GURNEY OPENS UP ON ‘FRUSTRATING’ RANKING STRUGGLES

DARYL GURNEY joked that someone put “something in his drink” after one of the worst displays of his career at the European Darts Grand Prix.

Superchin crashed to a bizarre defeat against Oskar Lukasiak in Sindelfingen after averaging just 77.8 in a scrappy last-leg loss last month.

The world No.25 had trailed 5-1 before fighting back to force a decider, only to fall short after a match packed with missed doubles. 

Gurney admits he still cannot explain what happened. 

He said: “Honestly, to this day I still don’t know what happened in Sindelfingen. 

“Maybe somebody put something in my drink the night before. 

“I genuinely felt focused, but I just dismissed it afterwards because I got so frustrated with myself. 

“The only positive was that I came back from 5–1 down to make it 5–5 and at least turned it into a match. 

“But I was nowhere near my best and I deserved to lose. Oscar Lukasiak deserved that win. 

“And with everything Oscar has gone through with dartitis and stuff like that, I was genuinely happy for him.” 

The horror display was quickly forgotten at the Austrian Darts Open as Gurney bounced back in style with a 6-3 win over Ian White. 

Gurney revealed the victory came as a huge relief after a poor recent run on the European Tour. 

He added: “I’m just grateful to get a win after the last few European Tour events, where I haven’t won any money. 

“I put myself under a lot of pressure in that game, but thankfully I came through.” 

Despite remaining comfortably inside the world’s top 25, Gurney admits he is frustrated by his inability to produce consistent deep runs on TV and the European Tour. 

The two-time major winner believes one big tournament run could finally push him back towards the elite. 

Gurney explained he often overthinks his ranking position and feels repeated missed chances are stopping him from climbing higher.

He continued: “It’s frustrating because I feel like I’m one really good TV semi-final run away from breaking into the top 20. 

“The reason I say that is because at the World Championship I’m always playing around December 23rd, which means I’ve got to get home for Christmas and it becomes a struggle. 

“I frustrate myself because I wish I was more consistent and performed better on the European Tour. 

“Clearly I’m qualifying for events like the World Matchplay and World Grand Prix, but if I could get to the latter stages more often, it would boost my ranking and push me closer to the top 20. 

“Then I wouldn’t have to worry about qualifiers for things like the World Masters. I think about stupid things like that all the time. 

“I really do feel like I’m one good run away, but I keep missing darts here and there — and that’s why I stay stuck between 23rd and 25th in the rankings.. 

“I feel like I’ve been consistent. I’ve been there or thereabouts. But when you actually look at the results, I keep winning two matches and then losing. 

“That’s annoying because sometimes I feel like once I’ve won a couple of games, I get a little bit lazy — and I really don’t want to do that. 

“I keep missing opportunities. I’m not talking about missing massive finishes either. 

“I’ve lost a few games this year because I missed something simple, like a 25 finish, and then the other guy takes his chance and beats me 6–5. 

“So it’s up to me now to stop missing those simple finishes. 

“Hopefully I can improve as the year goes on because I really want to climb the rankings. 

“The World Matchplay is just around the corner too. 

“One of my dreams was to qualify for the Matchplay 10 years in a row. I think I achieved that last year, but I still don’t want to stop there. 

“So yes, I’m consistent — but am I breaking records? No Do I want to improve? One hundred percent.”