Sunday was the best day of John O'Shea's career. The 44-year-old from Cork became the first Irish player to win the World Masters, the second biggest competition in Darts' BDO circuit.
It's fair to say the win came out of nowhere. O'Shea was 219th in the world, suffering from crippling leg injuries and a feeling he was reaching the end of his career. Now, he's ranked 59, and has qualified for the World Championships in the O2 after a win over two time World Champion Scott Waites.
The moment John O'Shea became the BDO #WorldMasters champion!
It was nervy but the Irishman triumphs in a brilliant final.@BDOdarts
📺 - Eurosport 1
📱💻🖥 - Eurosport Player: https://t.co/0Fa7uXMVB9 pic.twitter.com/g8Tno3rvlU— Eurosport (@eurosport) October 27, 2019
🏆CHAMPION🏆
John O'Shea is crowned the 2019 BDO @One80Dart @Lstyle_Japan World Masters men's champion as he defeats Scott Waites 6-4 in the final!#WorldMasters 📷 Tip Top Pics pic.twitter.com/safdLFxqYq— BDO Darts (@BDOdarts) October 27, 2019
Straight after the event, Darts viewers will have got a sense of the emotion of the occasion listening to the Cork man's interview on Eurosport.
John O'Shea nearly quit darts last month - now he's the BDO #WorldMasters champion.
An emotional moment for the Irishman...@BDOdarts
📺 - Eurosport 1
📱💻🖥 - Eurosport Player: https://t.co/0Fa7uXMVB9 pic.twitter.com/pt95GpTVzR— Eurosport (@eurosport) October 27, 2019
O'Shea went into more details on his journey with The Weekly Dartcast.
I was always knew there was something big in me. I just didn't know when it was going to come out or where it was going to come from. That's being truthful. I never, ever stopped believing.
Through pain, shoulder injuries, leg injuries for a year, but you believe. I'm going to tell you something, I've won one tournament in 12 months, the Cork Masters. I struggled. I could not. The kids bought me a new dart board in July for my birthday and I didn't even hang it up. Couldn't throw. Struggled.
I had physiotherapy before I came over here on my legs because I had fallen arches. And I struggled big time. And believe it or not, and I will not lie to you, I was inside in Boots three days ago and I bought a pair of arch supports, proper ones. My whole balance changed. It wasn't great, but it was 100% better.
Six weeks ago, I cried inside in the kitchen, I thought I was done. That was it. Pack it in! Genuinely, hand on heart, I thought I could not stand and practice anymore to keep up with the kids, the young lads coming through.
I'm 44 years of age. I've my kids at home. I've two kids at home, and I've two with me. And every time I play in a darts tournament, I lose in the last 32 or the last 16, and I just can't keep going.
But I made a promise to myself and I made a promise to my grandmother a long, long time ago. And she said. 'we will see you on television.' She's not here with us to see it, but I can guarantee you she is here tonight, somewhere. Because she got me over that line. I was drained. I was physically drained up there.
In a fitting response to the achievement, there will be a homecoming for O'Shea when he arrives in Cork airport this evening.
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