Today we are joined by Countdown champion and PDC Referee Kirk Bevins!
Thanks for joining us Kirk, hope you enjoy these questions!
Q1. Who is the angriest player on the circuit when they get beat?
Being beaten in a high-pressured, high-adrenaline game with millions watching you mustn't be much fun, especially if you feel like you played badly or missed darts for the match so people understandably get angry, however, I'm not sure I'm able to comment on who gets the angriest!
Q2. Who is your best friend in darts?
I have lots of friends in darts - officials, manager and players included but I wouldn't say I have a best friend. We have a great team at the PDC and we all have a laugh - we spend lots of our lives together so this is just as well!
Q3. How proud are you being countdown champion?
I'm immensely proud and it's something that I worked hard over many years to achieve. As I'm sure top darts players will vouch for, you don't win championships without putting in the hours of practice. The amount of hours I put into practising spotting OSTEOPATH instead of the ten letter word TOOTHPASTE, or making sure the answer was ROUGHSHOD and not SOURDOUGH or ESSENTIAL but not STAINLESS was a huge number indeed! Winning Countdown, I would say, has changed my life with regards to my career and my knowledge that with hard work and passion anything can be achieved!
Q4. Who is the greatest player of all time?
Phil Taylor of course as his record speaks for itself but Michael Van Gerwen is only young and if he manages to keep his consistency up for many more years then we may be having a different interview in 20 years time!
Q5. What marking team do you enjoy working with on stage?
All the marking team get on with each other and with the refs. We all have to concentrate immensely to make the tournament run smoothly and the lads you see on TV hardly ever make mistakes. They're a pleasure to work with and we help each other out up there if there's an element of concentration lapse.
Q6. Finally, what is your favourite darting venue?
6) I love Blackpool as a venue. There's something special about it and I know a lot of the players feel the same. I love the Grand Slam as a tournament though, with the group stages and BDO vs PDC throwing a different light on things. I do enjoy Minehead as your voice reverberates off the big tent on the main stage but I think Blackpool wins it for me, despite the soaring temperatures up on stage!
Thanks for joining us Kirk and hope you enjoyed my questions!
Thanks a lot - pleasure
By Carter Guiney