Whitlock on preparation coming into Players Championship Finals: 'I've been practising very hard since missing out on the Grand Slam, it was a massive disappointment for me not qualifying'

Simon Whitlock produced a brilliant performance to defeat Jeffrey de Zwaan forcing a last leg decider which he produced the victory in at the Players Championship Finals.

Whitlock spoke afterwards about his disappointment in missing out on the Grand Slam and how this spurred him on to play well in his opener.

He added as well about how much he still loves the game and that he will only retire when he is ready but he said in reality, he is nowhere near.

'I'm still shaking, I've been practising very hard since missing out on the Grand Slam, it was a massive disappointment for me not qualifying but since then, I've practised every day and put over 50 hours work in the last 17 days and it sort of paid off,' said Whitlock to LiveDarts.

'I do care about the game, I'm working very hard on my game I want to get back to better than I was. When I'm ready to retire I will, but I'm nowhere near yet.'

'I wasn't worried about Jeffrey, I was worried about myself. I know what I've been doing in the last two weeks practising and I know if I bring that out I'll win.'

https://twitter.com/OfficialPDC/status/1197910528955502593