Rodriguez on sealing last gasp World Matchplay debut: "It was a sleepless night and some nervy days"

Rowby-John Rodriguez started the year returning to the tour through Q-School only by the skin of his teeth and the luck continued to be in for the young Austrian who sealed his spot at the World Matchplay where he will compete this evening against Jonny Clayton.

"It was a sleepless night and nervy days for me but I'm happy. I was in a position where I could qualify and that makes it harder. At the end of the week though I am in and that's the main point," he said to the Weekly Dartscast.

Multiple runs on the European Tour including to the final of the European Darts Matchplay in Trier helped seal it.

"I'm playing good, I'm playing with confidence. With having two Quarter-Finals before, it was hard for me to get over the Quarter-Final. It was a new situation for me to play at mid-day and have a big break and play at night again. I was asking the top players what are you doing to be ready again and I tried some different stuff that two tournaments it didn't work out.

"I played alright but at Trier, I was ready for the night session and I went past the Quarter-Finals. It was a hard draw from Trier from the beginning, in the semi-finals I played against Madars Razma and that was the point where I think ok this game I am the better player, it's my game to lose. The other game I was the underdog. For me the hardest game was definitely the semi-final.

Discussing that final which was heralded as one of the best in history on the European Tour against Luke Humphries, it was mixed emotions but he didn't have time to reflect due to tournaments following that.

"It was between disappointment and happiness. To reach the first final but also disappointment to lose. Even if you have a match dart, you want to win it. I would be a European Tour champion, I would have been secure for the World Matchplay without the pressure. But it was hard to take but I didn't have too much time to reflect."

Extra concentration

When he throws his first two darts into the treble 20, he often pauses to throw his third dart which gets the crowd riled up and he explained the thought process.

"On stage if the crowd are celebrating every treble, I was just thinking let's do this. I've done it in some exhibitions but never thought I'd do it on stage, it's working for me.

"Years ago the last dart was a problem so for me there's a bit of focus for the last dart. If you are pulling or snatching it, it is a dart which could make or break a title. It's a little bit for the crowd but if it's not helping me or if it's getting me out of concentration, I wouldn't do it."