Soutar slams "Scotland get battered" chants from fans

ALAN SOUTAR slammed the ‘Scotland get battered’ singing from the fans as “unfair” during his opening Grand Slam clash.

The Arbroath fireman beat Lisa Ashton 5-2 to get his title bid underway in the best possible fashion at the WV Active Aldersley in Wolverhampton.

But Soots, 48, hit out at having to deal with the ‘Scotland get battered’ chanting from the English fans throughout his contest with the ex-Women’s World Champion.

He said: “I was expecting the crowd to be hostile but not as bad as that.

“It’s actually tough. I ignored it and I’ve learned to not to egg them on. But it was still really tough to just focus on that treble 20 and put away the legs. I missed a few and Lisa pipped them.

“For me it’s 12 and a half thousand ranking points, that’s it. Where I am in the rankings, it’s massive. I can take a massive leap forward here.

“I’m a nightmare, I’m a showman. I want to back my country.

“But you’ve got to behave in there because you get abuse. I’ve learned to come back to the back of the oche, reset again and play. It’s very hard to do that.

“Maybe I should just wear black and black next time I play because that’s hard to play against.”

Soutar also complained that the Professional Darts Players’ Association refused to help him with a shoulder injury earlier in the year.

He added: “The start of the year was great. Then I got a shoulder injury and I asked the PDPA for help. And they said no. That hurts because they help other players that do whatever misdemeanours and they didn’t help me. They point blank said no.

“That hurts. I really needed a bit of help. We’ve done it ourselves, me and my manager Paul have navigated the situation I had and paid for a healthcare expert.

“I’m a bit better now but my shoulder still hurts. It's still a problem.

“I’ve got a build up of calcium on the bone in my shoulder and it hurts every time I throw. I’m just taking painkillers and managing it as best I can.

“If you’re not in the top echelons in the game, you don’t get looked after I’m afraid.”

CAMERON MENZIES hit 140 and 118 finishes to come from behind to beat Raymond Smith 5-4.

Oche180 has reached out to the PDPA for comment.

Images by Taylor Lanning.