Huntly’s John Henderson has set his sights on earning a place on the Premier League after relishing every minute of Thursday’s appearance in Aberdeen.
The 45-year-old stepped in as a replacement for the injured Gary Anderson and made the most of his moment to shine by coming from 3-0 down to draw 6-6 with world number one Michael van Gerwen in front of a packed AECC.
This year’s Premier League line-up was made up of the leading four players on the PDC ordr of merit, four PDC wildcards and two Sky Sports wildcards.
Henderson said: “I have played in television events before but playing in the Premier League is the goal of every darts players.
“I would love to get here on merit.
“I know I got on through Gary’s injury on this occasion but hopefully I can build on it and see what happens.
“My goal at the moment is to get a Pro Tour win this year.
“I haven’t been able to do it so far.
“I have reached four quarter-finals this year but it has eluded me so far.
“If I win a Pro Tour event then you never know what can happen.”
Henderson was one of nine contenders chosen to replace the injured Anderson over the opening nine nights of the Premier League season.
Although none of the five have managed to win, the Huntly arrowsmith was the third contender to earn a draw.
Henderson added: “It was unfortunate Gary had to pull out.
“Nobody wants to see a professional darts player going through what he is going through.
“Hopefully he gets back on the mend.
“We have had contenders playing five weeks and not one of them let themselves down.
“That was my concern because the first four have all played well and obviously I was playing Michael van Gerwen.
“But it was a great experience and the crowd were brilliant. I can’t thank them enough.”
