“I’ll drink a pint of it” - Ricky Evans makes bizarre gravy promise as seven-year World Championship streak comes under threat

Ricky Evans has offered himself some unusual extra motivation as he fights to keep his long-running PDC World Darts Championship streak alive - promising to drink an entire pint of gravy if he somehow makes it back to Alexandra Palace.

The 36-year-old has appeared at each of the last seven editions of the World Championship, but qualification for an eighth successive appearance is currently far from secure. Evans sits 52nd on the PDC Order of Merit and 70th on the ProTour Order of Merit, with a top-40 position required through either route.

There is still time for that picture to change over the closing months of the season, but Evans has already set the terms of his own celebration should he find a way through.

He wrote on social media: “I’ll drink a pint of it (gravy) if I somehow qualify.”

For most players, that might not constitute much of a forfeit. Evans, however, has previously made his feelings about gravy abundantly clear.

While chatting to Sky Sports' Polly James on stage last year, Evans turned his dislike of one of the staples of a British roast dinner into an impromptu audience poll.

"Hands up if you like gravy? Eh. Hands up if you like meat and gravy? Hands up if you think gravy is the devil!?" he asked.

Evans then admitted his own dislike goes well beyond simply choosing to leave it off his dinner. "I hate gravy. Everyone loves it don't they? I just hate it. The smell and everything."

His Christmas Day alternative is hardly complicated either, with cranberry sauce or ketchup taking preference over the traditional accompaniment. "Give me cranberry sauce or ketchup will do. That's my opinion. My Christmas Day meal will be all the meat. The mash and the roast potatoes. Essentially all the meat and potatoes. I don't mind the old veg. Just not gravy."

Evans' World Championship record stretches back considerably further than his current seven-year sequence. A former World Youth Championship finalist, 'Rapid' first appeared at Alexandra Palace in 2014 and has reached the third round on seven occasions, including at each of the last three editions.

At the most recent World Championship, he beat Man Lok Leung before knocking out James Wade 3-2, eventually seeing his run ended by Charlie Manby in the last 32.

His 2026 season has offered flashes of the level required to force his way back into the qualification places. Evans reached the semi-finals of the Baltic Sea Darts Open in May, beating Daryl Gurney, Wade and Kevin Doets along the way, but consistent ranking money has proved harder to find across the Players Championship circuit.

That leaves plenty still riding on the remaining weeks of the qualification race. Should Evans pull it off, his reward may prove rather less enjoyable than another Christmas at Ally Pally.