Gurney’s 2023 Resurgence
Daryl Gurney has certainly seen a return to form this year, after an abrupt end at the 2023 World Darts Championship. Superchin has responded since with his standout performance coming at the Austrian Darts Open, losing to eventual winner Jonny Clayton in the Semi Finals on the European Tour.
“It was a disaster to lose (against Alan Soutar), and these things happen, but I’ve hit the ground running this year and I need to go a bit deeper in tournaments. It could be better, but it could also be worse, and I’ll take how it’s going at the minute.”
Daryl along with Brendan Dolan will once again represent Northern Ireland at the upcoming 2023 World Cup of Darts in Frankfurt, with the pair drawn into Group D of the tournament along with debutants France as well as Ukraine.
“Brendan’s one of the nicest people you can meet and as a pairs partner he’s a great influence. If it was individuals, I think we would win hands down, but we only play pairs once a year, so to us it’s a bit strange.”
“If Brendan does his job and I do mine, we should be OK, but as I say we only play once a year so you still don’t know sometimes how it will go.”
Before the World Cup, the Northern Irishman will play Players Championship Events 13 and 14 in Hildesheim, as he looks to secure his spot at next month’s World Matchplay in Blackpool.
“Whenever I was winning a couple of years ago the standard wasn’t as good. Now everyone is playing well and usually if I make one mistake, it will come back to bite me.”
“Sometimes the draw can be kind or bad for you, but I’m playing well enough to win. It’s all about cutting the small mistakes I’m making out and if I do that, I will give myself a good chance of winning.”
“It’s not just the Winter Gardens but every televised tournament, whenever you’re not in the Top 10 the first thing you want to do is do enough so you’re in all the TV tournaments and not just the Matchplay. For me at the start of this year I was a bit behind, so I had to make up ground on the players above and I’ve done that now.”
Gurney in his 10-year spell in the Professional Darts Corporation won the 2017 World Grand Prix after beating fellow Winmau player Simon Whitlock in the Final. The Northern Irishman also clinched the 2018 Players Championship Finals in Minehead, beating the then Number 1 Michael van Gerwen in the Final ahead of the World’s.
The Derry born player is still hungry for more success, with everyone knowing the capabilities that he has in his game. At the recent European Darts Grand Prix, Superchin reached the Third Round after beating Dirk van Duijvenbode 6-2 in Sindelfingen, with the Aubergenius already claiming 3 Pro Tours this year.
“It’s all coming back, since I started playing darts when I was 12, I’ve never stopped practising. I stopped for 3 or 4 months during COVID, and it’s been a real struggle to get back to where I was.”
“I feel now that I’m coming back and hopefully, I can get back up the rankings. I would love to be a seed on the Euro Tour and then take it from there.”
Daryl Gurney along with World Cup partner Brendan Dolan will kick start their World Cup campaign on Thursday in Frankfurt, as the pair face France first represented by WDF World Finalist Thibault Tricole and Tour Card holder Jacques Labre.
By Harry Masterson
Image courtesy of PDC