Reporting and video by James Nolan, Luke Redmond & John Morley
At the point of no return and on the verge of walking away from the game he loves, it didn’t look like there was a future in darts for Ireland’s Brendan Dolan in the early stages of this decade.
Struggling for form, Dolan looked destined to lose his PDC professional tour card. However, one night would change everything.
The 2011 World Grand Prix semi final at the Citywest Hotel in Dublin would see the birth of ‘the history maker’ as the Belcoo based thrower would nail the first ever televised double-in nine dart finish in his clash with James Wade.
“It has kept me throwing darts. I was near quitting at the time. The money was tying up and we financially couldn’t deal with it. But, everyone will talk about that moment.”
“Everyone will talk about that and everyone will know where they were when that happened. For me, for people to remember that moment it has to go down as one of the greatest moments of the game which was an honour for me to be involved in,” said Dolan.
Seven years on from what was the proudest moment of his career to date, Dolan recently embarked on his best run in the PDC World Championship, reaching the quarter final stages of what was the largest World Championship to date with a massive 96 player field.
Dolan’s run would end at the hands of young star and recently crowned UK Open champion Nathan Aspinall, but The History Maker is buoyant about the future, believing, with his vast experience, he can ascend back to the heights of the game once more.
“I do think I will get to that next level again. I don’t think my age or the length of time I am in the game is going to hinder me, it will probably help me. I have all this experience behind me. I have had all the setbacks. I have been up as high as number ten in the world and I have dropped down to number 40, hopefully that’s as low as I go,” emphasised Dolan.
Click on the video above for the full interview with ‘The History Maker’ Brendan Dolan.
