2020 Ladbrokes UK Open: We chat to reigning champion Nathan Aspinall
2020 Ladbrokes UK Open: We chat to reigning champion Nathan Aspinall
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There’s nothing in Darts quite likethe Ladbrokes UK Open. This weekend, 160 players will converge on Minehead inan attempt to win the FA Cup of Darts and the chunky £100,000 that comes withit.
Ahead of this year’s tournament, we spoke to 2019 winner Nathan Aspinall about his victory 12 months ago, how his life has changed, his grandad and what it’s like for the 16/1 shot to be defending a major title for the first time.
Ladbrokes News: Cast your mind back to 12 months ago. Can you tell ushow you were feeling going into the UK Open and what your expectations wereahead of the event?
NathanAspinall: I was playing well. Obviously I had a good run in the WorldChampionship at Christmas time, so I knew I was playing well and I knew that Icould go deep into the tournament. But winning it; I didn’t think so early inmy career I’d win a major. It just happened!
I rode my luck a bit, I think it was against Christian Kist Iwon a deciding leg and similar against Steve Lennon. I rode my luck at timesbut I think if you’re going to win a tournament you need that.
Obviously when I made the final session on the Sunday I wasthe underdog. No-one expected me to come through that field, but I did! It wasa memorable time.
LN: Howimportant do you think that was for you personally and your career?
NA: Yeah, Imean you’ve seen all these stories where I was planning to quit. I had no moneyto my name.
Obviously the World Championship prior to the UK Open helpedmassively but the UK Open certainly changed my career. It opened up a lot ofdoors and it gave me a World Series spot in Las Vegas last year in the USMasters which I went on to win.
It also opened the door for the Premier League because I’dwon a major, so yeah, it opened many doors and it put me into the top-16 in theworld. After winning the UK Open I’ve kind of carried on really with theconfidence that I got from that tournament.
LN: Andwhat’s it like going back as the defending champion? It’s obviously a newexperience for you in a major?
NA: It’s veryweird! I don’t know really, it’s kind of hard to explain. I didn’t think itwould ever bother me. A couple of months ago people started asking me questionsin interviews about ‘how is it going to feel defending your title?’ and Ialways said it didn’t bother me, but it definitely feels different.
I think there are going to be a lot of eyes on me, especiallyif I’m doing well in the Premier League too. I’ll just do what I do; I’ll go inthere and play my game and I know that if I play my game I can win the tournament,and hopefully that’s what I’ll do and defend it.
LN: You’vewon the US Masters, got to another World Championship semi-final and you’rejoint top of the Premier League, did you expect you’d be reaching all thesemilestones so soon?
NA: Er, no! Tobe fair, I thought I’d be back doing my accountancy by now. These last 12months have been an absolute whirlwind, not just for me but for my family too.
My life has just completely changed. We’re travelling all over the world which means I’m not home much, but that’s what I initially picked my darts up for, so that I could be in this position. It’s been an incredible 12 months and I just want it to continue.
I’m on cloud nine, I’m loving playing in the Premier Leagueand like I say, this is the first major of the year and hopefully I cankick-off with a good start.
LN: Withyour performances in the Players Championship and the Premier League it looksas though you’ve hit another level beyond what you were doing last year. Canyou put your finger on why that is?
NA: I justthink it’s confidence. I’m happy! You see a lot of players that startstruggling have issues at home or their form isn’t there so they startstruggling and disliking the game.
Where I’m at at the moment with my mind-set I’m just so happywith my life. I’m happy with the way my darts are going, I’m loving travelling,I’m loving see my bank balance in growth and keep growing!
I’m just happy, and if you’re happy and everything’s right athome, your darts show that and that’s what’s happening this year.
LN: What isthe travelling like for you guys then? You had the Belgian Darts Championshiplast week and then the Premier League and the UK Open this week; it must bemad?
NA: It is. Andto be fair, that is probably the one thing I’m struggling with this year. Itravelled a lot last year but I had the weekdays at home. Maybe it was a Fridayand a Monday I’d miss but at the moment I’m home one day a week.
I’ve got two young daughters and a wife so I’m strugglingwith that, but it comes with the territory because I’m doing it all for themkind of thing. It is tough, we’re all over the place but it’s all good.
LN: Movingonto your game, we did notice that you seem to having some grip issues with thedarts when you throw. Can you tell us a little more about that?
NA: It isn’tthe grip of my dart! Everyone keeps saying it’s the grip of my dart but it’stwo things really. I’ve had it for years but it’s only gotten bad recently; Ihave like a little twitch in my eye.
