"I would never retire from darts voluntarily": Ryan Joyce backtracks on retirement thoughts amid negative slump

Ryan Joyce recently admitted that his career was perhaps coming to an end sooner rather than later amid recent poor form but as he moved through at the Austrian Darts Open, he admitted that while he is not too happy with his game it would only be something he considers if he loses his Tour Card.

Joyce played Gabriel Clemens at the Austrian Darts Open, a player who as Joyce admitted himself to DartsNews also isn't in the greatest of form himself as of late so it creates a real battle up there.

But he is also a familiar opponent with both facing off lots of times in the past few weeks alone and he said that it is somewhat surprising but given that they also haven't been the best games for him, he's glad to get the win. "No, it’s unusual to meet three times in a couple of weeks. I think it’s very rare that happens. Obviously, I’m delighted to finally beat him. He beat me in the first round twice in a row over the last couple of Pro Tour weekends, so it’s nice to get a win against him," said Joyce to DartsNews in Graz.

"I feel like we’re both struggling at the moment. The two games we’ve played against each other have been really nervy games where we’ve both made a lot of mistakes, and he’s come out on the right side of it. I feel like today was similar. We both played some good darts and some really bad darts, but I’ve come out on the right side of it this time."

But when it came to putting a finger on why he is not in the best of form as of late, he admitted that perhaps he needs to lose some weight and practice harder and that is why he is potentially not reaping the rewards.

"The only thing I can think of is maybe I’m not practising as hard as I should be, considering all these really good players coming through. I watch them practising all the time, and I think I haven’t got the stamina or fitness to practise as long because I get too tired.

"Maybe going forward I need to try and lose some more weight and practise harder. That’s all I can really think of because I haven’t changed anything from previous years.

Recently Joyce said that his struggles might see him end his career sooner rather than later, as was alluded to, but he said that while he does have that mindset, it is down to losing games and that in his view this might be the catalyst for this thought process.

But that also at the same time, he wouldn't end his career voluntarily and that he would have to lose his Tour Card first to even have that thought process so it is a thought based on recent defeats not a terminal opinion.

"No, not really," he responded when asked to give more insight. "I think when you’re losing games and not winning, you feel that pressure. It’s not a nice feeling. Sometimes it leads you to think, “What am I going to do if I don’t get out of this slump?” You start thinking about other things.

"I would never retire from darts voluntarily, I’d have to lose my Tour Card first, but when you lose a lot of games in a row, you think the end might be closer than you expected. I’m going to keep trying right until the end, whenever I eventually lose my Tour Card, and hopefully that’s still a long way off. Hopefully this is just a little slump. I’ve had slumps in form before and I’ve always come out the other side, so hopefully this will be the same."