MARK WEBSTER is hoping to continue his progression inside the PDC's top 30 this year.
The Welsh left-hander jumped into the PDC's top 32 with his third-placed finish at the Ladbrokes.com World Darts Championship earlier in January, claiming the £60,000 prize money with a play-off win over Raymond van Barneveld.
His performance at Alexandra Palace marked a high point to end a tough first year on the PDC circuit for the former Lakeside Champion, who qualified via the Players Championship Order of Merit by just £100.
"It meant a lot to me," reflects Webster, who defeated Mark Walsh, Peter Manley, Kirk Shepherd and Co Stompe in reaching the semi-finals at Ally Pally before losing to Phil Taylor.
"I go into the top 30 in the world now, and I was 69th going into the World Championship, so I can't complain."
Webster suffered a 6-0 semi-final whitewash to eventual champion Taylor, but picked himself up to record victory over five-time World Champion van Barneveld in the third-fourth place play-off 24 hours later.
"There was a lot at stake for me in that game," he said.
"I was whacked by the best player in the world [Phil Taylor] and I didn't want to get whacked by the second best player as well, because you start thinking then that you can't play the big players.
"But a 10-8 victory over Raymond van Barneveld will hold me in good stead and I can reflect on a great tournament where I finished third in the biggest darts tournament there's ever been."
Of the defeat to Taylor, he added: "It's not a great experience but it's a learning experience.
"I'm not going to take positives from it because I got hammered and I didn't perform, but I've got to learn to deal with that because Phil's going to be around for a while.
"I want to be a World Champion and win all these tournaments and I'm going to have to beat Phil [to do that].
"I'm not the only player, and I won't be the last player, to get a hammering like that but I've got to learn to control my nerves a bit better because I was very nervous inside and I didn't deal with the occasion."
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"I really want to play at Blackpool in the World Matchplay. It's my favourite tournament to watch and I've always wanted to play in it," Mark Webster |
"I'm not going to lie, I doubted whether I belonged to be here," he said. "I went to Australia and lost to a player I shouldn't have lost to, with the greatest of respect.
"I was disheartened and I thought 'Am I in the right place?', but since then I've kicked on, I had a good Grand Slam and played a fantastic World Championship.
"I'm in the Grand Slam for two more years but I don't want to rest on that, I want to play in every TV tournament, I don't want to play a bit part.
"I really want to play at Blackpool in the World Matchplay. It's my favourite tournament to watch and I've always wanted to play in it.
"So my target's to qualify for Blackpool but I want to get into the UK Open and I want to qualify for everything. I want to be on TV as much as I can, I want to play in the big tournaments and play the big players."