From Russia with not much Love to the Hammer

Diary of a Darts Player
By Andy Relf
This is the first time I've written an article based around a typical PDC competition weekend. This week we were playing in two tournaments in Doncaster, the Bobby Bourn Memorial Tournament on Saturday, and the North East UK Open Qualifier on the Sunday.
The Bobby Bourn is not a typical kind of tournament, as the draw is done on the day, when the PDC know who is in attendance.

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Now I don't really mind playing anybody, but there are obviously certain players that you'd rather avoid in the first round, the little ticket with my name on must have been put into the pot by someone with jam on their fingers I think, it seems to stick to players that are only in the top 32 in the world, which in some ways is great for my experience, but not necessarily results!

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The place was buzzing on Saturday, there were TV crews, photographers, and on the whole a lot of interest in Russian lady player and current BDO World Champion, Anastasia Dobromyslova making her PDC tour competition debut. Needless to say, everyone was eager to see who would meet her in the first round.

Fifteen minutes before start time, and the draw sheets are put up, there is a mad rush to see who has drawn whom?

Everyone is asking who got Ana. Well there could only be one person really couldn't there? I was drawn out first, to play Anastasia in a preliminary round.

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You always try to prepare for a game as best as you can, but by now I had 10 minutes to get over the fact that the whole venue was going to watch me play a lady.

If I'm honest, I was absolutely gutted; there was suddenly the pressure of me possibly being the first player in PDC history to lose to a lady.
I started the match very nervously with a huge crowd all in virtual silence.

(full article...)