Photo: PDC/Kieran Cleeves
By Ryan Segal
Darren Beveridge says the formula to keep his Tour Card is 'simple' as he prepares for his Players Championship Finals debut.
Ice Cold has had a much improved second season on the Pro Tour, reaching a maiden Players Championship Quarter-Final, recording his first European Tour victory, and securing a World Championship debut.
Before Ally Pally, however, is a trip to Minehead - with the 33 year old reflecting fondly on his season at large:
"I'm delighted.
I didn't have the greatest first year on the tour - I was just trying to find my feet.
But I seem to have managed to find a wee bit of consistency this year.
I've gotten a couple of good wins, got another Euro Tour trip to Hungary, and managed to hold on to my spot for Minehead, so I'm looking forward to it."
Of course, this isn't Ice Cold's first time in Minehead - having featured in numerous iterations of the UK Open, winning on the main stage earlier this year.
That experience, he believes, will bode him well heading into the tournament:
"I feel more relaxed going in to this event.
I've been to Minehead numerous times, and I've been on these stages before.
I know where everything is, I know what it feels like.
And it's the same format as the UK Open, so as much as it's a different event, it will feel similar.
I'm not too stressed - I'll just take it a game at a time."
He sits 78th in the PDC Order of Merit going into the tournament, with the tour card race heating up - but he’s refusing to read too much into it:
"If I win games, I'll keep my tour card. If I lose games, I won't.
It's as simple as that.
I know that winning is the most important thing at the moment, so I'll just keep doing that and hopefully by the end of the year, my order of merit says under 64.
That's the plan."
And no conversation with a Scotsman this week would have been complete without touching on the football, and the Tartan Army's qualification for the World Cup in a humdinger against Denmark.
On whether he would take inspiration from the achievements of his fellow Scots, he remarked:
"Absolutely – That was unbelievable for me.
Last time it happened I was 6, so I don't really remember much of that happening.
Getting to witness it last night was amazing.
It's made me so happy.
I can't wait to just go play darts, knowing that Scotland are going to be in the World Cup - and next year's going to be fantastic hopefully!"
Darren gets his PCF campaign underway against Ryan Searle in the second game of Friday's evening session on Stage Two.