“I walk off stage and go, ‘That was rubbish’” - Nathan Aspinall switches mindset before stunning 106-average Antwerp demolition

Nathan Aspinall produced one of the performances of the Flanders Darts Trophy weekend on Saturday night, averaging 105.99 in a 6-1 demolition of Niko Springer after admitting he has been putting unnecessary pressure on himself despite playing far better than he had realised.

Aspinall raced 3-0 ahead, breaking Springer in the second leg before an 84 checkout extended his advantage. Springer briefly stopped the run, but Aspinall immediately regained control and reeled off the final three legs with finishes of 32, 100 and 74.

The numbers underlined the scale of the performance. Aspinall hit four 180s and converted six of his seven darts at double for an 85.71 per cent checkout rate, finishing more than 17 points clear of Springer on the averages.

Yet the 35-year-old admitted afterwards that even performances in the high 90s have regularly left him walking away dissatisfied. “I’m very, very critical of my own performance,” Aspinall said. “I walk off stage and go, ‘That was rubbish,’ and I’ve averaged 97 or 98. I think I need to stop doing that because it puts more pressure on yourself.”

Aspinall said his perspective began to change after coming across a recent statistic which suggested his level had been much stronger than he had been giving himself credit for. “I think over the last few weeks I’ve been going home thinking I’ve been playing rubbish, and then I saw a stat that I’m playing the fourth best over the last couple of months,” he explained.

Rather than continuing to judge every performance against an increasingly unforgiving standard, Aspinall tried to approach Saturday night differently. “So I think tonight I tried not to put pressure on myself. Just enjoy it. I’m playing well,” he said. “I put in a great performance, finished really well, scored really well, gave the crowd something to cheer about and happy days. On to tomorrow.”

Against Springer, that approach produced one of his sharpest displays of the season. Six doubles from seven attempts left his opponent almost no margin for recovery, while the four maximums helped Aspinall turn the contest into a seven-leg sprint.

Even when asked whether such a dominant victory left him wishing for a little longer on stage, Aspinall had other priorities. “Nah, I didn’t want any more legs. I want to go back and have a pint!”

Aspinall also felt the smaller Saturday-night crowd in Antwerp helped him settle into the match and concentrate on his own game. “It was quite a small crowd compared to what we’re normally used to, so I could concentrate a little bit more,” he said.

He was still happy to engage with those who were there, joking about a group of fans at the back of the venue and threatening to join them afterwards, but the more important takeaway was the level he had produced once he stopped judging every visit so harshly. “Come up here, you know you’re playing well, just throw your darts. I did that tonight,” Aspinall said.

Stephen Bunting now awaits in Sunday’s last 16 after edging Brendan Dolan 6-5. Aspinall goes into that meeting having averaged 105.99, converted 85.71 per cent of his doubles and, perhaps just as importantly, given himself considerably less to complain about.