Exclusive Ted Evetts interview: "I believe I can win any game I play"

The 21-year-old has been earmarked for an exciting future by many a pundit and follower of the game. An excellent showing on the PDC Development Tour in 2017 earned him a first World Championship visit, which ended in a straight-sets defeat to Gerwyn Price. Fast forward 12 months and another sterling effort on the youth tour led to a maiden Ally Pally win over Simon Stevenson. Adrian Lewis ended the Warwickshire thrower's run, but speaking to , Evetts was full of positivity. "My second experience at the Ally Pally was awesome. Both games, playing well, but unfortunately Adrian did to me what I did to Simon - and that's take all the opportunities going. "But all in all, a great experience being back up there!" Evetts enthused.

Everything is looking up for Evetts at this point. His performances around the tours means the qualified chef has cooked up a lot of interest. Re-signing with Unicorn for two more years has delighted Super Ted, who is enthused with the products and support he's gleaned from the partnership. But things weren't this rosy two years ago, when Evetts lost his Tour Card.
"Losing my card in 2017 was horrible.
"Especially being 65th in the rankings, and only £500 behind 64th, made me think back over the previous two years and all the missed opportunities to win games.
"I beat myself up over it for the first few months, and results were showing that, I was playing poorly and losing silly games.
"But then after the first title of the year, I picked my head back up and put things right. I went on to win four more, winning games again and putting in some great performances.''

Evetts scored his first Development Tour title in November 2017, seeing off Rowby-John Rodriguez in the final. Just over a month later he was at the Ally Pally as a PDPA qualifier. Last season the darting prodigy kicked on, winning Development Tour titles in May, June and November, as well as picking up two Challenge Tour titles. It is fair to say that the Evetts of 2019 and the Evetts of 2017 aren't familiar with each other. ''Comparing myself to two years ago, a lot has changed!" said the 21-year-old. "My mental strength has risen by at least double, especially my confidence, I believe I can win any game I play, whereas before I would say “let's see what happens” or “let’s hope for the best". "And I believe the consistency in my game has also risen an awful lot.''

He is also inspired by his rivals. Young talents like Dimitri van den Bergh, Luke Humphries and Jeffrey de Zwaan are making waves in the game. Evetts is determined to make his mark, and the road to that goal begins with the UK Open in March.
''The younger players of recent are showing what we’re all capable of doing. It does drive me to the same success or even better, of which I know I’m capable of.
"Automatically being in the UK Open is awesome and will be my third year in a row down in Minehead.
"But I would like to see myself in as many majors as I can be, there’s no reason why I can’t qualify for more!
"I just want to keep improving on previous years and results, and push for much bigger things. I know in myself of what I’m able to do, so now's the time to do it.''