The Courier & Advertiser (Perth and Perthshire Edition)
Soutar tipped to land award by darts legend
Alan Soutar has been tipped for the PDC’S prestigious Newcomer of the Year award by five-times world champion Raymond van Barneveld.
Soutar has beaten Dutch star Barney twice in four meetings – including on his run to the last 16 of the UK Open.
And as he prepares for the biggest match of his life against Austrian star Mensur Suljovic today, Soots has been backed by Barney.
Barney believes Soutar’s meteoric rise in his debut year as a pro merits recognition.
Soutar is in the top 64 after starting the tour in 128th place. He has picked up £47,000 and has already secured his professional status until at least 2023.
“Would he be in contention for Newcomer of the Year?” asked Barneveld.
“Yes, absolutely. “Alan Soutar had his tour card this year. I beat him the day I won my first Pro Tour in the quarters. Then he beat me in the UK Open.
“In the final week he beat me in the second round of the Pro Tour and one week later I beat him to qualify for the Grand Slam of Darts.
“It’s 2-2 now but he’s a fantastic player.”
Soutar has taken out a host of big names in the last year including World No 2 Peter Wright.
And his form is no surprise to Barney.
“He’s really clinical on his finishes and is one of the guys we really need to watch out for,” added Barneveld.
“I love the game and I never missed a game even when I retired from darts.
“I watched all the players and all the newcomers.
“If you are new you have to keep practising to get better and better.
“Maybe within two or three years you can lift trophies, you never know.”
Meanwhile Soots has given Courier Sport exclusive insight into his match build-up.
Soutar’s stepson Logan, who is in London with the Dundee firefighter, turned 18 on Tuesday and enjoyed some birthday shopping.
Soots also took an emotional walk past the city’s military monuments as he remembered fallen Iraq war hero Lance Bombardier Llywelyn Karl Evans.
Nicknamed “Welly”, the Welshman who served at 29 Commando at the same time as Soutar. Welly lost his life, aged 24, in a helicoptor crash in 2003.
“This always brings back memories of people who lost their lives in Afghanistan and Iraq,” Soutar told Courier Sport.
“You have a little moment and think about them.
“Right now I’m thinking about Welly. Memorial things always take me back to him as I was really good friends with him.
“These kind of things are really important to me and should be important to everyone in the UK.”
Soutar ended his Tuesday night with a private practice session with 2018 PDC World Champion Rob Cross.
Cross is 11th in the world and faces five-times champion Van Barnevald tonight.
Soutar added: “You aren’t going to get much better practice than with a former world champion.
“Rob is 11th in the world right now. It’s good practice for me but also for Rob as he plays Barney.
“I have a bit of friendship with him on the Pro Tour and we practice together.
“His manager is Scottish so we have a bit of link there. Away from the oche and TV cameras, Rob is a really good guy.”
Scot Willie Borland, who hit the headlines earlier in the competition with a nine-dart finish, is out after he lost his second round clash against Ryan Searle 3-0.
There were wins for William O’connor and Luke Humphries who beat Glen Durrant and Rowby-john Rodriguez respectively, while Nathan Aspinall got the better of fellow Englishman Joe Murnan in a five-set thriller.
Belgian Kim Huybrechts is through to the third round after seeing off England’s Steve Beaton 3-1 and he’s joined by Dirk van Duijvenbode after he defeated Russian Boris Koltsov 3-2.