"It's devastating to get beaten in Belfast, but it's one of those things that I don't know what happened."
Friday 5 April 2019 11:58, UK
Daryl Gurney is keen to return to his previous good form after the setback of losing to Rob Cross 8-4 in Belfast.
Life is good for Gurney at present. Fresh from his first European Tour title, 'SuperChin' is flying high in the Premier League after three consecutive wins - a run which featured a 7-5 defeat of Michael van Gerwen.
Not many saw such a turnaround coming when James Wade inflicted a whitewash defeat on the Northern Irishman four weeks ago.
The 33-year-old has recently moved up to third in the Order of Merit, and he was eager to build on his momentum as he received a hero's welcome at the SSE Arena, Belfast.
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However, it came crashing down to earth with an 8-4 loss to Rob Cross in front of a home crowd.
"I was looking forward to the match. Practice was going half decent. When I got up there, I couldn't find the treble," Gurney lamented.
"Whenever you're not finding the treble against Rob Cross, you're going to get hammered. That's what happened.
"It's devastating to get beaten in Belfast, but it's one of those things that I don't know what happened."
"It's devastating to get beaten in Belfast, but it's one of those things that I don't know what happened."
However, the two-time major winner knows the importance of not getting bogged down in one poor result.
"I really can't complain," he smiled. "The last few weeks in the Premier League, the Euro Tour and Pro Tour, I've done well. So at some stage it has to come to an end, and it did come to an end.
"Darts doesn't give you a chance to settle. I'm sure if you were asking [Michael] van Gerwen after he won the World Championships, and two weeks later he is playing in a Pro Tour and somebody beats him, it doesn't matter what rank he is if he's beaten. That's just the way darts is.
"It's great to be number three in the world but it doesn't win you titles or championships so the plan is to keep on improving.
"I have put in a lot of hours even from the weekend but it just hasn't paid off this week in the Premier League in Belfast but hopefully whatever happens next week I'll be back on it."
Despite the setback, Gurney knows he is still right in the mix to reach the Premier League play-offs:
"I'm still close to the top four I'm not a million miles away so I ain't going to give up on that."
It would be easy to forget that Gurney, who has enjoyed a remarkable rise in recent years, is in just his second season of the Premier League, and he is learning all the time.
Given how he bounced back from some poor form earlier in 2019, he is winning plaudits.
"When you look at a few weeks ago, he lost 7-1 and 7-0," explained Rod Harrington. "You're thinking that bad spell might stretch on. I spoke to him in Aberdeen after the match in the hotel. I said, 'you've just got to keep in there, otherwise people are just going to take advantage of you'. All credit to him. He got back, and then he won the German Championships last weekend."
Gurney's victor in Belfast, Rob Cross echoed the sentiment.
"He's been playing brilliantly, you're only going to watch him get better this year," the 2018 world champ said of his opponent. "It's a couple of years now since he won his first major. He's playing well. He's getting better every week. He's still well in there to make [Premier League] finals night."
He has thrived in the face of adversity so far this season, so don't expect Daryl Gurney to dwell on Thursday's defeat to Rob Cross for long.
The Premier League continues as we head to the M&S Bank Arena in Liverpool on Thursday, April 11. You can also stay up to date with all the action by following us @SkySportsDarts and get all the latest news, previews and interviews www.skysports.com/darts
