Ross may be out but not down
Boss set to bounce back
Ross ‘The Boss’ Montgomery insists he was happy with his performance against Richard Veenstra at the Lakeside World Championships last week, despite suffering his sixth first round exit in 10 appearances.
The Greenhills thrower crashed out after a 3-1 defeat to the Dutchman at Frimley Green.
Veenstra played some sensational darts, with 144 and 121 checkouts on the bullseye during the match, but The Boss could have taken the match the distance if he had landed one of three darts at a double in the final game of the fourth set.
Despite that, the 54-year-old is keen to look at the positives after another disappointing result at the British Darts Organisation’s showpiece event.
The Boss told the News: “It’s the best I’ve felt at Lakeside in a long time.
“The positive I’m taking from it is that Richard had to play that well to beat me. He knew what he was up against and had to find those kind of darts to knock me out.
“His finishing was brilliant. I got myself into good positions to take a leg but he produced some big finishes - the 144 and the 121 - to take it away from me.
“A lot of people have said to me if it was anyone else I would have won but fair play to Richard, he was outstanding.
“I missed double 18 to take it into a fifth set but it’s not the end of the world.
“I’ll go into the new season with my head held high.
“I was very happy with my performance and my approach to the game.”
Veenstra went out in the next round as he lost to fellow Dutchman Danny Noppert, who went all the way to the final before losing to champion Glen Durrant on Sunday.
The Dutch have dominated the latter rounds at Lakeside in recent years and now Montgomery has his sights set on a title in Holland.
Following his Lakeside exit, the next big tournament on the calendar will take The Boss to the Dutch Open between February 3-5 and he knows what it takes to go all the way in that event, having won the title in 2014.
He said: “It’s a brilliant tournament and there’s always a great atmosphere.
“I’m well-known there because I’ve won it before so I’m looking forward to it.
“The fans are great and hopefully I can have a good tournament.
“After a difficult start to 2016 it took a lot of hard graft to get back to Lakeside this year and now I’m back in the top 16 so I’m looking forward to playing more tournaments.
“I’m in a much better place than I was this time last year, when I was thinking of giving up the sport.”
The positive I’m taking from it is that Richard had to play that well to beat me. He knew what he was up against.