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Stockport’s Nathan Aspinall eyes World Darts Championship crown after World Matchplay success

After winning the World Matchplay in July – his second major title – Nathan Aspinall has his sights set on the biggest title of all with the opening round starting this Friday at the Alexandra Palace.

Aspinall, nicknamed The Asp, is seeded sixth for the tournament and after his successful campaign at darts’ marathon ‘Matchplay’ event, he’s confident of an extended run in this year’s ‘Worlds’.

“I’m in the best headspace I’ve ever been in,” he told the Professional Darts Corporation site.

“I won the second biggest tournament in the world, and I didn’t even feel like I played that well!”

Aspinall suffered potentially career-ending wrist injuries throughout the end of 2021 and in parts of this year – disastrous for a dart player who’s throw is fundamental to the sport.

Reflecting on his 2022 ahead of last year’s Grand Slam of Darts, Aspinall said: “When something is so close to being taken away, you appreciate what you’ve actually had and that’s what I am doing now.

“Not knowing whether I was going to play at the elite level again – it was tough.”

Through steely determination, he has since powered through his injury problems and showed glimpses of his best darts in moments across the year.

A fightback he attributes to time spent with a sports psychologist to help combat any emotions and mental demons he faces on stage in front of packed crowds.

He said: “You’re on that stage on your own, and if you’re struggling, you’ve got to find something. I think mentally, it’s one of the toughest sports in the world.”

He was runner up at the European Tour’s German Darts Grand Prix in April and the World Series’ New Zealand Darts Masters in July, immediately after his breakthrough at the World Matchplay.

His latest deep tournament run came at PDC premier event, the World Series Finals, hosted in Amsterdam in September where he came runner-up to dutch player Michael Van Gerwen in an 11-4 defeat.

While form has gently teetered off since his World Series run, the World Championships is known to be very different to all other tournaments on the calendar.

Having not competed since the European Championship in late October, he will be well rested for a deep run this year.

Tournament sponsor Paddy Power has Aspinall as ninth favourite at 33/1.

But with his best of 35-leg Matchplay Final victory and with a World Championship Final being first to seven best of five sets – a possible best of 65 legs – his newfound experience will be invaluable to his chances.

Currently Luke Humphries – who has won three major titles within the last three months – and Michael Van Gerwen, 47-time major winner and three-time world champion, are the favourites to sweep the title.

Closely followed by two-time winning veteran Gary Anderson who looks back to his best, seven-time major winner Gerwyn Price and reigning World Champion and World No. 1 Michael Smith.

Last year Aspinall was knocked out in the third round by young newcomer Josh Rock who currently sits just above Asp in the betting odds as well.

This time around however, emboldened by his Matchplay dominance, the Stockport dartist feels better prepared to tackle the most challenging tournament in the sport, powered on by his unwiltering desire to hold aloft the Sid Waddell trophy.

He said: “If I was to win the World Championship, I think it would be one of the greatest wins in darts.

“It will happen. Whether it’s this year, next year or the year after, it will happen. Even if I’m 60 and I’m still playing, I will be here until I win the World Championship!”

His campaign begins in the second round as a result of seeding, where he will face either Ricky Evans or Simon Adams on Saturday December 23rd as the final match before the Christmas mid-tournament break.

Featured Image: TWsk, CC BY-SA 4.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

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