Ross ‘The Boss’ Montgomery is looking forward to seeing some familiar faces as he prepares to make his bow at the World Senior Darts Championships next month.
The Greenhills thrower made the switch to the senior tour last year after losing his PDC card and will make his bow at the Senior Worlds against 10-time Women’s World champion Trina Gulliver on February 19.
‘The Boss’ was a popular figure on the old BDO Tour and made regular appearances at the Lakeside World Championships down the year, reaching as far as the quarter-finals in 2015.
He is set to be reunited with old foes Martin ‘Wolfie’ Adams and Tony O’Shea at the Circus Tavern in Essex, with Adams a potential quarter-final opponent.
And the 62-year-old said: “There’s a few familiar faces from my Lakeside days in there. Martin Adams is playing, Tony O’Shea, Darryl Fitton, so there are a few of the old guard in there.
“Some players from the PDC have come over as well that have lost their card, like Simon Whitlock and Mervyn King.
“There are a lot of good quality darts players in this event so it should be good fun, but it is not something I will be taking lightly.
“I’m playing the legend that is Trina Gulliver so that is exciting. She will get 100 per cent of my respect because I know she can play darts, but I will just knuckle down and get on with it.”
Montgomery is ranked 20th in the senior world ranking after claiming three titles over the last 12 months.
This will be the fourth staging of the World Championships, as players aged 50 and above compete for a record £50,000 prize.
He added: “I’m getting to see some old faces from the darts world and getting to play in the World Championships is something I’m looking forward to.
“I have never played in the Circus Tavern so it is another venue ticked off the list.
“It has been a strange year for me after losing my PDC card at the end of 2023. I was unsure what I wanted to do and I thought I’d give the seniors a try.
“I have been fortunate enough to win a couple of events and pick up enough ranking points to qualify for the World Championships now.
“There is a two-year ranking system that most of the players are in, whereas I have only been playing for one year now.
“I have managed to catch-up a bit and I am enjoying it.
“I won a couple of events in Reading and one in Newby. There’s been quarter-finals and semi-finals along the way and the prize money from them has put me up the rankings.
“I just want to go to the world championships, win as many games as I can and put in a good performance.”