EMOTIONAL DURRANT HITS TRIO

HOUSING manager Glen Durrant turned his historic hat-trick of Lakeside titles into a classic film script: Three Lettings and a Funeral.

King of Teesside Durrant (above) became the first man since Eric Bristow in 1986 to win three consecutive BDO world championship titles with a 7-3 win over Scott Waites (below).

But when asked how he was going to celebrate his monumental feat, he said:

“I’ve got a funeral back home at 10.30 in the morning for

Lee Beck, a friend

I lost at Christmas, and I really want to be there for him.

“And then I’ve got a meeting at work, which I’ve got to attend, at 1.30 – so it’s straight back on the horse.”

Durrant, an estate manager at the Grangetown housing office in Middlesbrough’s industrial heartlands, had promised he would honour the memory of his tragic pal who died suddenly on Boxing Day, a week after his 50th birthday.

He was as good as his word, and when he nailed double 16 to complete a rare treble in darts, Durrant was blinking back tears on the Lakeside stage as he wrapped himself in an England flag adorned with the Boro crest.

Visibly shaking with emotion, he said: “To win this three years in a row like Eric is very, very special.

“Eric won it when it was a unified organisation – I wasn’t playing Michael van Gerwen, Michael Smith or Gary Anderson tonight, but I was up against a Lakeside legend.

“For the first five sets, he was much the better player, but once I had got it back to 3-3, I could hear the Teesside voices in the crowd.”

Durrant hit 13 maximums and averaged 95.20 – almost exactly the same as beaten Professional Darts Corporation finalist Smith at Alexandra Palace a fortnight ago.

And if he gains a PDC Tour card at Q school this month – which he regards as “the golden ticket to Willy Wonka’s chocolate factory” – this will be his farewell to the British Darts Organisation.