Glen Durrant looks back on post Premier League nightmare: "I was going back to the hotel crying"

Glen Durrant still can hardly believe it: his victory in the 2020 Premier League Darts. What should have felt like the highlight of his career was overshadowed by the knowledge that his game was slowly collapsing.

The three-time Lakeside world champion had his first and only major PDC title up for grabs in 2020. But instead of the cheers of thousands of fans, Durrant experienced his victory in a dreary, empty venue. Due to the corona pandemic, the tournament was interrupted for months and resumed in a closed setting, with no audience.

“It was a surreal moment because, when I won, I turned around and the only person looking at me was a cameraman," Durrant recalled in conversation with The Mirror. His victory felt like a confluence of luck and chance, especially as he noticed his level was starting to decline. “At the same time, my game was going downhill. How I won the Premier League that night… Someone was looking down on me."

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In the semifinals, Durrant played moderately with an average of just 87, but was lucky that Gary Anderson was experimenting with new darts. "I averaged 87 in the semi-final but Gary Anderson used these new, knobbly-ended darts. If he’d used standard darts, I’d have been dead and buried." Durrant said. But in the final, he still managed to find something extra and won over Nathan Aspinall, who was exhausted after a tough battle against Peter Wright. “But I found something for the final. It’s amazing what confidence does for you."

After his Premier League triumph, Durrant remained optimistic and believed his form would return. But reality proved otherwise. In 2021, still under strict COVID measures, he had to defend his title. Locked in a hotel next to the arcade in Milton Keynes and with no audience, it became a mental and sporting nightmare.

“I was awful,” admits Durrant. “I was going back to the hotel crying. I was like, ‘jeez, I’m 51, have won everything I ever wanted to and here I am’. It was during Covid and the following night I was playing Van Gerwen having been slammed 6-0 by Dimi [Van den Bergh]."

His poor run continued. Durrant regularly lost 6-0 or 6-1 and began to lose his love for the game. “Over the last 18 months of my career, I was getting beaten 6-0, 6-1, and it destroyed me. Similar to a golfer who gets the yips, a boxer who is punch-shy, I just lost my rhythm." He finally decided to put a stop to his professional career in 2022.

A new role in the world of darts.

Although Durrant has retired as a player, he is still closely involved in the sport. He works as a commentator for Sky Sports and as a coach, mentoring Ryan Joyce, among others.

"I love it," he says enthusiastically. “I do a lot of preparation. I’m not a wordsmith so I’ve got to work hard behind the scenes. The journalists make it look ridiculously easy and use words more than my two syllables!

He also works for the PDPA, the interest group for professional darters. “I’m also working for the PDPA [Professional Darts Players’ Association] – it’s like PFA in football. A few players are coming to me [for help], and I work with Ryan Joyce. I’m coaching as well. Everyone wants to be Luke Littler, so I’m very busy!”

Glen Durrant is a notable name on the Premier League Darts honor roll

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