CZECH IT OUT AS MONTY CLAIMS EMOTIONAL WIN
Ross‘The Boss’Montgomery landed his first darts title in two years on Saturday with victory at the Czech Open.
The 57-year-old, from Greenhills, told the News earlier this month he had returned to the sport after an enforced absence due to his wife’s ill-health.
But with wife Dorothy now recovered and cheering him on in Prague, The Boss was in top form as he defeated Irishman Keane Barry 6-5 to claim his first BDO title since winning the British Open in 2017. Montgomery told the News:“It’s been a wee while since my last title, but it’s great to have that winning feeling again and share it with Dorothy.
“With everything that’s happened, darts has come second so it was great to have Dorothy with me in Prague.
“She was definitely a calming influence and helped me focus on my game.
“If you think too much about it, you make the game too difficult, but everything just fell into place for me. The Czech Open is one I haven’t won before so this is another title to add to the collection.”
The Boss now has 19 career trophies to his name and he had to fight hard for his latest one against 17-year-old Barry.
He added:“Keane is only 17, but he is a tremendous talent. He’s the current PDC World Youth champion, a credit to his family the way he conducts himself on stage and I’m sure he’ll go far.
“He was hitting all his doubles and I knew I couldn’t afford to give him chances because he’s so talented.
“I was 5-3 up and he got it back to 5-5 before I saw it out on my own throw. I had been practicing really hard the past week and, thankfully, it paid off.”
With the BDO World Championships in London on the horizon in January, Montgomery now heads to Italy for the Italian Grand Masters and the Italian Open, both being played this weekend.
“These are the last major tournaments before the World Championships, so I’ll try and go into them with the same attitude to keep me in good shape for that,”said the Scotland international.
“Hopefully I’m hitting form at a good time and this will give me some momentum to take into the World Championships.”