Alan Soutar has secured a place in the world’s top 32 ahead of Friday’s World Darts Championship fourth round clash with Gabriel Clemens.
Josh Rock’s defeat to Jonny Clayton means Soots is currently 32nd and cannot be overtaken when rankings are confirmed on January 4th.
A win over Clemens today could move the Arbroath ace into 28th.
That would be a staggering 100-place rise since he turned professional 22 months ago.
And in his latest Courier Sport video diary, Soutar has revealed the fine margins that are moving him up the rankings.
Soots is meticulous in his planning and preparation for big tournaments, backed by his manager Paul Brown of Big 5 Sports Management.
He prefers staying in houses to hotels, fuelled by the home comforts of Paul’s cooking.
And Soots studies the finer details of data provided by Darts Orakel and FDI Index before every game.
He also recently changed his darts set-up of almost 30 years on the basis of a Mission Precision appointment.
“If you are a darts player or darts manager at any level attention to detail is crucial,” said Soutar.
“If you aren’t looking at the data or trying to get that extra one percent then you are missing out.”
Alan Soutar ranked 6th ‘most likely’ to be crowned world champion
Soutar’s subtle changes have led to the best three months of his career.
He reached the last eight of the Grand Slam of Darts prior to his current run at Ally Pally and is now in the world’s top 32.
He has had seven ton-plus checkouts at Ally Pally this year, the most of any player left in the tournament.
Favourites right now 👇
1. Michael van Gerwen
2. Gerwyn Price
3. Michael Smith
…
6. Alan Soutar🤯🤯#WorldDartsChampionship #lovethedarts— FDI (Darts Orakel Power Rankings) (@FDI_Index) December 28, 2022
And he could yet go higher before January 4th.
In fact, FDI Index currently rank him as the 6th most-likely player to be crowned world champion next week.
To do so he will have to overcome world no.1 Gerwyn Price on New Year’s Day – if Soots beats Clemens first.
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