IF Colin Osborne has anything to do with it, Glen Durrant won’t be the only homegrown darts player that Teesside will be talking about this year.
Durrant is Middlesbrough’s darting man of the moment thanks to his sensational run to the semi-finals of last month’s BDO World Championship.
South Bank’s Osborne is no stranger to the limelight himself as a UK Open finalist, five-time PDC ranking event winner and Championship League of Darts victor.
And having hung on to claim the 64th automatic place in the PDC’s order of merit to keep a tour card for 2015, the Derby-based thrower is “working extremely hard” to recapture some of his former glory.
“Glen deserves all of the credit he is getting at the moment, because he was fantastic at the Lakeside,” Osborne said.
“Teesside sport is buzzing with Boro doing so well, and I couldn’t be happier for Glen.
“I saw him at Lazenby on Boxing Day and was texting him after every round - he was so close to getting to the final.
“I’m sure he can kick on and I’m working extremely hard on all aspects of own game to get back to where I belong.
“I’ve set stepping stone targets, like qualifying for the UK Open, Players Championship and Worlds, and anything else is a bonus.
“I’d be lying if I said I haven’t been doing some soul searching over the past year, but I’m in a good place at the moment and looking forward to having a positive season.”
Osborne has signed a fresh four-year-deal with Winmau, is with a new management team in United Sports Promotions and does a couple of nights a week with the darts academy at Central College, Nottingham.
The 2009 UK Open runner-up began his 2015 campaign last weekend in disappointing fashion from a results perspective, with a trio of first round defeats at the UK Open qualifiers in Wigan.
But he felt he showed flashes of form, especially in his losses to Andrew Gilding (6-4) and Rowby-John Rodriguez (6-3).
“The scores don’t tell the full story,” Osborne said.
“I was 3-1 and 4-3 up against Andrew Gilding and he has been on fire on the floor over the last two years.
“He has qualified for everything and made two last 32s and a last 16 at the weekend.
“I was 5-1 down against Rodriguez, got it back to 5-3 and missed seven darts to make it 5-4.
“I’m trying to get back to a position where it used to come naturally for me.
“I just need a bit of luck and a few darts the right side of the wire here and there, and that will get me up and running.
“There were a lot of positives to come out of the weekend.”
Osborne has three more chances to qualify for the UK Open back in Wigan from February 20-22.
BDO counterpart Durrant is at the Scottish Open this weekend and will then make his England comeback at the Six Nations in Belfast, also from February 20-22.
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