Inside Darts - UniFlip.com

DIARY OF A PLAYER | coLIN ‘JAWS’ LLoYD
First and foremost be careful when coming down
the stairs everyone! More on that later, but fi rst
here’s a snippet of how I fi rst got involved in darts.
SHARK’S TALE
You could say I slipped into the professional game by
accident. I fi rst got into darts through my family. They
played quite a lot and one day when I came home from
school there was a dartboard up. I started playing on it,
put the practice in and gradually got and better
and better.
I played for Essex for a while
at youth and senior level and I
registered to play in the Essex
Open one year. I fi nished runnerup,
but my break came two
weeks later when I decided
to enter the Eastbourne darts
festival.
I started to become bored
with the game but still seemed
to be playing well. I went to the
John Smiths International Open,
which was ranked by the PDC,
and won it beating John Part, Rod
Harrington and Peter Manley along the
way.
From that point I had a fresh hunger for the
game and never looked back. I played in few more
tournaments that year and qualifi ed for the 1999 World
Matchplay.
I decided to leave the BDO county setup to ply my
trade on the PDC circuit and I’ve not done too bad out
of it.
I’ve had the Jaws nickname since I was a kid. I used
to have two distinctive fangs and I got called it all the
time. The nickname has stuck and I’ve used it ever since!
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‘THAT’S THE WAY TO DO IT’
I’ve had a fairly quiet few months since the Worlds.
It’s been nice to chill out and catch up with family and
friends again. Sometimes constantly travelling can put a
strain on your relationships and it’s diffi cult.
We went to see my girlfriend Carol’s family
in Ireland and my sponsor over there. I
also did an exhibition with Adie Lewis,
Paul Nicholson, Dennis Priestley,
Peter Manley and Wes Newton
which was a good laugh.
My start to the year on the
Pro Tour hasn’t been great, but
it’s early days and there are
events every few weeks so you
can’t dwell on bad results too
much.
I’ve been putting in the hours
on the practice board with a good
friend of mine Bobby George recently.
He lives just behind me and I’ve been
practicing at his house to keep my arm
ticking.
Bobby is still playing good darts and is really popular
on the exhibition circuit. His son Richie is not a bad
player either and has just started out on the BDO circuit.
BLACKPOOL CALLINg
I’ve got a few exhibitions and charity nights coming up
which I look forward to but my focus is still on trying to
reach the big TV events.
The Matchplay in Blackpool in July is always a special
tournament for me. I won it in 2005 but that seems many
moons ago now and I hope I can do well there again.
I’m also looking forward
to the new four-day European
tour events this year. It’ll be
interesting to see how they go
along.
Every tournament is
important and you’ve got to
go there with the right attitude
and focus on your game.
OUT AND ABOUT
I’ve been keeping an eye on
the Premier League so far, it’s
been a great start. I’d love
to have another crack at it, I
had some good times during
the fi rst few seasons but it’s
tough going and not the be all
and end all for me. Kevin and
Andy were written off before a
dart was thrown but they’ve settled in really well and
deserve to be involved.
Away from the oche, I was invited to a sports
dinner in London with former Ireland Rugby captain
Keith Wood which was really enjoyable. It’s nice to
hear how another professional sportsman has gone
about his trade and achieved success for his country.
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I’m also due to take part in Colchester United’s ‘A
Question of Sport’ along with some other local
sports personalities.
I keep a close eye on Colchester United who are
my local team. I try to get to as many games as I can
but it’s diffi cult when you’re away most weekends.
Carol and I are friends with the commercial director
at the club and he always makes us feel very
welcome at the Community Stadium.
ONE STEP AT A TImE
You may be wondering why I mentioned the stairs in
the opening line?
I’ve been getting stick from my girlfriend and
on Twitter (@ColinJawsLloyd) for an accident I had
recently. I slipped down the stairs at home from the
top to the bottom on my backside. I was in agony
with a bad coccyx for a few weeks but thankfully I’ve
recovered and it hasn’t affected my darts!
March is an important month for me with two
Players Championships in Reading coming up and
UK Open qualifi ers in Barnsley a fortnight later.
I don’t put any pressure on myself anymore
though; I try my best in every event, hopefully get
good results and move on to the next one – exciting
times ahead!
See you next month. Be lucky!
NEWS