It used to only happen now and then when I aimed at D16 or D8but it seems to be happening all over the board now. It’s something I’maddressing but your eyes are a bad thing to touch. Unless it gets really bad I’mgoing to leave it.
In the Premier League it’s happened a lot more and that’sbeen nothing to do with my eye or the twitching…I can hear the floorboardscreak! That’s as simple as it is! When the players are walking past me I canhear the creaking on the stage and it’s putting me off.
It’s happened twice; it happened with Glen Durrant last weekand with Rob Cross. Glen actually pulled me and asking me if he was doing somethingwrong as I kept stopping. Basically, I’m just that focused that I notice anylittle sound I hear. So it’s not a gripping issue, it’s a twitching issue or afloorboard.
LN: Movingonto the UK Open; it’s always tricky for those playing in the Premier Leaguethe night before. Have you had any advice on how to prepare; and can you talkus through your plan?
NA: Not really.I’m kind of getting used to it last week with being in Dublin on Thursday andgoing out to Belgium on Friday. I think I’m going to travel on Thursday nightafter my match. I’m the first game on against Peter Wright so I won’t be offstage too late and hopefully I’ll be in Minehead by 11pm.
I’m going to play my game on Thursday, get there and then seewhen I’m on at the UK Open. I could be on at 7pm or I could be on at 11pm, wedon’t quite know yet. I’ll just get to the hotel late on Thursday night andthen I’ve got all day Friday to just chill out and get ready for the thirdround game.
LN: Itlooks pretty manic at Minehead with the amount of players, how different is itfrom the other tournaments? And is it more difficult to play on the outerboards versus the main stage?
NA: I do thinkthe top-32 have a massive advantage compared to a lot of the players; theymight not say it but I think they agree with me. We’ll only play one game onFriday, whereas potentially some players will play three or four matches.
LN: You’veexperienced both ends of the spectrum I guess, so you’ll know better than most!
NA: Yeah and itis hard. The worst way around is if you’re on the main stage in the secondround and then all of a sudden your third round game is on board seven. You gofrom playing on TV with all the adrenalin to then playing without muchatmosphere at all.
Some people handle it better than others. Obviously it ismanic but the guys who play in the afternoon session do have a tall order onthe Friday night. But then we’ve earned the right to come in at that laterstage so we’ve got to use that to our advantage.
LN: Andwhat sort of chance does the tournament give players who might not be amongstthe top seeds to actually go well and make a bit of a name for themselves?
NA: I thinkthat’s the beauty of the Ladbrokes UK Open.I know a lot of theolderplayers don’t particularly agree with the UK Open; a lot of seasoned pros don’tlike it. I think that’s because they’re scared about getting beat by unknownplayers, to be fair.
For me, I think it’s a brilliant tournament. If you look at my career now a lot of it kick-started from the UK Open. I’m in a stable with five other lads in the UK Open this year and two of them came through the qualifiers at Rileys, and both of them are young lads; Adam Huckvale and Lewy Williams.
I look at those two who have qualified and they have a greatchance not just to win the tournament but just to get a bit of stage experienceand to play on TV. When they do eventually get a Tour Card the experience they’vegot from this year will help massively in the start of their career.
It’s a brilliant tournament and one that I look forward toevery year and hopefully this year it brings the same result.
LN: On thatnote is there anyone in particular you think we should keep an eye out for?
NA: That lad Lewy Williams, who’s 18 [1500/1 to win the UK Open]. He looks a great talent from the Rileys qualifiers. Can he win it? Probably not. But he can certainly do some damage to some of the top boys because he fears no-one.
LN: There’s also been plenty of talkabout coronavirus and sport at the moment. Has there been any mention of itamongst the players on the circuit and the effect on potential tournaments?
NA: I’veactually just had an email from the PDC about that saying we don’t need toshake each other’s hands. I don’t worry about stuff like that – I don’t pretendto understand what’s going on. If I catch it, I’ll deal with it then!
LN: We wanted to finish by touching on your Grandad, because you two made quite the pair last year. How important has he been for you and will he be back again this year?
NA: Grandad Alan will be back for his second appearance! It’s only kind of been a last minute thing and with me being in the Premier League he couldn’t get away from my grandma for five days. He’s now going down with his mate on the Friday.
Obviously he was a big part of it last year. He’s getting on a bit and he’s no spring chicken so for me to win a TV title with my grandad being there considering he’s played darts all his life and I’m living what he wanted to do, made it even more special.
He’s coming back up again this time and yeah, he just lovesit. He’s more famous than me in Stockport! He’s coming back up and he can’twait for it.
