Tayside firefighter Alan Soutar will start his bid for World Darts glory at Lakeside as an outsider with the bookies.
The former Royal Marine, who lives in Arbroath, is as high as 200/1 to win the BDO’s Lakeside crown.
He made it to the finals by way of the play-offs in Hull where 500 players took part clinching one of four spots from a field which itself had been narrowed down from tens of thousands of qualifiers from across the world.
The Angus Ravens captain starts his 2016 Lakeside campaign in the prestigious Saturday afternoon slot which is shown live on BBC TV. He faces Craig Caldwell of New Zealand at Frimley Green in the preliminary round at 3pm on January 2.
The winner takes on 2015 World Champion Scott Mitchell in the first round proper.
Soutar is looking forward to playing on the opening day of the tournament alongside some of the BDO’s biggest names.
He qualified for the Lakeside World Championship in 2011 but lost in the preliminary round.
In 2013 Soutar who established the Angus Darts Academy in Arbroath was voted by the public as Scotland’s Sports Volunteer of the Year in STV series Scotland’s Real Heroes for his commitment to his community.
