Darts star Richie Burnett is in confident mood on the oche at the moment, but that hasn't always been the case after bouncing back from a dark period in his life.
The 56-year-old enjoyed success on the BDO tour, winning the world championship in 1995 and became the tour’s world No.1. But the former PDC World Championship quarter-finalist has endured some difficult times in his life too and on occasion did whatever it took to get by.
In a previous chat with the Daily Mirror, the darts veteran - who was at one point living off benefits after giving up the sport altogether - recalled a humbling moment from the noughties when he did not have any hot water. “When times were hard and I had no money, I was in Wigan for a tournament and bought myself a Pot Noodle for my tea,” he began.
"But I didn't have a kettle to boil water for it. The only thing I could do was drain the radiator from my room and use the hot water from that. It was all soily and brown but it worked and the Pot Noodle went down OK. But I'd used a pair of nail scissors to open up the valve and it wouldn't shut again, so hot, brown water was leaking out. All I could do was put a tray underneath it to catch it all. I didn't get much sleep because I had to get up every hour to tip the water down the sink."
Burnett rolled back the years as he produced a sensational performance to defeat Peter Wright en route to UK Open quarter-finals. This was all the more impressive given he defeated Ted Evetts 10-9 earlier in the day.
After a surprising yet superb 10-8 victory over ‘Snakebite’, during an emotional post-match interview, he admitted he'd got carried away with his finances while at the peak of his career. “I’m a tough old cookie. I love this game – I really do,” he said.
"I was 7-3 up and I started thinking about it, but that’s natural. Peter’s at the top of the game, he’s a Premier League player, so it’s a big win for me. I haven’t been in that situation for a while, but experience got me through in the end. I’ve been an idiot over the years, I’ve really underachieved. I’m just making up for lost time. I’ve earned two fortunes and spent three.”
Brunett’s victory marked a first quarter-final appearance him since his appearance in the final eight of the 2014 Grand Prix.
"I've been an idiot over the years, I've really underachieved, I've been an absolute maniac but I've never harmed anybody, only been a fool to myself. I'm just making up for lost time," Burnett added.
But his fairytale run came to an end at the hands of Dimitri Van den Bergh, who prevailed 8-2. Andrew Gilding went on to clinch the title after stunning Michael van Gerwen 11-10 to win his first televised tournament.
