Emotionally-charged reactions and big finishes aren’t the only things Welsh darts star Robert Owen delivers.
Owen, who beat world No. 49 Niels Zonneveld 3-1 in their first round match at the World Darts Championship on Monday, has a part-time job delivering groceries for supermarket chain Iceland.
“Big up the Iceland,” Owen said in his post-match interview.
Owen explained he took on the part-time role to help pay the bills after he and his wife welcomed their first child into the world.
“I had to go to work because she was on maternity leave,” Owen said.
“We couldn’t afford to really have no-one out of work. I went back to work and I’ve been working 50, sometimes 60 hours a week while she’s been off just to cover everything. That’s my responsibility as a father and a parent.
“But amongst all that, I’ve been going away and playing darts. I think I’ve done pretty well, probably the last seven, eight months while all that’s been going on.
“But I love my job. I love going out to the community and going everywhere.
“I don’t feel like I’m doing a job. I’m delivering people shopping and I enjoy it, which is sad, really.”
There’s a slim chance Owen may even be the man delivering groceries to some of his fellow Welsh darts stars.
There is a six-man Welsh contingent competing in this year’s World Championships: Owen, former world champion Gerwyn Price, Jonny Clayton, Jim Williams, Nick Kenny and Rhys Griffin.
Given the strong Welsh presence, Owen affirmed there is certainly a sense of camaraderie amongst them.
But when they would compete in local tournaments the competitiveness certainly took over, even if the prize money on offer was only a fraction of what’s on offer at the World Championships.
“Me, Gerwyn, Jonny, Barry Bates, Richie Burnett, we all live within about 45 minutes of each other,” Owen said.
“We used to have local tournaments and all of us would turn up to it. We had that fire to play each other almost week-in, week-out.
“Some of them were worth £250, some of them were £500.
“We all wanted to beat each other. But the Welsh players are quite close. And if we can help each other out.”
Owen will hope he has his Welsh darting compatriots and the entire nation behind him when he takes on Germany’s Gabriel Clemens in the second round on Thursday.
Clemens is no stranger to the Ally Pally and even made it as far as the semi-final in 2023, where he lost to eventual champion Michael Smith.
As for Owen, his progress to the second round marked his best performance at the World Championship.
In his first appearance at darts’ premier event back in 2023, Owen was knocked out in the first round by Andrew Gilding.
Unfortunately for Owen the notoriously loud Ally Pally crowd was not on his side that day, although he conceded he didn’t exactly help himself.
“In all fairness, I did play up to the crowd because they were giving me grief,” Owen said.
“A lot of people couldn’t hear what was being said and I’m not going to repeat what was being said.
Despite copping an earful from the Ally Pally fans in 2023, Owen won’t shy away from big reactions[/caption]
“But I took it on myself to deal with it, especially on social media.”
So, will Owen try and keep his emotions in check when he takes on world No. 27 Clemens?
“I do the same as what I always do,” Owen said.
“I just carry on, giving it large at the right opportunity and keep it the same as what I’ve been doing.
“I’m quite an emotional darts player. Why not give it a little bit large if I hit a big out-shot? Why not?”
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