ASPINALL REVEALS FAVOURITE WALK-ON, VENUE AND PRE-MATCH RITUALS

NATHAN ASPINALL has lifted the lid on his favourite walk-on, venue in darts and the quirky pre-match rituals that get him in the zone before stepping on stage. 

‘The Asp’ reckons Michael van Gerwen still has the greatest entrance in the sport despite Luke Littler’s ‘Greenlight’ anthem taking over arenas. 

Three-times World Champ Van Gerwen’s pre-match entrance is accompanied by The White Stripe’s ‘Seven Nation Army’. 

Stockport thrower Aspinall admits he’s been in awe of MVG ever since their first meeting and insists the Dutchman’s stage presence remains unmatched. 

He said: “For the crowd obviously, everyone loves Greenlight for Luke Littler. 

“But for me Van Gerwen. He was the guy when I was growing up, one of my idols. 

“When he walks out and you’re stood there and the whole place goes green… the aura that Van Gerwen has got for me is still the best. 

“I have a lot of respect for Michael for what he did for the game when I first started. He still has the aura about him, I don’t care what anyone says. 

“Yeah, he is not playing that well at the moment, but he is still Van Gerwen. He has done a lot for me as well off the oche, that is why I respect him so much.” 

World No. 23 Aspinall says the Winter Gardens in Blackpool remains his favourite venue on the circuit.

Aspinall was dumped out in the first round of the World Matchplay in July after losing 10-6 to Wessel Nijman in round one. 

Two-times major winner Aspinall revealed the pressure of being a home favourite in the arena proved too much to handle this year. 

He added: “The Matchplay – that’s why I was absolutely gutted I got beat first round. For me it’s my local tournament being in Blackpool and I’m from Manchester. 

“The crowd and support I get in Blackpool, sometimes for me it is too much. It affected me this year coming back. 

“I won it two years ago, last year I was injured and I played. I just wanted to have a deep run and put a good show on. 

“My walk-on at Blackpool is something else and then I got hammered. I played Nijman and he was fantastic. 

“If you ask 90 percent of the players that have played in every venue it is the Matchplay.” 

While Gary Anderson has branded the next generation of players “boring”, Aspinall insists his pre match ritual is anything but – blasting out Disney hits and rap before he hits the oche. 

He joked: “Anderson has came out saying we are all boring – he is the world’s worst, he doesn’t do anything. I have tunes on. 

“My pre-match ritual is I always have three songs on before I walk out.  

“I have Moana – ‘How Far I’ll Go’, my daughter’s song. I have ‘My Girl’, my other daughter’s song. And Eminem – ‘Lose Yourself’. 

“It’s completely random. Eminem is my idol and the other two songs mean a lot because they are songs that remind me of my daughters.”

Image by Taylor Lanning.