Martin Lukeman executed his brilliant form to start the year into an even better run at the German Darts Grand Prix as he climbs further towards the top 64 in the Order of Merit.
ADVERTISEMENT
But he puts that down to a big change in his life as he quit his job and gave the darts career everything which is paying dividends with likely spots at the European Championship, World Championship and potentially World Matchplay and World Grand Prix to come for 'Smash'.
"The first half/3/4 quarters of the year, I felt I lost a lot of 6-5 games against a lot of brilliant players and I thought I'm not getting battered here, I'm just not getting the luck of the green or I just need to up my average. There was a lot of little niggles," he said to Weekly Dartscast.
"Back end of last year, I started playing a bit better and then over Christmas, I thought this is it and started putting the hours in on the dart board. I started putting the graft in. I quit my job. This is all or nothing."
"I lost out on the World Championship by a few quid, I missed three events due to COVID, I got a stomach bug for the World Championship qualifiers. I felt everything was going against me. I just thought I'm going to knuckle down, quit the job and I'm going to give this a proper go."
Samuel Gill is the Chief Content Officer (CCO) of DartsNews.com, a role he has held since 2020. He is responsible for editorial governance across the platform, including setting content standards, overseeing accuracy and consistency, and guiding long-term editorial strategy across professional darts coverage. Since joining, he has contributed more than 10,000 articles and editorial pieces, playing a central role in the development and daily operation of the site.
Based in Leicester, Samuel has extensive experience in darts media and has been closely involved in coverage of the professional darts circuit for several years. Within the UK darts community, he is a recognised figure known for his consistent editorial output and ongoing reporting on major tournaments and developments across the PDC calendar.
In his current role, Samuel works closely with editors and writers to ensure content meets clear journalistic standards, with a focus on source verification, editorial consistency, and timely updates when new, confirmed information becomes available.
🗣️ "Over Christmas I thought 'this is it.' I started putting the hours in on the dartboard. I quit my job. I'm going to give this a proper go."
@SmashLukeman180 on how committing full time to darts has paid off so far in 2022
Full interview 👇
weeklydartscast.com