“It’s crippled me over the last four years” – Keegan Brown opens up on health battle but insists PDC return is still possible

Keegan Brown remains convinced he can fight his way back to the PDC despite revealing just how heavily a long-running health problem has affected the past four years of his darts career.

The former PDC World Youth Champion is rebuilding away from the ProTour through events including the WDF and ADC, having shown flashes of the level that once established him among the world's top players. The problem for Brown is no longer proving that level still exists, but finding it consistently while dealing with a condition that can flare up depending on something as uncontrollable as the weather.

“Unfortunately, it’s crippled me over the last four years, but that’s life,” Brown told Online Darts. “You’re dealt the cards and you just have to play with them.”

Brown has recently changed medication and can still produce performances which reinforce his belief that a return to the PDC is realistic. At other times, however, the difference in his level can be enormous.

“It’s just frustrating because some games I go up there and average 105, other games I average 85,” he explained. “It’s just getting that consistency back because if I didn’t believe I could do it, I wouldn’t be doing it. I’ve still got that hunger and desire to play well again.”

Brown described his condition as particularly unusual for a darts player and drew a comparison with tennis great Venus Williams, who has also dealt with a health condition during her career.

“Unfortunately, it’s one of those things where it’s such an odd disease for a darts player to have,” Brown said. “I think me and Venus Williams are the only people to have it in the world of sport, so it’s not a bad group to be in, just me and Venus.”

Even changes in the weather can affect whether Brown is able to reproduce his best darts. “It could be something so simple,” he continued. “It’s a lovely day today, 27 degrees, lovely. As soon as it’s damp and raining, it just flares up. It’s something so simple that I’ve got no control over.”

That means there are days when Brown knows relatively quickly that conditions are working against him. “Sometimes I just go, ‘You know what? Today’s not my day.’ But you appreciate the better days more than ever.”

Brown was nevertheless emphatic when asked whether he believes another PDC comeback is possible. “100%.”

His performances on the ADC circuit have helped maintain that confidence. The sustained consistency is missing, but the ceiling has not disappeared. “I think the thing is, when I play the ADC Vaults, it gets to the point where I go and average 105, 100. I can still do it,” he said. “It’s just so frustrating that I have to depend on the weather now. I sound like a cricketer, don’t I?”

Brown added: “I know I can still do it. At points, I can still play darts. It’s just a bit frustrating but, at the end of the day, there are people worse off than me. I can never moan about it.”

Brown's search for regular competitive darts has also taken him onto the WDF circuit, where his first trip to Toronto immediately brought a run to the final. “To be fair, I’m all right. I’m playing all right,” he said when assessing his current game. “There are a couple of issues, obviously, with my wrist and my game, but yeah, it’s just one of those things.”

“Obviously, I went to Toronto for my first WDF event, lost in the final to Jeff Smith, won the pairs with Jeff Smith and was agonisingly close to getting to Lakeside. Then obviously I’m off to the World Masters in a couple of weeks in Vegas.”

Brown's best PDC major performance remains his quarter-final run at the 2014 Grand Slam of Darts, the same year in which he won the World Youth Championship. More than a decade later, the route back towards that stage is very different, but he has no intention of treating his current spell outside the PDC as the end of his ambitions.

Brown was speaking at Operation Bullseye at Bradmore Farm, a military darts event where he was reunited with Vince, the partner alongside whom he had won the title two years earlier.

“Oh, it’s absolutely fantastic,” Brown said. “It’s a proud achievement in my career that we’re able to, as darts players, give something very small back to the military operation that we have in this country, and for a great night of darts.”

He was equally confident about their chances of another victory. “Yeah, I’ll be honest, I’ve got the best. Me and Vince obviously won it two years ago. We’re going to win it again.”

Their partnership has since extended beyond the exhibition environment. “To be fair, me and Vince have got really good chemistry,” Brown said. “We’ve done a couple of WDF events together and, yeah, I couldn’t pick a better partner.”

Brown also welcomed the reach darts now has beyond the professional game. “I think that’s the beauty of darts,” he said. “It’s a sport, a game, a pastime for everyone. There are inclusions for everyone and, at the end of the day, it’s just so good that we can put a good night on for our servicemen and personnel.”

For Brown himself, however, the competitive target remains unchanged. The 33-year-old is still searching for the consistency his health problems have taken away, with enough high-level performances along the way to convince him that a return to the PDC remains achievable.