FORMER darts world champion Mark Webster has opened up on his “meltdowns” as he battled dartitis.
The Sky Sports pundit saw his career unravel as he suffered with the dreaded condition.
Mark Webster has opened up on his dartitis battle[/caption]
The former world champ admitted he has fallen out of love with playing the game[/caption]
During his glittering tenure at the oche, Webster won the 2008 BDO World Championship and reached a high of World No.6 in the PDC Order of Merit.
The Welsh thrower also won a ProTour title in 2010 and finished runner up at the Players Championship Finals in 2011.
However, ‘Webby’ lost his PDC Tour Card at the end of the 2019 season after enduring an ongoing battle with dartitis.
The 41-year-old recalled a pivotal match against Daryl Gurney in 2017 at the UK Open fourth round, where his struggles with the condition were laid bare.
He told the Tops and Tales podcast: “One of my real meltdowns was at Minehead and I was playing Daryl Gurney.
“And we’d fallen out of time and it kind of brought us back as friends again, because I was struggling so bad.
“We went into a break. It was like 7-3 going to break.
“I was in tears in the back. And I was like, Daryl, we need to finish here. I think he beat me 9-4 or 10-4 in the end.
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“I was glad to get off. I was like, I can’t do this anymore. And then that was sort of the coming to the end.
“I missed the World Championship that year for the first time. And I started coming down the rankings.
“And I was happy to just sort of plod to what I could do.”
The long-term effects of dartitis have left Webster anxious to step foot on stage in the future.
He added: “I’m really anxious playing darts now. So for example, if you wanted me to come to your local club and play in some players, I’m just not interested. I don’t want that sort of appearance anymore.
“I’ve probably fallen out of love with playing the game now, which is a shame.
“But it’s because of the dartitis, it lingered for ages. It brought me to tears after games because I thought, ‘This could be the end.’”
Webster revealed even his closest rivals saw his struggles.
He admitted: “Michael van Gerwen came up to me and said, ‘I feel sorry for you, mate,’ because I was all over the place.
“I was stumbling. I was panicking in games. People were watching me fall apart.”
While Webster’s competitive playing days may be behind him, he remains a respected figure in the sport, now working as a pundit and commentator.
Dartitis may have ended his professional career, but his legacy as a World Champion and top-class player remains intact.
