East Sheen postman Dave Parletti says he is looking forward to making his dream debut appearance on the big time Lakeside Country Club stage at 2019 BDO World Professional Darts Championships this Tuesday afternoon (January 8), writes Ziad Chaudry.

The 35-year-old Mortlake resident plays Poland's qualifier Krzysztof Kciuk who on Sunday defeated Dane Brian Lokken in four sets at the Frimley Green venue.

"Kciuk can play," said Parletti. "I think I just got to have the same mentality I have for every game and just play the board and not the player, I think that's the best sort of training I can have leading up to it."

 

Parletti goes into Lakeside, owned by hotel and entertainment entrepreneur Bob Potter, as the number 11 seed thanks mainly to his successes at Winmau Wolverhampton Open and Welsh Masters last July.

"I'm absolutely buzzing to play at Lakeside for the first time," he continues. "It's always something I wanted to do like my whole life.

"I used to go to Lakeside when I was a child so I always had a love for Lakeside to play there one day and to get there is literally a dream come true."

Middlesbrough's Glenn Durrant is going for a hat-trick of BDO world titles but fellow big guns last year's runner-up from Coventry current world number one Mark McGeeney, Jim Williams, 2015 champion Scott Mitchell, Scott Waites, Jim Williams, Holland's Wesley Harms and German Michael Unterbuchner are also in the hunt for Lakeside glory.

And likeable postie Parletti believes he can put together a good run in a tournament converted with exceptional talent.

"I reckon I can have a good run in the competition," Parletti continues. "I've played pretty much everyone in the BDO bar Glenn Durrant and beaten them all. It's all on the day and there's a lot of good talent in the BDO so you can't really take anything for granted. Look at the game you've got and if you win you win and if you lose you lose. You can only play the game in front of you rather looking ahead of yourself.

"I would say Glenn is the man to beat. There is a lot of talent there in the BDO which is probably like a lot of unsung players who can play like Jim Williams, Richard Veenstra, Paul Hogan, Karl McKinstry, there are just a couple on the top of my head. Not forgetting you've got the big guns - Mark McGeeney, Scott Mitchell, Scott Waites, Wesley Harms, there is a lot of good Dutch players.

"To be honest there are a lot of good players in the whole field this year and it's going to be a good tournament I think this year."