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Glen Durrant’s meteoric decline was nothing short of heartbreaking but the three-time Lakeside world champion has the opportunity of restoring some romance with the sport ahead of his World Seniors Darts Championship debut at the Circus Tavern.
Durrant was crowned the Premier League champion only 18 months into his professional career, having already reached countless major quarter-finals which included one at the sport’s showpiece staging. His sudden loss of confidence soon meant that he spiralled down the rankings almost as quickly as he had rocketed up them.
Regarded as one of the most respected players of recent years, Durrant alluded to his Premier League defence as the most obnoxious in his career in conversation with the Weekly Dartscast. He was rooted to the foot of the table without a point to his name, struggling on despite feeling relatively hopeless.
“I try to be as transparent as possible with every answer that I give and sometimes it’s better to just give you the scenario,” Durrant candidly explained. “I was in a Milton Keynes hotel after getting slammed 6-0, 7-0 by Dimitri Van den Bergh, whatever it was.
“I was lying there thinking, ‘tomorrow night I’ve got Michael van Gerwen, the night after I’ve got Peter Wright’, it was awful. I knew I had something fundamentally wrong with my throw, my confidence was down to nothing.
“I think that the sad reality was that the money is fantastic in the Premier League and I just kept thinking, ‘if I can just get through this week, it’s the equivalent of 18 months of being a housing manager [his previous job]’.
“But it was to the detriment in the end because it was like a boxing match where I was being punched in the face for twelve rounds. It was an awful experience. That 2021 campaign was a real low.”
His disastrous Premier League campaign was only the tip of the melting iceberg nonetheless and Durrant’s returns to the World Matchplay and the World Grand Prix, where he had created shockwaves only twelve months earlier, were equally as demoralising.
He added: “I felt a fraud to my sponsors and family and friends because I knew driving up to Blackpool that I had a lot of people, a lot of fans at the Matchplay probably hoping for the 2019 Glen Durrant, but I knew deep down that that was a million miles away.
“It was worse driving to Leicester because by then my game had imploded, it was terrible. I knew then that my game had gone. I was playing last, my good friend Mark Selby – the snooker player – was there, the crowd had pretty much left and I had a 58 average.
“That was a difficult drive home. I think then people were beginning to realise. The ‘Glen Durrant is never going to make it in the PDC’ brigade were back out. It was a tough read at times.”
Happiness is now the principal for Durrant following his PDC stint involving the highest of highs and the lowest of lows. Every cloud has a silver lining and him dropping off the professional circuit now creates another opportunity in toeing the oche alongside a number of the sport’s legendary names.
Durrant giving the green light to a World Seniors Championship now did take some persuading from organisers. He did eventually take up the offer, opening up to the Northern Echo about the bookmakers providing an extra incentive ahead of his televised return.
“When I looked and saw I was 100/1, that was a real wow moment, a realisation of where I’ve gone more than anything else,” expressed Durrant, who begins his seniors quest against former World Darts Championship runner-up Mark Dudbridge.
“I look back to when I won my third Lakeside, I was the even money favourite going in, so the pressure was totally different then. All the pundits, not one has said I’ll win my first game, so it’s a different type of feeling. I always said I can’t wait for the day I’m the underdog!
“When I get it right at home, I see the old Duzza coming out. But obviously it’s different in a match environment. There are lots of positives but I wish I was going there like in the Lakeside days thinking about who I am going to play in the final.
“I’ll go and enjoy it but for me these days it’s not the be-all and end-all. I know people say don’t self-reflect until it’s over but I’m proud of what I’ve achieved. Being a darts player is second best right now, the only motivation I saw is that 100/1 shot. That got the juices flowing and who knows what will happen.”
