrant said that his pre-match practice routine was promising, but he struggled up at the oche and cut a frustrated and then emotional figure on stage as his opponent made sure the crowd gave appreciation to the North East-man.
Duzza struggled on the doubles and could have found himself 2-0 up going into the break, but the story of the afternoon was a one of missed opportunities and Duzza found himself behind early on. He gained momentum, taking out double 16 with his third set-dart to win the second set.
With the crowd behind him, it seemed it was all going to plan for the Middlesbrough fan. However, the doubles eluded him and quickly the game ran away from him – eventually falling to a 4-1 defeat.
Nevertheless, the crowd rose to their feet for the local hero and despite the fact that the three-time BDO world champion went out at the first time of asking, well-wishers poured in to take photos and speak to the North East sporting star.
The World Seniors Darts Tour winner will be decided on Saturday in front of an expected bumper crowd in Washington and will be broadcast on TNT Sport.
Former Wales international Tom Shanklin has revealed exactly what happened in the dressing room after Wales infamously drew with Fiji in 2010.
The result led to Ryan Jones being stripped of the captaincy on the spot by Warren Gatland, with hooker Matthew Rees taking up the role. It was a huge deal at the time, with Wales failing to beat a side that had barely been together for two weeks, further adding to their humiliation.
I remember Ryan jones gave a penalty away right at the last minute,” said Shanklin. “And Fiji kicked for goal and we ended up drawing the game. I remember the emotion after the game.
“Normally after a game, Warren Gatland comes in win, lose or draw, he’s normally quite calm, quite quiet, thinks about his words. But there was just pure emotion. He