Simon Whitlock has declared his season up and running as he prepares to play a vital role in Australia’s World Cup of Darts campaign this weekend.
‘The Wizard’ experienced a disappointing Premier League campaign but is now looking ahead to an exciting remainder of the year.
Whitlock is hoping to build momentum as he teams up with Paul Nicholson to represent Australia in the World Cup in Hamburg.
“The Premier League season never really got going for me which was a blow but I’m looking forward now,” said the 45-year-old former runner-up.
“I got beaten by Dave Chisnall in Dubai last week but the performance was encouraging.
“There are still a lot of big tournaments to look forward to this year and the World Cup is a really important one for both me and Paul.
“We came really close to winning it in 2012 when we lost in the final to England so we know it’s a tournament we can do well in.
“Winning the World Cup would be one of the highlights of my career so I will be giving it everything I have got.”
Australia face a first round tie with Denmark, and Whitlock is hoping to avoid any early slips.
“There are always shocks early on in this tournament and we have to do everything in our power to make sure we are not on the end of one,” added the world number four.
“While there are five or six countries who will really fancy their chances of winning the tournament, every opponent is dangerous so we can’t look beyond the first round.”
Article courtesy of Simon Whitlock’s sponsor Leyland Paints.
Whitlock will be joined at the event by his fellow Leyland Paints ambassadors; world champion and world number one Michael van Gerwen and Mark Webster, who are representing Holland and Wales respectively.
Leyland Paints was founded in 1922 and has a long and distinguished history of affordable, trade quality paints.