GLEN DURRANT spoke of his excitement at the prospect of competing on the PDC circuit for the next two years after securing his PDC Tour Card.
Three-time Lakeside Champion Durrant was among 13 players to secure a Tour Card on the final day of the 2019 PDC UK Qualifying School in Wigan on Sunday.
Ranking points were allocated to players throughout the event to form the UK Q School Order of Merit, with Durrant one of 11 players to secure a Tour Card via this method in his first attempt at Q School.
Former Grand Slam of Darts quarter-finalist Durrant lifted his third Lakeside Championship title just four days before the start of Q School in what turned out to be a perfect January for the Cleveland man.
"This is as good as winning the Lakeside Championship," said Durrant.
"I'm so happy and relieved to get through because there was so much pressure on me to do this.
"When I looked around the venue I noticed that a lot of people were watching my matches, and I also put a lot of pressure on myself.
"Thankfully I got the job done and I'm immensely proud of what I've achieved. Now I'm looking forward to my exciting future with the PDC."
Durrant wasted no time in looking ahead to his first PDC campaign, with the 48-year-old determined to make an immediate impression on the professional circuit.
"I need to work on getting out the traps a little bit quicker, but short format matches are nothing new to me," Durrant added.
"One of my big ambitions is to play at Blackpool's Winter Gardens, that would be another dream come true for me as it's somewhere I've always thought looks like a special place to play at.
"I'm so excited about what the future holds and I'll be giving everything 100 per cent so that I can achieve as much as I possibly can.
"Over the next couple of weeks I will be playing in exhibitions with the likes of Michael van Gerwen and Phil Taylor, and it will be a great feeling to play in them as a PDC professional."
Durrant's first chance to work his way up the rankings will come on February 9 at Players Championship 1 in Wigan, with all the action streamed live on PDCTV-HD.