John Henderson wants to 'get beyond Christmas Day' as he starts campaign against Marko Kantele

John Henderson starts his World Championship campaign tonight against Marko Kantele and is hoping to get past Christmas Day this year as he has two tests before the big day arises and he admitted that a loss to Andrew Gilding last year when 'The Highlander' was 2-0 up and 1-0 in the 3rd gave him the kick up the backside he needed. Henderson capped up off a good year by ending Michael van Gerwen's hopes at the World Grand Prix defeating him in the first round of the double in, double out format and he went all the way to the semi-final before losing to Daryl Gurney who he potentially will play in the next round. He revealed in an interview with Red Dragon Darts: “Normally, it is just the one game before Christmas, but everyone has two this year. “You need to get a couple of wins to enjoy your turkey. “This is my sixth World Championships and I have never once managed to get beyond Christmas Day. “The one time I beat Dave Chisnall in the first round, there were only one night of second round games before Christmas Day and I was scheduled to play in one of them. Needless to say, I lost and it wasted the day again. “Everyone is supportive within the family and it is not a case of everyone sitting around the table with long faces and being grumpy. “But you are at a stage when you are pulling the cracker and then snarling at it.” Highlander, 44, was dumped out by Andrew Gilding a year ago but has since had a decent campaign with a shock win over Michael van Gerwen in a run to the Grand Prix semi-finals just a couple of months ago. He added: “I don’t want to go through what I went through last year after losing to Andrew. “That was the lowest of the low. I could have given up right there and then. “No disrespect to Andrew. He’s a cracking player, but I was 2-0 up in sets and won the opening leg of the third. “In January, I had a honeymoon planned which was held back and I headed over to America with Veronica. “We went to New York for a few days, then we went to Orlando in Florida and then to Las Vegas. “I didn’t feel much like messing about with Mickey Mouse. I certainly wasn’t going to gamble in Vegas. I would have lost. “In some ways, though, It was the kick up the backside I needed.

Photo: Lawrence Lustig/PDC