Daryl Gurney: The Sensational Rise of SuperChin

Daryl Gurney has climbed 24 places in just over 9 months in a run that includes a maiden major title, 4 pro-tour finals and earnings over £150,000. Modern darts is a sport in which many of its players are household names and rank in the world’s top 20, yet haven’t won a major title. Such has been the dominance of players like Phil Taylor and, more recently, Michael van Gerwen, that the band of TV major winners is still very small. In fact, when it comes to picking a winner of the big trophies, players outside the top few are rarely considered. So, in darts, perhaps more than any other sport, breaking into the very top ranks is a must if you are to be a contender. Some players climb steadily until they reach their summit and hit a wall. A few seemingly come from nowhere and burst onto the scene. For others, their rise through the rankings is the result of application, dedication and something in the stars that suddenly makes all that hard work pay off. Northern Ireland’s Daryl Gurney, known on the circuit as ‘SuperChin’, is one such player. When he joined Team Winmau in September 2016, Daryl was ranked number 27 in the Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) Order of Merit and was just one of a number of players on the fringe of breaking into the upper echelons. For many players, simply broaching the top 32 barrier is the pinnacle of their careers. Very few manage to go to the next level of breaking into the top ten and then the top four. Yet, following an incredible 2017, that’s exactly what Daryl has achieved. The last 12 months have seen him reach the quarter-finals of seven TV majors. In four of them he made the semi-finals and in October this year he secured his place amongst the sport’s elite by winning a TV major, the World Grand Prix in Dublin, beating Team Winmau’s Simon Whitlock five sets to four. “It was huge relief to win that,” says Daryl. “So many great players have not managed to win a major TV title. It’s nice to have that particular monkey off my back. It hasn’t sunk in yet but I have a little smile to myself when the announcer calls out ‘World Grand Prix champion’ at the start of every walk on. No one can take that away from me.” With his best ever year drawing to a close, Daryl’s attention has turned towards the PDC World Championships – one of his many quarter-final achievements in 2017. “Of course, I want to play well at the World Championships and believe that if I play to my potential I have the game to win,” he says. “Looking further ahead, I have worked hard to be a player who regularly makes the last 16 or eight in a tournament. In 2018 I’ll be working on getting to the next stage and making more finals to give myself a chance of winning more majors.” For more information about Daryl’s darts, please visit: https://twitter.com/Winmau/status/934066151788867586 Source: Winmau.com

Photo: Lawrence Lustig