Historic Grand Slam of Darts progress acting as 'confidence boost' for Northern Ireland's Mickey Mansell after booking quarter-final spot
Tyrone’s tungsten titan Mickey Mansell continued to create history at the Grand Slam of Darts after defeating Danny Noppert 10-7 to seal his spot in the quarter-finals – a maiden TV ranking tournament last-eight berth of his career – and says this run has helped act as a “confidence boost”.
Mansell had never previously qualified for the Grand Slam prior to this year but is enjoying a week to remember after beating James Wade and Rowby John Rodriguez in Group A before eliminating Dutch ace Noppert.
The 51-year-old, known as the ‘Clonoe Cyclone’, averaged nearly 100 and produced four 180s in a magnificent display in Wolverhampton and has now climbed 10 positions in the PDC’s Order of Merit while also banking £25,000.
"I’m ecstatic,” he told PDC’s media channel. “The field I’ve came through so far, it’s a confidence boost that I’m not here by luck and I’ve played very well to be in the position that I am.
"The only difference (on the big stage) is I’ve only got one or two opportunities between Players Championship, UK Opens or World Championships, they are breaks from maybe two or three days in a row.
"The three days in a row playing on the stage is a big advantage and winning in the group I was in and coming out of it, it gave me a lot of confidence.
"I had to put things into perspective. The best player in the world and the world number one (Luke Humphries) was in that group so to get beaten by him on Monday wasn’t a disappointment. I was glad of the day off to have a mental switch-off.”
On his prospects of winning the tournament, Mansell added: “It’s no different to what happened two weeks ago.
"It’s about winning one game at a time and focusing on my technique and beliefs and see where that gets me.”