Former World Darts Champion John Part dreaming of landing another title
'Darth Maple' determined to give his best shot at winning a fourth world crown
Tuesday 24 January 2017 20:41, UK
Three-time world champion John Part has promised to give the very best players "nightmares on the oche" after securing his Tour Card at the 2017 PDC Qualifying School.
The darts legend secured his position on the professional circuit at the Robin Park Tennis Centre in Wigan at the weekend.
'Darth Maple' won his first world title at Lakeside in 1994 before landing his second in the PDC nine years' later when he beat Phil Taylor in a classic final.
He secured the last of his crowns in 2008 when he defeated 21-year-old qualifier Kirk Shepherd at Alexandra Palace.
But 50-year-old Part is not done yet and has set his sights on landing the biggest title of them all for a fourth time in his career.
"I don't see why I can't win it again," the Canadian told Sky Sports. "Obviously you can be realistic and say 'well I'm here and I can't do it' but before anyone wins a world championship the first time it's easy to be negative and say 'how can you do that? Look at those guys.' And if you do that you never will.
"It probably does sound crazy that winning another title is my goal, but all goals are crazy until they're done.
"I'd hate not to give it a go while I'm still able to and I think I can. I can't turn around in five years from now and say I'd like to give it a shot because I won't be anywhere near the same ability or condition to do it.
"I'm out there to perform well and give people nightmares on the oche and enjoy it."
In a repeat of the 2008 Alexandra Palace final, Part faced Shepherd in a straight shootout for qualification, and rolled back the years as he clinched a 5-2 victory to secure his return to the ProTour.
"I tried to have a very positive attitude that I might have had 10 years' ago or so and it worked out. It might have been a little bit stressful, it was definitely not easy, it's a hard event. If you look around the room there were plenty of characters out of my darts past.
"It's an interesting time for darts. There is so much talent across the board but I manged to get everything working just enough to get through.
"Kirk was a dangerous opponent on the day because I knew I had to win. If I lost and then lost early the next day, I wouldn't get a Card. The whole point of the rematch of the final didn't enter into it - it was pretty much on the day and I was pretty surprised at how well he was playing.
"I played well, so it felt pretty good. I didn't feel like I was the supreme guy like I did in the World Championship final - we were quite level and in fact he had the upper hand. It was a change of role. Once I started winning matches, I continued winning matches."
Part hopes to be back in action at the Coral UK Open in March where he was runner-up in 2004.
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