Nathan Aspinall has discussed why he's gone back to his old darts just four months after deserting them for good, his battles with the behind closed doors era, silencing social media trolls and critics as well as his views on the Premier League line-up ahead of the new season.
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Nathan Aspinall has reverted to his ‘old faithful’ darts just four months after vowing to never use them again as he looks to bounce back to title-winning form at the Premier League.
Last season's runner-up initially decided to switch to a new set of darts having suffered a largely disappointing 2020 and felt some of his struggles were caused by grip issues in the colder, empty arenas of the behind closed doors era.
Aspinall was so confident he’d adapt well with his new darts that he’d stick with them even when fans eventually return to venues, and during an interview after an opening-round win at the season-opening Masters he went as far as saying “you’ll never see those old darts again. I don’t like change, but when I do, I’ll stick to it."
However, not too dissimilar to Steve Redgrave’s famous U-turn after the 1996 Olympics – albeit without any reference to needing to be shot – Aspinall has quickly gone back on his word.
The 2019 UK Open champion, who was knocked out in the first match of the UK Open last month despite a 100+ average against and Krzysztof Ratajski, admitted the final straw was his performance against Lisa Ashton during the latest batch of Players Championship events at Super Series 2.
He said: "I’d been playing well but not to the standard required to go deep in the tournaments. Lisa played fantastically well against me but as soon as it was over I rang my partner Kirsty and said ‘go into my draw, get the old darts and take them to the post office, I want them in my hotel room at 9am tomorrow! Even though it cost £30 to send them!
"First game back I had a 107 average – even though I lost it to Ritchie Edhouse – and I just felt really confident with them. I didn’t have the best of results for the remaining two days but I hadn’t used them since the World Championship and was relearning how to throw them again.
"Like many players I could pick up any set and throw a 180 after a little practice but it’s in those pressure situations in matches when you have one dart at a double and miss when you think ‘I wouldn’t have missed that with my old ones’. So it’s definitely the phycological side of things.
"I’ve used every excuse under the sun this season so it’s back to the old faithfuls and no more excuses. They aren’t exactly the same darts I’d been using for three years – just a brand new identical version so there’s more grip on.
"It’s too big a tournament to keep persisting with the new darts, it’s been four months now and there’s things I don’t quite like about them at crucial stages. We are still tweaking them but with such a big tournament I have to go back."
Silencing doubters and social media trolls
Aspinall’s lack of success in recent months means he’s one of the outsiders for Premier League glory and one of the favourites to suffer relegation on Judgement Night – but if anything the underdog tag serves him well.
The Stockport star said: "Everyone thinks I’m going to get relegated and I love it! I came from nowhere to become a two-time world championship semi-finals, a major champion and a Premier League runner-up so when all of a sudden you find yourself as one of the favourites to win big tournaments it is a burden.
"I used to be 33/1 type prices or bigger, then I was about 8/1 to win these tournaments with big players in them and now I’m back to the point when people think I’m going to lose early on.
"I love it when I hear people say I might be a one-hit wonder or other phrases like that because I love proving people wrong. Everyone thinks me and Glen are getting relegated because we’ve had eight bad floor tournaments with low 90s averages, but rest assured that ain’t going to happen. Look what happened last year.
"There’s not much expectation on me but there’s plenty of eyes on me to see how I’ll do – a bit like Rob Cross who doesn’t get the respect he deserves and gets slated by people who claim he’s a one-hit wonder. He’s had some problems at home like we all do because we’re human and sometimes people forget that.
"We get so much social media abuse it’s untrue. But there’s nothing anyone can do about it because we’re on there and very approachable.
"You lose one game and get abused by people who have lost 50p on you, it’s pathetic. However it’s been going on so long now that we’re getting better at laughing it off. They moan about losing 50p on a match I’ve lost that cost me £50,000! Come on lad.
"My manager does most of my social media in terms of dealing with the inbox messages which is where all the abuse is and that’s all cleared out before I go on it. I’d reply and go mental so it’s all removed before I get into trouble!
"Michael Smith was getting a lot so he doesn’t use it anymore and people do go too far. You can’t even repeat some of the disgusting abuse. It’s one thing abusing you over a lost bet but it’s another when they bring their family into it.”
Need for noise
The Premier League will initially be behind closed doors but there is some hope that fans could return for the latter part of the season in May and this would come as a huge boost to Aspinall, who thrives off the connection with fans and the atmosphere they create.
He said: "I don’t get the same buzz walking out in front of officials as I would do walking out in front of 7,000 fans with my music playing. You can’t explain the feeling unless you’ve done it. We’ve all been in the same boat but I personally need to be fired up. Gezzy Price has managed to find a way to do it without the fans but Michael van Gerwen is probably more like me and trying to find it. We can’t drink any more Red Bulls before we go out on stage!
