The Courier & Advertiser (Perth and Perthshire Edition)
Soots back firefighting after he set Ally Pally alight
Angus darts star Alan Soutar will fight fires in Dundee at Christmas – just 24 hours after his PDC World Darts Championship win.
Soutar will jet back to Scotland this morning to begin his work at Dundee Kingsway Fire Station at 6pm.
He will work back-toback 14-hour and 16-hour shifts just a day after claiming a £25,000 prize for his stunning 144 checkout win over Mensur Suljovic.
‘Soots’, from Arbroath, fought back from two sets down to win a tie-break 6-4 with two treble 20s and a double 12.
That sealed a third-round tie with Jose de Sousa at Alexandra Palace.
But he could now face fires or road traffic accidents before returning to London for the third round next Wednesday.
“I’m going to be working 30 hours over the next two days,” said Soutar.
“I now have a 14-hour night shift on Christmas Eve and a 16-hour night shift on Christmas Day at the fire station.
“Christmas is a total unknown quantity.
“I’ve been in major house fires on Christmas morning and road traffic collisions on Christmas Eve and
Boxing Day. You just don’t know what’s going to happen.
“We pray in our jobs we’re not going into anything because that’s someone else’s life or trouble.
“Hopefully I have a couple of quiet shifts and everyone is safely with their families enjoying Christmas.
“Look, it’s my job. Whatever happens happens and we go and deal with it.
“My big issue is swaps again. I’m supposed to be back in work on December 30th and I don’t know what’s going to happen with this tournament.
“The guys will expect cakes. I suppose I can afford some from Clark’s.”
Meanwhile, Soots admits he feared he was out as he lost the first two sets.
Suljovic missed eight match darts before Soutar silenced a partisan English crowd with his winning throw.
“I felt at 2-0 I was going to lose,” added Soutar.
“What are you thinking at that point? It’s ‘what time is my Uber booked to take me to the airport tomorrow?’
“But seriously, leg by leg I pulled him back and started to believe.
“I looked up at the big set to see it was 2-2 and 2-2.
“I wasn’t even aware it
was going to a tie-break. It’s such an incredible feeling and there’s no limit to where I can go.
“If you can get through a game like that against the world number 26 then you can beat anyone. But let’s look at the next game. The next guy has to play me, I don’t have to play them. “I’m here on a free run.” Soutar bagged a £25k bonus after his incredible win over Suljovic.
The Angus ace looked down and out as he lost the first two sets with Suljovic making check-outs of 141, 113 and 102.
Soutar survived eight match darts against the world number 26 before turning the game on its head.
He showed incredible nerve to force it back to 2-2 and won the match in style with a stunning 144 checkout. That saw him win the final set 6-4 on the tiebreak and ensure he will be in the tournament after Christmas.
Soutar went into the game as slight underdog against Suljovic.
But after posting a 94+ average in his brilliant first season as a professional, Soutar had every right to believe he could take a scalp.
He has already beaten the likes of Raymond van Barneveld and Peter Wright in his PDC debut year.
Victory over Suljovic not only secured a £25,000 winner’s cheque but sealed a top-64 spot.
Van Barneveld insists Soutar is “one to watch” for the Best Newcomer award after making an incredible impact in 10 months as a pro.
And it was time for the firefighter to show that on the Ally Pally stage.
Soutar was determined to stay focused as he walked out to a noisy crowd. But while he had only a handful of people on his side at the London venue, the support from his home town Arbroath was clearly evident.
Soutar’s Saltire darts jersey was hung up in the
Gayfield Park dressing room alongside his Arbroath FC heroes.
The former 29 Commando had messages of support from former military friends.
And he wore a military pin badge and an Arbroath FC pin badge for luck.
Soots got an early 180 on the board and took the first leg. But he was pinned back by some slick finishing by Suljovic.
The Austrian broke Soutar’s throw with a 113 check-out and claimed the first set 3-1.
He roared at the board in celebration as he took a grip on the match.
Both players struggled in the second set; Soots missed seven of his eight doubles to go down 2-0 in sets.
The Scot was struggling to find his rhythm. After missing double 16 in the first leg of the third set he lost his throw again.
He broke back bravely in the third set, however, to take it on double eight.
Soots began to find his form with high scores and accurate doubles.
He forced it to a tie-break and had two match darts on double top as the crowd jeered.
Suljovic then missed four match darts on double 16 before Soots’ incredible check-out.