Durrant in the dark over Grand Slam of Darts spot
Durrant has featured in three consecutive Grand Slams (credit:Lawrence Lustig/PDC)
Glen Durrant has revealed he is yet to receive a response from the BDO after enquiring about his inclusion in the 2019 Grand Slam of Darts.
Durrant, the reigning and three-time Lakeside World Champion, left the BDO in January to begin the latest chapter of his career in the PDC after coming through Qualifying School.
The Middlesbrough marksman has appeared in the Grand Slam, the sport’s elite cross-code tournament, for the last three years as a BDO representative, but there are now question marks over his involvement this November.
In previous years, the BDO has granted an automatic spot for the current Lakeside Champion, however Duzza’s status as a PDC Tour Card holder could exclude him from the BDO’s invitation criteria.
Durrant says he has contacted BDO Chairman Des Jacklin directly by email, but is yet to receive a response.
“Two weeks ago, I emailed Paula and Des [Jacklin] and I asked the question,” Durrant told Live Darts.
“I love the BDO, they let me achieve all my dreams.
“I’ve never said a bad word against the BDO and never will.
“I sent the message because I’m trying to work my calendar out – ‘Am I in the Grand Slam as the BDO champion?’ and I haven’t had a response yet.
“I know it’s a busy time with what’s going on, and the honest answer is I don’t know.”
As it stands, ‘Duzza’ is a provisional PDC qualifier after winning Players Championship Four, but with multiple European Tour and ProTour events still to come this year, he is likely to fall down the pecking order unless he can add to his title tally.
Failure to do so would mean he would have to enter to the PDC qualifying event – which offers a further eight places in the tournament – which takes place from November 9-17 in Wolverhampton.
Durrant added: “If I do go there as BDO champion, I don’t think I get the ranking points for the PDC, so they’ll be a question there.
“I’m in the Grand Slam now as a PDC player because of winning a ProTour, but I’m the last player to qualify, so if anyone else wins a European Tour, the World Matchplay or a ProTour who’s not already qualified then I’ll be out of the equation.
“Someone said to me “do you need five grand, Glen?” that was the question put to me.
“Genuinely, since winning Lakeside, it’s been pretty crazy, the Premier League etc all came a little bit too early for me in my opinion.
“How do you turn down the Grand Slam? For me, it’s only behind Lakeside as the best tournament I’ve played in.”
Durrant has made a bright start to his PDC career, picking up £35,000 in prize money and climbing to 70th in the main Order of Merit, all but securing a World Championship spot and moving into a strong position to reach July’s World Matchplay.
Though he admits he has exceeded his own expectations so far, Durrant says he has been left frustrated by his form on the European Tour and is poised to make changes to his game.
“The only negative I’ve got right now is that I’m not producing in Europe what I’m doing in England,” admitted Durrant.
“Even in my BDO career, my good darts were in England and that’s my conundrum right now.
“That’s the only disappointment so far in my PDC career but I’ve got to look at the positives.
“I’m already in Ally Pally, I’m in a fantastic position for the Grand Prix, Matchplay arguably I’m a few grand from guaranteeing that.
“Year one was always about consolidation, so if I can play at the Matchplay, I’ve totally exceeded where I want to be.
“I’ve had some disappointments too, there’s tournaments I think could have won.
“I’ve done a couple of exhibitions in between ProTours which was a terrible decision, so as much as there’s been some big highs, there’s been some incredible lows as well.
“Life’s good, I’ve never been so happy. The PDC’s been a terrific challenge for me and I’m so excited for the future.
“My game’s in a great place and I’ve got some exciting changes coming up in the next few weeks.
“I’m going to be using new shirts, new darts etc, there’s plenty of news coming out over the next few weeks and it’s a whole brand new change for me.
“I’m trying to find that extra five to ten per cent to challenge the Michael van Gerwens, the Peter Wrights, the Daryl Gurneys etc but the game’s there.
“Am I going to win a TV title this year? I’d be lying if I said it’s on my agenda, I just want to get people’s respect first of all.
“When you win the Lakeside, you don’t get the respect, I believe, you deserve.”
