Angus darts ace Alan Soutar soared up to 54th in the PDC world rankings after his Alexandra Palace exploits last week.
Soutar has jetted back to London after spending Christmas Eve and Christmas Day on a 30-hour stint as a Dundee firefighter.
The Arbroath star will face Portuguese world number seven Jose de Sousa on Wednesday, aiming for a place in the last 16 of the PDC World Darts Championship.
After taking the scalps of Diogo Portela and Mensur Suljovic, Soots has risen 74 places in just ten months as a professional.
But what does his potential path to Ally Pally glory look like and where will he be when the 2021 rankings are confirmed on January 4th?
Courier Sport will be in London to track every step of Soutar’s PDC World Darts Championship journey and we’ve mapped out every step below:
What’s next for Alan Soutar?
Soutar will face Jose ‘The Special One’ de Sousa on Wednesday at around 12.45pm.
The game will be screened live on Sky Sports and de Sousa is favourite.
But should Soots upset the odds, he’ll face a Scotland-England clash.
𝗦𝗢𝗢𝗧𝗦 𝗪𝗜𝗡𝗦 𝗜𝗧 𝗜𝗡 𝗦𝗧𝗬𝗟𝗘!
Alan Soutar produces the most magnificent of match winning finishes, pinning D12 for a huge 144 checkout and he defeats Mensur Suljovic in a tie-breaker!
Soots survived EIGHT match darts and he's into Round Three!#WHDarts pic.twitter.com/YAfQznfGFo
— PDC Darts (@OfficialPDC) December 23, 2021
That will be against the winner of world number 14 Nathan Aspinall and Callan Rydz.
The quarters put Soutar in the same path as world number two – and fellow Scot – Peter Wright, with the semi likely to be an all-Scotland shoot-out with Gary Anderson.
In the other half of the draw, world number one Gerwyn Price will be favourite to reach the final.
What prizes are at stake at Ally Pally?
Prize Money breakdown for the 2022 PDC World Darts Championship with £2.500.000 on offer #Darts https://t.co/Dwtr8DPJ0J pic.twitter.com/v51AUxU2vo
— DartsNews02 (@DartsNews02) December 27, 2021
Soutar is already guaranteed to walk away with £25,000.
A win over de Sousa will see that rise to £35,000.
A run to the quarter finals increases the prize to £50,000. Beaten semi-finalists claim £100,000 and runners-up earn £200,000.
The winner walks away with a cool £500,000 prize.
Alan Soutar secures top 64 spot as he eyes up best newcomer award
Soutar has a LONG way to go before he can dream of lifting the Sid Waddell Trophy next Monday.
But he is now odds-on to be named PDC best newcomer after a stunning debut season.
Soots has played darts for over 20 years, representing Scotland 50 times, including in their 2013 World Cup win.
But he only joined the PDC tour this year after qualifying through ‘Q School’.
EXCLUSIVE: Alan Soutar 'one to watch' says legendary five-times PDC world champion Raymond van Barneveld https://t.co/kQizjC56iP pic.twitter.com/7hWCLj1vLP
— The Courier Sport (@thecouriersport) December 23, 2021
After taking the scalps of the likes of Raymond van Barneveld and Peter Wright already this season, Soots is the current highest-earning newcomer.
If he loses on Wednesday, he can’t go any lower than 55th in the rankings.
Victory will move him in 51st place and he could yet rocket even higher.
A quarter-final spot will move him up to 46th. He will go 34th by reaching the semis and into the top 20 as a finalist.
Winning at Ally Pally could see Soutar ending the year 4th in the world.
But after securing his pro future until at least 2023, it has been a dream debut year for Soutar, no matter what comes next.
