Chris Dobey admits he wouldn’t be in the PDC World Championship quarter-finals if it wasn’t for the Alexandra Palace crowd.
Dobey came from behind to beat Kevin Doets 4-3 on Monday and book his place in the last eight of the annual darts tournament.
He has now reached the quarter-finals for the third consecutive year at Ally Pally, though it was far from easy for the 34-year-old.
Doets won the fourth and fifth sets to ensure his opponent had to win the sixth in order to stay in the match.
Dobey did just that before taking the seventh and final set, and said afterwards that he ‘dug in when he needed to’.
However, the fans inside the iconic north London venue played their role in his triumph, something he’s clearly grateful for.
Speaking on talkSPORT Breakfast, he said: “To be honest, yesterday I think it was the crowd that got me through that match.
“They supported us from the middle of the game and when you’ve got them on your side, you don’t want to let them down, you try that extra two or three per cent.
“Like I said, if it wasn’t for them, I probably wouldn’t have gotten through that.”
Dobey returns to the oche on New Year’s Day to face former world champion Gerwyn Price for a place in the semi-finals.
The Welshman has beaten Keane Barry, Joe Cullen and Jonny Clayton en route to the next round, and will certainly provide a stern test.
Although Dobey isn’t reading into the matchup too much, he knows he needs to fix his issues from the Doets in order to beat Price.
“It doesn’t bother us,” he replied when asked about how he feels facing the 2021 champion.
“Whatever happens on the day, hopefully I can get my practice routine right and fix them doubles up and start hitting them earlier than what I did yesterday.
“But yeah I’m looking forward to it, looking forward to the challenge and hopefully I can get a win.”
Dobey is scheduled to take on Price in the first match of tomorrow’s afternoon session before Michael van Gerwen faces Callan Rydz.
The winners will meet in the semi-final, with Peter Wright vs Stephen Bunting and Luke Littler vs Nathan Aspinall the other two matches.
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Highlights include:
Tune into talkSPORT 2 for coverage of the 2025 PDC World Darts Championship, as we bring you exclusive live commentary from Alexandra Palace. Listen via our web player, app, on DAB, or through your smart speaker.
