The Boss bounces back:
Greenhills man Ross putting 2016 display behind him
Ross “The Boss” Montgomery has qualified for the 2017 Lakeside World Darts Championships.
The 53-year-old from Greenhills just missed out on making the top 16 seeds for the British World Darts Organisation (BDO) showpiece in January and will be ranked 18th out of the 24 players taking part.
It will be his 10th appearance at the famous tournament.
Earlier this year Montgomery suffered a first-round exit at the hands of Englishman Jamie Hughes, losing 3-0 in sets, and insists whatever happens in 2017 it can’t be as bad as that performance.
He told the News: “This year was really disappointing, so I want to put that behind me. I’m used to going out in the first round there because it’s happened to me a few times, but January was the worst I’ve experienced.
“I’m more upset with the way I went out rather than it being so early.
“I wasn’t mentally ready. There were a lot of things going on at the time that were annoying me. I didn’t play well.
“It was completely my fault and what happened then won’t happen again.
“I can’t do any worse than that, so I’m very positive about my chances this time and I’ll be working hard to go as far as I can.”
Following his Lakeside exit, Montgomery’s form plummeted, as did his ranking, and he was in danger of missing Lakeside for the first time since 2008.
However, back-to-back victories at the Belgium Open and H&S Masters in Holland – his first tournament wins for two years – helped him climb back up the standings.
So he is grateful just to be appearing in Frimley Green once again.
Montgomery added: “I’m ranked just outside the seeding for Lakeside by a handful of points, but I was 35th a few months ago so I’m delighted to qualify.
“I’ve put the hard work in over the summer, got my head down and picked up a lot of points.
“I know a lot of guys who are having to go to qualifiers to try and get there now, so I’ve got to be happy that I’ve made it.
“I beat Jamie Hughes 4-0 in the early rounds of the Europe Cup this year, so I got a wee bit of revenge for the Lakeside defeat. I also beat [2015 Lakeside champion] Scott Mitchell a couple of times, so that’s been a real confidence booster for me.”
The Lakeside World Championships run from January 7-15, 2017.