Gary Stone made an excellent start to his WDF World Championship campaign at the Lakeside. After a slow start, the 42-year-old Scot finished impressively and defeated Swede Ricky Nauman 3-1.
“It feels great to be back here. Even just walking into the venue brings a lot of good memories for me,” Stone said in his post-match interview. It has been 2013 since Stone was in action at Lakeside (he was also there in 2020 at the BDO World Championship, but that was then played in a side room at the O2 Arena). “I didn’t feel as if I was anywhere near the way I’ve been playing the last six months. So to come away with a 92 average or whatever it was, a wins a win. I can go forward and build on that.
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“I’ve been playing well in patches. I just think consistency is a big word,” Stone reflects on his year. “If I can start finding it consistently, then I could certainly do a bit of damage. It’s just about a bit of self-belief this week.”
