"I didn't gradually make TV appearances and then have a good run - it was overnight, straight to the final. In a way, I wish I had never done it."
Friday 1 February 2019 13:12, UK
Former World Championship runner-up Kirk Shepherd has admitted his sensational run to the final in 2008 hampered his career, but the 32-year-old is now bidding to secure an Alexandra Palace return after regaining his PDC Tour Card.
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Shepherd arrived at the World Championship in 2008 as a 1000/1 outsider, but the 21-year-old sheet metal worker from Ramsgate defied the odds to enjoy an astonishing run to the final.
He survived match darts to defeat Terry Jenkins, Mick McGowan and Peter Manley before stunning Wayne Mardle 6-4 to reach the final, until his fairytale was curtailed by John Part, as the Canadian won 7-2 to claim his third world title.
Shepherd only qualified for the tournament through the PDPA qualifier and he was the biggest outsider to have ever reached a World Championship final, but he told the Darts Show Podcast that he wishes he'd never done it.
"I think it [the World Championship] might have been a bit too much, too soon for me. I didn't gradually make TV appearances and then have a good run - it was overnight, straight to the final.
"In a way, I wish I had never done it.
"For someone who wasn't classed as a top player, I felt it didn't let me relax and play how I wanted too - it was like a tonne of weight on my shoulders.
"I felt I had to try and live up to those expectations - it would have been more beneficial if I had maybe just lost in the semi-final or quarter-final.
"But I got to the final, of the biggest tournament in the world, so the pressure became immense especially with the standard getting better and better."
Shepherd's incredible World Championship exploits saw him climb from 173rd to 22nd on the PDC Order of Merit, and he returned to the Ally Pally as a seed twelve months later, losing in the first round to Jan van der Rassel.
'The Martial Dartist' reached the third round of the 2010 World Championship, gaining revenge on Part before succumbing to Mark Webster, but his opening round exit against Wayne Jones in 2011 remains his most recent Alexandra Palace outing.
His fairy-tale run is therefore made all the more remarkable by his failure to build on that campaign, as he's receded into relative darting obscurity.
Shepherd's best result in a televised major since 2008 is a fourth-round appearance at the UK Open- the only major tournament he has featured in since 2011.
Nevertheless, the Ramsgate thrower, who also progressed through Qualifying School in 2017, secured an instant return to the PDC Pro Tour with an impressive campaign in Wigan earlier this month.
He was beaten 5-2 by Jamie Hughes in the semi-finals on day one, before securing his automatic Tour Card with victory over Kevin Painter on the final day, having already defeated three-time BDO world champion Glen Durrant in the last 16.
However. whilst Shepherd sealed his PDC Tour Card in Wigan, a host of high-profile names missed out, including Shepherd's old rival John Part.
"I saw John, and we had a good chat - but not about the final! We were all there for the same thing, to slug it out for a place back on Tour," Shepherd told Sky Sports.
"Over the next two years, the target is to get into the top 64 and keep my card. There is always a part of me that wants to get back to the World Championship too, so those are the aims."
"I've had to go back a few times now and it's not something I want to keep doing. The aim is to try and stay in the top 64 - but I seem to have it sussed out when I get there!
"It's a gruelling four days that is getting tougher and tougher. The standard is increasing and I really don't want to be back there."
Shepherd has become somewhat of a Q-School veteran over recent years, but he's desperate to avoid that pressure in the future, as he eyes a World Championship return in 2020 - twelve years on from his historic underdog story.
"Over the next two years, the target is to get into the top 64 and keep my card. There is always a part of me that wants to get back to the World Championship too, so those are the aims.
"When you turn up, you are looking for consistency and good runs. Last year, halfway through I was heading back to Ally Pally but then just fell off the radar. You need to be consistent."
The Premier League returns to Sky Sports on Thursday, February 7 from Newcastle before 16 more nights of tungsten action continue every Thursday through to the Play Offs at The O2 on May 23
