Forfar darts starlet Nathan Girvan is on the verge of joining his former mentor Alan Soutar at this year’s £2.5 million PDC World Darts Championship.
Girvan, 20, will contest the PDC World Youth Championship final in a live TV encounter with rising Northern Irish star Josh Rock on Sunday night.
Girvan is already guaranteed to feature on Sky Sports next year as he has already qualified for the next £650,000 Grand Slam of Darts.
And he could now book his place at Alexandra Palace in December, joining Arbroath’s Soutar on the big stage in London.
Girvan, originally from the Angus village of Craichie, joined Soutar’s Angus Darts Academy at the age of ten.
Biggest match of Girvan’s career
GIRVAN & ROCK THROUGH TO WYC FINAL! 👏
Nathan Girvan and Josh Rock will contest the 2022 PDC World Youth Championship final in Minehead next month!
Girvan followed up his earlier nine-darter with a 6-2 win over Callan Rydz, while Rock demolished Geert Nentjes 6-1 in the SFs. pic.twitter.com/7Ncjs1adfd
— PDC Darts (@OfficialPDC) October 9, 2022
Amazingly, he has already starred in two live TV finals at BDO level as a teenager.
He also hit a nine-darter against two-time world champion Adrian Lewis in his PDC debut earlier this year, before disposing of world number 24 Callan Rydz en-route to Sunday’s shoot-out.
But with a £10,000 prize and a place at Ally Pally up for grabs in Sunday’s ITV4 clash, this is the biggest match of Girvan’s career.
“The money for winning on Sunday is big,” said Girvan. “But there’s a much bigger prize at stake.
“Winning a place at Ally Pally to play alongside the best players in the game would be amazing.
“It would be a dream come true.
“To be there with Alan would be would be something special, given what he has done for me in my career.
“My grandad played darts with Soots and told him I had a talent. Soots invited me down to play at the Angus Darts Academy and spotted my potential straight away.
“He travelled with me to a tournament in Holland and practiced with me at Shotz Pool Bar in Arbroath.
“To think that there could now be two players from Angus at Ally Pally is almost unthinkable. It would be a fairy-tale story.”
Nine-darter Nathan Girvan hopes to turn pro
Ironically, Soots beat Girvan at Q School en-route to winning his PDC card in 2021.
Girvan will go to Q School again this year, aiming to become one of 128 professionals on the circuit.
But he could still be automatically granted his tour card by virtue of his performances in the PDC Development Tour.
🚨 NINE-DARTER! 🚨
Nathan Girvan strikes perfection in his first round tie with Adrian Lewis at Players Championship 15! pic.twitter.com/ON1EVUiPnt
— PDC Darts (@OfficialPDC) May 11, 2022
Girvan is just one place below Dutchman Geert Nentjes, who sits in an automatic promotion spot.
If Nentjes retains his tour card via the order of merit with a few wins at the Players Championships or Ally Pally, Girvan will be in.
“I want to be on the same stage as Soots,” said Girvan. “He had the guts to turn up at Q School and win and since turning professional he has been brilliant.
“To hit a nine-darter against Adrian – one of my heroes – on my very first Players Championship game was amazing.
“Sunday will huge but if I don’t win I won’t give up on my dream of turning pro.”
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