Vincent van der Voort booked his spot in the third-round of the PDC World Championship with an emphatic 3-0 victory over 13th seed Darren Webster on Tuesday afternoon, but he told Josh’s Dartistry that a lack of motivation has hampered his season.
‘The Dutch Destroyer’ has slipped to 37th on the Order of Merit- his lowest position for over a decade- having failed to reach a PDC ranking quarter-final since September 2017. However, Van der Voort candidly revealed that he can’t get himself motivated for Pro Tour events in the same way in which he prepares for major televised tournaments.
“It’s not really about finding form at the right time. I’m always ready for the World Championship. That’s my problem, because I’m always more motivated for this one, but for the rest of the year I just fell asleep,” Van der Voort said.
“Sometimes I can’t focus myself to get better and better and I’m just not bothered. That has to change. I have to be ready every tournament again even if it’s a Pro Tour, even if it’s 9am or 12pm, I have to be ready and I didn’t do that.”
The Dutchman suffers from spinal hernia and has undergone regular physiotherapy treatment in an attempt to reduce the pain whilst on the oche. He was considering retirement in 2016 as his injury problems worsened, but he’s continued to battle on whilst retaining his place in the world’s top 40.
The former UK Open finalist missed out on qualification for the European Championship after registering just four wins in seven European Tour events this year, and he finished 58th on the Players Championship Order of Merit after failing to beyond the last 16 of any event.
“It is really tough especially when you’re not in the right mindset,” Van der Voort admitted. “Most of the time I thought I don’t want to be here in Wigan and Barnsley, I mean they are the worst places in the world.
“You’re just playing there and you think: ‘I don’t want to be here’, so going to Barnsley every week and being motivated to get the best out of yourself is really difficult.”
However, the 43-year-old is hoping to salvage his year with another strong run at the Alexandra Palace. Van der Voort is making his 12th consecutive PDC World Championship appearance and he’s only suffered the solitary opening-round defeat, reaching the quarter-finals in 2011 and 2015.
Van der Voort- who celebrated his 43rd birthday with victory over Webster, overcame Lourence Ilagan in a high-quality first-round tie, defying a 95.52 average and five maximums from the Philippines star to triumph 3-1.
Nevertheless, he cruised past ‘The Demolition Man’ for the loss of only one leg on Tuesday at the Ally Pally. The pair exchanged holds in a scrappy start to the contest, before Van der Voort reeled off eight legs in succession; taking out finishes of 96, 140, 98 and 72 to seal his progression.
The Dutchman also reached the third-round twelve months ago, whitewashing Dave Chisnall and Steve Beaton. Van der Voort is bidding to reach the last 16 once again and could face Beaton for the second straight year, if ‘The Bronzed Adonis’ overcomes Chris Dobey in his opener.
Van der Voort could reclaim a spot in the world’s top 32 with victory in round-three and the Dutchman is in confident mood. “I always feel right here. This is a big tournament, I get motivated for it, I want to perform well in it and the statistics show that I am.”
Photo Credit: Lawrence Lustig/PDC
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