"I'm a better player now than when I was world number three" - Daryl Gurney sets himself measured target of quarter-finals at the World Darts Championship

Daryl Gurney has qualified for the World Darts Championship for the tenth consecutive year. The 37-year-old Northern Irishman reached the quarterfinals there twice in the past.

As the 27th seed, Gurney enters the tournament in the second round, taking on the winner of the duel between Steve Beaton and Wessel Nijman. "Match practice is the only practice," says Gurney in conversation with Online Darts, highlighting the fact that he's currently doing a string of pre-World Championship exhibitions. "Things are going well!"

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'Superchin' is quite satisfied with the past year. "I think I've played well, but I've always got his tendency of throwing out a really poor game. And when I do that, I get beat," he reflects. "But I think I've had a good enough year."

Gurney was once ranked third in the world and is a two-time major winner. "I don't know what my averages were when I was number three in the world, but I feel like I'm a better player now than when I was world number three. But, the standard has moved so much further on and that's why I'm twenty-odd in the rankings, where I deserve to be."

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Gurney is therefore realistic in his expectations for the World Championship. "I'm looking forward to it but realistically, I think I just take every game as it comes. If I can get past whoever I have to play, then after that I think I'm playing well enough to do maybe a quarter-final but I haven't looked to see who's in my quarter," he explains. "I'm not one of these people to go 'I'm gonna win it', when realistically you're not. I've got the game to beat anybody but the stars need to be aligned."

Finally, the Northern Irishman had some news to share about his departure from MDA Events. However, "there's no bad blood," Gurney insists. "We are still good friends. I'm still godfather to his son."