Co Durham gardener Davey Dodds has gone from watching James Wade in the Premier League to facing him at the UK Open.
Co Durham gardener taking on superstar in UK Open
Co Durham gardener Davey Dodds was watching James Wade at the Premier League darts in Newcastle three weeks ago, now on Thursday he will share the same oche and try and dump the world number four out of the Speedy Hire UK Open.
40-year-old Dodds epitomises the UK Open's reputation as The FA Cup of Darts, with the amateur now getting the chance to play one of the best darts stars in the world in front of the Sky Sports TV cameras.
Dodds won through from a knockout competition in Middlesbrough in April to become one of 64 amateurs given the chance to play in the £200,000 event at the Reebok Stadium in Bolton.
The draw for the first round was made on the same day darts fan Dodds attended the Premier League in Newcastle, where Wade was on the big stage beating Terry Jenkins.
Dodds will now be in the firing line against the left hander, but has been dedicating himself for the match and his big shot at darting stardom.
Arena
"I was in the arena with a few friends and when the draw came up on the big screen, there was a big roar in our section," said Dodds.
"We had a laugh because he came out firing against Terry Jenkins, averaging about 120 in the first four or five legs. But that was a different day.
"You could have been thinking 'why couldn't I get an easier draw?' but at the same time everyone's there to be beaten.
"I've played darts for a long time and it won't faze me much. I think I've played just about every dart player other than Phil Taylor through the years"
Dodds insists he will be full of confidence for his date on the oche with Wade, and with the match being just the best of seven legs he knows he stands a great chance of upsetting the odds, despite Wade being able to start quickly himself.
Confident
"I'm a pretty confident player and obviously everybody is looking for a good run, but I know who the people are that I'll be playing against," he added.
"I know it's not easy but I'll just see how I go against James and see what happens. I don't think the format will make much of a difference against James because he's one of the quickest starters.
"If I had drawn a couple of the other bigger names you know that they sometimes need a few legs to get warmed up and into the game, but Wadey's normally straight out of the blocks - as he showed against Terry a few weeks ago!
"I'm really looking forward to it though."
