Dave Chisnall (Picture: Jonus Hunold)

Dave Chisnall blames bad luck for his failure to win a major but is confident he'll break his duck soon

By Sporting Life

Darts

Fri March 24, 2023 · 3y ago

Dave Chisnall believes one of the most prominent factors that have prevented him from winning a major televised tournament is luck.

The ever popular crowd favourite has been at the top end of the sport for the best part of a decade and has won 18 non-TV tournaments since making the switch to the PDC in 2011, including three on the stage of the European Tour.

Chizzy clinched the last of those at the recent Baltic Sea Darts Open, where he beat Luke Humphries in the final, but he's eager to start lifting the sport's greatest prizes.

The 2010 Lakeside runner-up has reached six major PDC finals, losing two of them to Phil Taylor and three to Michael van Gerwen while he agonisingly missed out to Joe Cullen at his most recent at the 2022 Masters.

He's widely regarded as one of the best players of all-time never to win a major but it's a list he wants to get off that list sooner than later.

Chizzy was cursing his fortune in the recent UK Open, where not only did he draw Michael van Gerwen in the first round, he also had an unwanted visitor at the oche at a key moment.

“You just need that luck and to get a good draw,” he added. “All draws are hard, but at the UK Open, you don’t want to be playing Michael van Gerwen first.

“I played quite well against him, I was 6-5 down and I was going for double top and a fly flew in my ear. And after that I couldn’t concentrate for three legs and I ended up being 9-5 down.

“I got it back to 9-8 but it was too much. It’s luck, I know I can win these tournaments, but so can everyone else.”

Chisnall takes encouragement from how Chris Dobey and Andrew Gilding have won two of the televised majors so far this year against the odds and believes this is his time.

“It gives you hope,” he said. “I have always said, these players, they are no mugs, they can play darts. And if you are not at your A-game they are going to beat you. They will hit big averages and you just have to top them.

“The level has increased a lot, it’s different winners at different tournaments, it’s not just the Van Gerwens or the (Gary) Andersons. It is everybody who can win.

“As soon as you start winning tournaments, they are like buses, that’s what they say.

“I just have got to get that first major under my belt and we can go from there. I am playing well, I think this year could be the one I win a major or two.”

:: Dave Chisnall was promoting Viaplay’s exclusively live coverage of the PDC European Darts Open beginning this Friday from 12pm.