"Personally, I’m not sure there will be any fans for the whole Premier League which I’d be gutted about. This is my second season and all I want is to play in front of a big Manchester crowd so I’ll need to win the tournament to make sure I’m back for that opportunity next year.
Battling hotel boredom
"It’s not just the fans I miss about this situation. I love going out to play pool or golf after a game of darts but instead we’re cooped up in our room with more to think about. And that means I miss the kids more than ever when I’m away at tournaments.
"I’m a strong person mentally so it’s the boredom I struggle with. At the last Players Championship events I’d play my matches then go back the hotel room for 18 hours but after watching Tipping Point and the Chase there was nothing else to do!
"It’s even harder to get up for those events than usual so hopefully it’s a fresh start to the season with the Premier League, playing on TV every day against the best players in the world. If I can’t get up for that then I shouldn’t be playing darts.
"I’ve also bought PGA 21 for the PS4 so that will help with the boredom in the hotel room as I won’t be able to play golf! I don’t usually take my practice board with me but I will do this time to give myself something else to do other than stay in bed.
"You’re only allowed out for an hour a day to do exercise but I’m a darts player and we don’t do exercise! So I need to keep my head active somehow."
No money worries
Aspinall’s early exit at the UK Open meant he failed to defend much of the £100,000 of ranking money accrued from his glorious run two years earlier, but he’s now relieved those pressures won’t be a factor for the ‘giant exhibition’ of the Premier League.
The 29-year-old said: "Many others around me in the rankings have been dropping like flies like Michael Smith, Daryl Gurney, Ian White and Glen Durrant but ultimately my position is down to me and I trust myself to do well in tournaments I haven’t done well in two years ago to build the money back up.
"We obviously don’t have to defend any money in this giant exhibition which is all about the best players in the world entertaining the fans so you do approach it a bit differently in that sense and don’t worry about what you did two years ago."
Asked what he thought about whether it could ever be classed as a ranking event if there was a more defined qualification criteria, Aspinall said: "It couldn’t happen because imagine winning £250,000 and then not being able to defend it two years later because you didn’t make the 10.
"Or what about the player ranked 10 in the world wins £50,000 and those ranked below him wouldn’t be able to do anything about it. It would be unfair – although I wouldn’t have minded last year because I’d be about fourth in the world now!
Some of the world’s top 10 didn’t make this year’s line-up including James Wade, Dave Chisnall and Michael Smith whereas many others outside it also held strong claims just like the three who did earn selection (Glen Durrant, Jose De Sousa and Jonny Clayton).
Aspinall said: "It’s such a hard line-up to pick because if you did just do the world’s top 10 you could end up excluding the World Matchplay champion. And anyone who wins that should be rewarded with a Premier League spot.
"It’s also such a massive show, that if someone ranked eight is quite boring and slow are people going to watch him? And if Gezzy Price slips down to 12, people would still rather watch him because he’s such an entertainer. So I think the way they do it is fair, unless I’m in the top 10 and don’t get selected!"
Opening week
Nathan Aspinall kicks off the campaign against fellow ‘relegation contender’ Glen Durrant in a repeat of last year’s final and feels he could be in a strong position by the end of the first week of five matches.
He said: "I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t happy with my opening five fixtures and I start with Glen, who is really struggling. It’s sad to hear him so down but I think he’ll come good in the Premier League and thrive as an underdog like we both did last year.
"Then I’m up against Dimitri who is a debutant and then it’s Gerwyn Price, who I always have a good battle with and currently hold the upper hand.
"If I can get off to a good start and get a few wins early on then the confidence will be there and the pressure will be on the opposition.”
Aspinall believes the Premier League format of playing one match a night in clusters will suit him just like it did last year during his run to the final on debut.
He said: "We can all play great darts but when a match doesn’t go to plan you don’t really have any time to dwell on it and you can look forward to the next one just a night later. If I have a bad game I’ll just be able to forget about it and move on.”
Wide open
Jonny Clayton will go into the Premier League as the form horse while Gerwyn Price and Peter Wright are the only three of the line-up to win titles during what has been an inconsistent season for many of them.
Aspinall said: "Clayton is playing brilliant, don’t get me wrong, and is probably playing better than anyone standard wise. But he’s never experienced the Premier League and it is different. You are on stage every night and you have to be at your best against the elite.
"Everyone on tour can beat each other in normal conditions – just look at Aaron Beeney beating Gerwyn Price the other week and Lewis Williams beating Michael van Gerwen having just won his Tour Card. The season is so open this year and the Premier League will be no different.”