Alan Soutar is no stranger to dealing with pressure, and after starring on debut 12 months ago, the amiable Scot is eyeing another strong showing at this year’s Cazoo World Darts Championship.
Soutar made his big stage breakthrough at last year’s Alexandra Palace showpiece, defeating Diogo Portela, Mensur Suljovic and Jose de Sousa to progress to the last 16.
The 44-year-old will mark his return to the capital with a clash against Australian debutant Mal Cuming on Friday, with two-time TV title winner Daryl Gurney awaiting the winner in round two.
Soutar– who secured his Tour Card in January 2021 – is already on the cusp of breaking into the world’s top 32, and he’s delighted with his progress since joining the professional ranks.
“I have played darts for a long time so I knew I could play, but you’ve not tested yourself at that level,” admitted Soutar, who captained Scotland in the WDF system.
“I think deep down everybody wants to keep their Tour Card, but when you realise you’re on a path going the other way, it definitely surpasses what you think you were going to achieve.
“To try and emulate or better what I did last year will be quite difficult, but you just want to go on that stage, win your first game and then you feel like you’re in the tournament.”
Soutar will kick off Friday’s action-packed double session, and he comes into this year’s World Championship fresh from a run to the last eight in November’s Grand Slam of Darts.
The Scot defeated eventual runner-up Nathan Aspinall and Jonny Clayton en route to reaching his first televised quarter-final in Wolverhampton, which he attributes to a change in approach.
“These last few months have been a revelation,” added Soutar – ranked 36th on the PDC Order of Merit.
“My manager came to me a few months ago with a stat and said: ‘Your best double is double 18.’ We looked at all the stats and percentages and I was like: ‘Wow.’
“I have spent 30 years going for double 16, and now I’m changing. I’ve had to re-train my brain because it’s so hard for a dart player to change the way you go.
“But if you’re not looking for that 1% or 2% to change your game, then you’re missing out, because the guys that are doing it, they will see improvements.”
However, while the sport’s premier players focus on their pursuit of the Sid Waddell Trophy, Soutar may be forced to juggle his World Championship campaign alongside his work as a firefighter.
The man nicknamed ‘Soots’ has worked as a firefighter for the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service in Dundee for 18 years, which puts his darting trials and tribulations into context.
"Being a firefighter is part of me now, and dealing with darts and the adversity you have there, it puts it into perspective," Soutar revealed.
“Just two or three years ago, I was on a night shift on Christmas Eve and there was a house fire at 3am in a kid’s bedroom.
“I went in and the smoke was right down and the kid was still in his bed. I had to get him out of there. I saved his life and his mum.
“That’s the kind of thing you can encounter. As a firefighter, you are there for that bell going off.
“That is our job. If we can help save a life, that’s the best thing we can do," he told the Scottish Sun.
Soutar is certainly no ordinary dart player, and alongside his firefighting duties, he trains guide dogs with his partner Amanda from their Arbroath home, in a bid to help those most in need.
He has also been running darts academies in Scotland for over a decade, but he insists he has no plans to walk away from firefighting, despite his impressive rise in the sport.
“It is brilliant. It’s really rewarding,” continued the Scot, who also served with the 29 Commando Regiment in the peace-keeping forces in Northern Ireland, Bosnia and Kosovo.
“I’d like to finish my service. It is only five years away, which is not a great deal of time.
“I’ve done 18 years already, and I am managing to juggle it, and as long as I continue to deal with that, I will do both.”