LOCAL favourite Wes Newton is preparing to compete in his 'favourite' event at the Betfair World Matchplay next week.
The world number five's Fleetwood home is only eight miles up the Fylde coast from Blackpool's Winter Gardens, with only rival Ronnie Baxter being closer to home on the Betfair World Matchplay stage.
The former UK Open finalist opens his challenge in this year's tournament when he plays James Hubbard in the first round, when he can expect the majority of a packed Empress Ballroom to be cheering him on.
"It is my favourite event, with it being my home tournament," said Newton. "I've always gone to watch it since I was a kid, and even though I've not had my best results there it is my favourite.
"It's a bit of a party atmosphere. There's a lot of holidaymakers in Blackpool in the summer as well as the darts fans, and they're all enjoying themselves.
"It's a very scenic arena. It's not very long but it's wide so the crowd are right on top of you, which adds to the atmosphere.
"The best feeling I've experienced was being called out the first time I qualified for the World Matchplay in 2006. You always wonder what it would be like and it was really good.
"I've got a lot of family and friends who come and support me - it's hard to get tickets for them all sometimes! I get a lot of support so it would be nice to have a good run this year."
Newton tasted victory on the Winter Gardens stage for the first time last year, erasing the memories of four previous first round defeats when he saw off Andy Smith and Justin Pipe to reach the quarter-finals, where he was knocked out by a Phil Taylor super-show.
"It was a really good week last year and I was happy with my form, until I ran into Phil!" reflects Newton. "It was just one of those things because he played incredibly on the night.
"I was 4-1 up and he won nine legs in a row and 15 of the next 16 in total - I was shell-shocked!
"If we played again it would be in the semi-finals in Blackpool, which would be an improvement on last year. I'll just take each game as it comes because I've got a lot of hard work to do before I can think of the semi-finals or Phil."
The Betfair World Matchplay will be held from July 21-29 at the Winter Gardens in Blackpool. Tickets for the event are still available by calling the Winter Gardens Box Office on 0844 856 1111 or by visiting www.blackpoollive.com.