Ronnie Baxter’s warning to PDC rivals
Friday 25th November 2011, 6:00AM GMT.
Ronnie Baxter has warned his rivals “I can get back to my best” after his visit to Stafford Rangers Football Club for a charity darts exhibition.
‘The Rocket’ played a light-hearted leg against 16 punters at Marston Road including nine-year-old Shaun Gibbons, who was sponsored for over £300.
All profits went to children’s hospice the Donna Louise Trust with Baxter the star attraction in the Rangers club-house, to kick-off his weekend of action.
The world number 14 is the last leg of the PDC Players Championship in Wigan this weekend, where Baxter is a shoe-in for the finals in sixth place.
The top 32 make up a knockout tournament at the Doncaster Dome in two weeks time, live on ITV4, before the World Championships the week after.
The 50-year-old has twice reached the World Championships quarter-final, which qualified him for the Premier League in 2010.
But Baxter just missed a spot at Wolverhampton’s Grand Slam last month, finishing behind Justin Pipe in the Players Championship Order of Merit.
Now ‘the Rocket’ is insisting he can put an indifferent year behind him by starting December like a house on fire.
He said: “I am good enough to come back from this and I can get back to my best, no problem, it’s just that consistency I have been lacking.
“I have done it before, I was world number three at one point and dropped to 17th, before pulling myself to sixth.
“I want to finish first, of course, and I need a good performance in the World Championships, that’s how I got into the Premier League last year.
“They didn’t pick me last year and that rankles with me a little bit, because I was No 8 in the world, at the time. It’s a matter of face fits.
“It’s very hard nowadays, there’s so many good players out there, but one good win could put me back in the public eye.”
UK Sport
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