Willie Borland admitted to being both happy and gutted after an agonising loss to Stephen Bunting.
The Scottish star gave the defending champion a mammoth scare at the Winmau World Darts Masters. Borland raced 2-0 ahead of Bunting and took the game all the way to a deciding leg with a thrilling performance before he was downed at the death by the World No.5.
The East Lothian ace had bittersweet feelings afterwards as, asked by Record Sport if he was sickened or proud, Borland shrugged: “Ah, both. That was a game of two halves. We both kind of done the wrong things at the wrong time and then everything right at the right time. I wouldn’t say the majority of the game I felt like I was a better scorer, but obviously, Stephen has been playing up there for years and the way he’s been playing, his talent just shone through.
“I’m happy and I’m gutted. I’m very gutted because I put my all into that, but as I said the other day when I qualified, everybody thought I went missing.
“That’s what I can do. That’s what I can do when I’m on it and, unfortunately, I was second best, but there’s a lot more to come from me.
“Me and Stephen have played a couple of times and we always have good games. I think what helps us both, apart from him being consistently better than me, but what helps us both is the pace of the game. The rhythm helps us both because we’re two fast players.
“I thought 2-0 up. I never took the foot off the pedal. It was probably the lack of experience being on the big stage that killed me off, but then I still fought back. I fought every way I could. I’m proud of myself.”
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