Alan Soutar shared what meant the most to him following his first event win since joining the PDC tour.
The Scot joined the PDC tour in 2021 and has made huge strides in his game, aspiring to be amongst some of the darts world’s big hitters such as Michael van Gerwen or Michael Smith.
His best performance on the big stage arrived in Wolverhampton at the Grand Slam in 2022, reaching the quarter-finals in one of the televised major tournaments.
‘Soots’ made another huge step forward in his career, cementing his name in the darting history books forever by winning his first ranking event at Players Championship 11 in Hildesheim.
Alan Soutar proud to be in the PDC winner’s circle
Soutar’s success in Hildesheim presented him a £15,000 pay cheque, which saw him rise to 42nd in the Order of Merit table.
The Scotsman performed some of his best stuff and defeated the likes of Steve Beaton, Martin Lukeman, Danny Noppert, Ritchie Edhouse, Niels Zonneveld, Dirk van Duijvenbode and Daryl Gurney.
He posted high averages of 107.73 and 102.15 against Edhouse and van Duijvenbode, respectively.
Key players such as Luke Littler and Luke Humphries were missing due to withdrawing before the weekend commenced, but the firefighter could only beat who was in front of him on the day and rose to the occasion in marvellous fashion.
His final game against Gurney went to the deciding leg, and Soutar held his nerve when it mattered most to take his first PDC title.
In a podcast interview conducted by the Weekly Dartcast, Soutar recalled what he is most proud of following entering the winner’s enclosure.
He began: “It’s funny when you’re getting introduced as a title winner in the PDC. It’s crazy, but it’s kind of brilliant.
“I think, from a guy that always plays the darts down, I’m not professional I’m just a part-time player, to come out of that room as the winner, it is amazing, really amazing,” Soutar reflected.
“That [final] leg is so good and it was just good to finish it off as well, not faff about on the doubles and look like ‘it’s his first title he’s going to bottle it’ or any of that stuff, so that was really really great.
“Special memories and you know, if I never win another title I can always say that I’ve won a title on the PDC Pro Tour.”
He joked: “The only thing I could have done better was have a nine-darter!”
Alan Soutar is looking to make Alexandra Palace return
Soutar is looking to make a return to the biggest stage of them all this Christmas with a return to the PDC World Championship.
The Scot previously participated in both the 2022 and 2023 editions, reaching the last 16 on both occasions, as he produces some of his best stuff on the oche.
He expressed his devastation at missing last year’s tournament but is determined to put that right and make a return to London.
“It makes your whole season rubbish because you’re not at Ally Pally,” he said. “Then you start seeing you’re slowly drifting down the Tour Card race, and I think people say, ‘Oh, you don’t look at that,’ but every player does.
“The darts ranking page is huge and being in the green is what everything’s about. Last season I won 24 grand total this season I’m already on over 30 grand on my rankings and there’s still 16 Pro Tours to go.”
Soutar expressed that the prize money from his Players Championship success will put him back in the mix for the World Championship spots.
He continued: “I’m pretty confident that I’ll be in the Players and the Worlds, so let’s push on and try to maintain that and stop getting beat in the first round!”