Dudbridge freed from injury hell with World Seniors run: "I'm buzzing for the future again"

Mark Dudbridge was recently involved at the World Seniors Darts Championship. The former World Finalist impressed reaching the quarter-finals there losing out to Kevin Painter in a weekend he wasn't expecting much from.

"On reflection, a real buzz. I was very nervous to start with, I didn't know what to expect being back in front of the cameras and I think I put a good show in and could've done better in the end," said Dudbridge to Weekly Dartscast.

"Over the years, I've had numerous shoulder operations and my throw let me down, hence why I fell out of the game and disappeared. But it all seems good now, the 180's are coming and the big finishes and I'm buzzing for the future again."

But while he was buzzing, there is a slight missed opportunity given how far he went ahead of Painter.

"If you'd have said I'd made the Quarter-Finals not knowing what to expect, I'd have probably taken it but after winning the first set and being 2-0 up in the second, I'd probably feel a little bit disappointed in the end."

Going back to 2004, he also looked back on his World final including the Taylor aura which saw the cheque and trophy brought out before the game was done.

"I played some great players there and the semi-final sticks in my mind against Wayne Mardle. He was the local favourite, he was favourite with the bookies. He had all the crowd behind him but I relished the challenge."

"I fancied the final more than the World Matchplay. I think Phil was 6-3 up at the break and they started bringing the cheque and trophy out. That got my back up and I went to Phil this ain't over and I won the next set but that was a big rush of adrenaline and I dropped off after that."