Gary Stone made an excellent start to his WDF World Championship campaign at the Lakeside. After a slow start, the 42-year-old Scot finished impressively and defeated Swede Ricky Nauman 3-1.
"It feels great to be back here. Even just walking into the venue brings a lot of good memories for me," Stone said in his post-match interview. It has been 2013 since Stone was in action at Lakeside (he was also there in 2020 at the BDO World Championship, but that was then played in a side room at the O2 Arena). "I didn't feel as if I was anywhere near the way I've been playing the last six months. So to come away with a 92 average or whatever it was, a wins a win. I can go forward and build on that."
"I've been playing well in patches. I just think consistency is a big word," Stone reflects on his year. "If I can start finding it consistently, then I could certainly do a bit of damage. It's just about a bit of self-belief this week."
Last year, Stone performed excellently on the WDF Tour, including winning the Romanian Classic. With those good results comes added expectations however. "You lose the first set and you feel as if you're you're not turning up. There's all your friends and family sitting in the front row and then your mind wanders," he explains. "To be honest, I probably learned more from that game than if I just got up there and blitzed it."
Stone will take on first-seeded Belgian Andy Baetens on Wednesday night. "I have a lot of respect for Andy, a great player. But I'm not afraid of anyone."
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