Durrant details remarkable rise ahead of maiden PDC World Championship: 'Five years ago I wasn't even the best player in my super league team'

Glen Durrant will take part in his maiden PDC World Championship when he takes on either Jose de Sousa or Damon Heta on December 21 but is a brilliant story that saw the Teesside ace come from superleague to the higher echelons of darts.

In a feature with Sky Sports, he detailed this and said that ever since he began playing darts simply by chance, he has been hooked but despite that his path into darting stardom was a late one.

"Five years ago I wasn't even the best player in my super league team. It's a great story and I'm just living the moment. I'm the last sort of last bastion of working men's clubs. I grew up as a really good snooker and billiards player who one night got drafted into a darts match because the local team were short of players and I never had the feeling of winning a game of darts like I did with snooker and billiards, so I was hooked since 1986."

Change in Social Media reception since switch

After previously being in the BDO; Durrant recalls abuse he suffered from fans until he joined the PDC and despite liking social media admits that it does have its pitfalls at times.

"I like social media but it can be brutal at times, I won't lie," he said. "But since I've been in the PDC the hate has been minimal. I got an awful lot in the BDO because the PDC fans were saying I was nothing more than a pub player. It got personal when I got bell's palsy in 2004 and that could be my Achilles heel because when you're reading things like that and you know your daughter is reading things like that, that's the tough part.

"I will remain on social media because I take the good with the bad. I can read 99 good things and the one bad thing is the one that will resonate. But you take the rough with the smooth. I'm still a huge fan."

Ordinary guy to big PDC star

Finally he spoke about his experience in the Premier League and how far he has come since switching from the BDO. He believes that fans can now resonate with the success he's having and get behind him.

"I'm a big darts fan who has come from the BDO where the crowds are really small to the PDC where I'm playing in front of 10,000 fans in the Premier League. Even at my age, I know my limits and how long I want to play darts for. Expect to see the Parmo Army out in force.

"I'm an ordinary man having an extraordinary year and I think people can see that I'm a genuine guy who is pinching himself and relishing the opportunities he is getting now."

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