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Derry dartist Daryl Gurney in pole for World Grand Prix title

Updated / Saturday, 7 Oct 2017 20:00
Daryl Gurney: 'I'll try to get in front and stay in front'
Daryl Gurney: 'I'll try to get in front and stay in front'

Daryl Gurney holds pole position on the final lap of the World Grand Prix in Dublin and is determined to be the first past the chequered flag.  

The Derry dartist is bidding to land his first major title ater his victory over John Henderson in the semi-finals at Citywest last night set up a decider against Simon Whitlock (8pm).

"I want to dominate the game from start to finish and put Simon under a lot of pressure," Gurney told RTÉ Sport after his 4-1 win.

The 31-year-old speaks with an air of confidence and so he should.

As he looks down the closing stretch he does so in the knowledge that he has overcome different types of challenges on his way.

First up the world number 12 encountered Adrian Lewis, the two-time world champion.

'Jackpot' is not at the same level he was when he won those titles but Gurney was a relatively comfortable 2-1 winner on opening night.

Joe Cullen, who he faced in the next round, is another up and coming player, currently ranked eight places behind Gurney.

The Englishman would have felt there wasn’t much between the two but Gurney raced into an impressive 2-0 lead before going on to win 3-1.

Next up was the 2015 champion, Robbie Thornton, who beat Michael van Gerwen in the final two years ago.

The battle-hardened Scot, who only took his place in Dublin after Phil Taylor opted out, actually led in the final set before the Irish man recovered to level and took out tops to win the sudden-death leg.

It may have seemed that surprise package Henderson, who had knocked out MVG and Raymond van Barneveld along the way, had his name on the trophy.

And at 1-1, the "gentleman", as 'Superchin' calls the world number 32, had the momentum in the tie.

But composure was the key and the crowd favourite’s new-found sense of calm on the big stage again came to the fore.

He took the third and fifth sets in deciding legs to run out a 4-1 victor.

"Robert is such a hard grafter and it went to a final leg decider whereas against John it’s hard because he is such a genuine, nice guy," said Gurney, who made the semi-finals of both the UK Open and the World Matchplay this year.  

"You have to keep focused because he’s such a gentleman you struggle to play him.

"I gave him the utmost respect and gave him my 'A' game."

Gurney, who is set to jump into the top ten after this event, now faces The Wizard, Australian Whitlock, who overcame the form man of the moment Mensur Suljovic in a classic in the other semi-final.

Ranked world number 16, Whitlock had already accounted for Christian Kist, Richard North, Benito van de Pas, before seeing off the Austrian 4-3 in a see-saw encounter.

Whitlock was last in a televised ranking final at the 2013 European Championships, and was beaten by an in-his-pomp Taylor in the World Championship final in 2010. 

"I have a really good record against Simon," added Gurney, who has a 55% double-in strike rate as opposed to Whitlock’s 38%.

"[I think] he’s just beaten me once and even at that I should have beaten him.

"But it’s a different game now. Every time I played him it’s been straight in, straight out

"I’m going to give him the utmost respect and hopefully I get over to the finish line before he does.

"I’m just going to play my own game. 

"Simon’s going for his first major and so am I. I’ll try to get in front and stay in front, that’s the plan."

The Unibet Grand Prix final will be preceded by the final of the Tom Kirby Memorial Irish Matchplay between William O'Connor and Jason Cullen, with the winner claiming a spot in the William Hill World Darts Championship alongside Ireland’s top domestic honour.

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