The Courier & Advertiser (Angus and Dundee)
How Soots has set the world of darts on fire
Alan Soutar has risen a staggering 91 places in the PDC world rankings in just 21 months as a professional.
The Arbroath ace, known as Soots, is now 37 th having secured a £25,000 cheque for reaching the quarterfinals of last weekend’s Grand Slam of Darts.
And, after five live Sky TV appearances in the last fortnight, Soots is back on the big stage again in the Players Championships Finals this weekend.
He will then return to the PDC World Darts Championships at Alexandra Palace next month – a place he made his mark at last year.
A huge six weeks lie ahead for the Dundee firefighter.
And here Courier Sport reflects on his achievements and what to expect before the PDC Order of Merit rankings are finalised on January 3:
Alan Soutar: Grand Slam of Darts success
Soutar collected a cool £25k cheque for reaching the last eight of the £650,000 Cazoo Grand Slam of Darts.
His profile rose considerably in a tournament that saw him beat finalist Nathan Aspinall and World No 10 Jonny Clayton en-route to his quarter-final exit.
The glory run saw Soots climb six places in the rankings.
And it is worth remembering that his appearance at the Wolverhampton event was a huge bonus in itself.
Soots booked his place at the last minute by winning his way through the Grand Slam qualifiers.
A stunning double-bull 132 checkout and a 114 – which ended on his favoured double 18 – are memorable highlights.
Players Championship Finals up next
There’s no rest for the wicked and certainly none for Soutar.
At one point last week, he considered shelling out £500 for an Uber to get him home from Wolverhampton in time for a Monday day shift at Dundee East Kingsway Fire Station.
And after returning to his day job this week, he is back on the road again to travel to Butlins Minehead for the Players Championship Finals.
The event is open to the top 64 from the Players Championship Order of Merit. Soutar finished 39th on that list and will face Scott Williams in the first round with £100,000 on offer for the winner of the Itv4-screened tournament. Ally Pally reunion Soutar became an overnight household name after last year’s Ally Pally exploits.
His stunning run to the last 16, ended by Englishman Callan Rydz, saw him become a media darling – even appearing live on Sky Sports News on Christmas Day.
Soots is back at Ally Pally again in December, having qualified comfortably after hitting a rich vein of form in the past month.
He has beaten seven of the World top 20 in the last five weeks.
Aspinall (8th), Clayton (10th), Danny Noppert (9th), Dave Chisnall (13th), Dirk van Duijvenbode (15th), Dimitri Van den Bergh (15th) and Ryan Searle (17th) have all been taken out by Soots. His recent form will send him down to Ally Pally on a high, with the draw for the £2.5 million tournament next Monday night.
Can Soots reach the Top 32?
Soots needed one more win at the Grand Slam to breach the top 32.
But after a narrow 16-12 defeat to Aspinall, he remains in 36th place in the Main Order of Merit.
He is £14.25k shy of 32nd-placed Raymond van Barneveld and would need to reach at least the quarter-final to claim that spot by Monday.
That could be a tall order but would then offer Soots a bye to the second round of Ally Pally.
A much more likely target is for Soots to try and force his way into the elite placings with another glory run in London next month.