Alan Tabern: Exclusive Interview for Red Dragon Darts

Well too be honest I do feel that I could have won had I got my doubles going early on in the game. Dennis took every opportunity and fairpaly to him for that as he is a top class professional and you can learn a lot from his tenacity. That aside I’m really pleased to have got to the Quarter Finals as I feel like I belong in the top 16 and am going to push on from here.

You’ve recently signed with Red Dragon Darts how did that happen?

I’m not really sure to be honest, but I got chatting with Simon who runs all the sponsorship etc and we got talking about darts, and what I played with. Initially we were looking at getting me replacements so that I can just pick up any set of darts and play with them instead of my 20 year old worn out set!! Anyway one thing leads to another and we agreed a deal, which importantly for me gave me a real input into the development of my darts that we have been doing over the last 3 months.

So what are these new darts?

The new darts are based of my old set, but as they had become so worn out, I have grown used to a really thin barrel and I told Simon that we really needed to keep this characteristic about the new set. Red Dragon made up the first set, and they just did not feel right, as you know if they don’t feel right straight away that’s no good.

So we tweaked the length and took some depth off them and I had them back, but again it was not as natural as my old set, we had a bit of a laugh as Simon said I was fussier than his wife when shopping!! However, 3 sets later with the ring pitch and depth altered, and surprisingly a totally new grip added by Lee at Red Dragon I had my finished set!! They are 20 Grams, parallel barrel at 5.8mm width and 11 rings with this none slip smoked effect finish.

Did you use them in the Stan James World Match play?

Yes, this was the first time that I TV tested the darts and it was nerve wracking to say the least. It was a little like going for a pint without your best friend, felt like something was missing. It took me a while to settle in as you could see against Vincent Van De Vort, but about 8 legs in they clicked, the darts felt every bit as good as my old set and I really hit back well to take that game. It’s a great weight off my mind now that I have a set of darts that Red Dragon can just pick off the shelf for me and send up.

What are you future goals in darts?

I wanted to get in the top 16 and I’ve done that, so I need to push on from here and head for the top 8 as I’d love a Premier League Darts Spot.

I do still have a full time job that is very hard to juggle, I’ll have to consider my options going forward and hopefully signing with Red Dragon Darts, actually developing my own set and improving month by month can help me go full time, but this won’t be until I know I’m ready.

What advice would you give any young would be dart pros?

Learn to win every darts event you can locally before setting your sites too high as the ability to win events, even if it’s the Dog & Duck over 80’s singles is better than getting knocked out in the first round of a more prestigious sounding event. I think when everyone says its all about experience should be its all about getting winning experience!!

Our thanks to Alan Tabern from Red Dragon Darts – Please feel free to use this interview in any reproduction.