Darts star Nathan Aspinall insisted he doesn’t get the respect he deserves as he addressed the media in the wake of his fourth round victory over Ricardo Pietreczko at the World Championship. The 33-year-old then trolled Joe Cullen, who walked out of a press conference earlier in the tournament.
Aspinall has been in sensational form at Ally Pally and has only dropped one set in his first three matches.
He will take on teenage sensation Luke Littler on New Year’s Day for a place in the semi-finals.
But he then launched into a rant during his press conference as he explained: “You underestimate me, all of you. To be honest with you, I never get any respect.
“I’m not going to go all Joe Cullen here [and storm out], but I always get written off. Nobody ever talks about me. I’m a two-time Major champion, I’m a fantastic darts player.
“I’ve been through so much and I come back fighting and I keep proving people wrong time and time again.”
Despite his convincing form in north London, Aspinall is still ranked as an outsider to win the tournament. And he added: “It’s up to me to go on that stage and prove you lot wrong who write me off.
“The crowd help obviously but then also you flip it, I’m playing in front of 3,500 people out there so when I’ve got a double and they’re willing me to hit that double, it’s hard.”
He then insisted: “I’ll do my thing. I’m past it now – it’s been years and years and years of worrying what other people think about me.
“I don’t care anymore, I’m going to go out there and I’m just going to play my darts. Win, lose – whatever. I’m just going to enjoy myself. I’ve got a fantastic life. My family want for nowt and I’m making money playing darts so I’m going to keep going out there and enjoy myself.”
Cullen stormed out of a press conference in the aftermath of his 3-0 victory over Wessel Nijman in his opening match.
The 35-year-old snapped: “I tell you what. Honestly, the media attention that Wessel’s got. Again this is not a reflection on him, he seems like a fantastic kid. He got caught up in a few things beforehand – he’s served his time and held his hands up, a lot haven’t.
“But I think the way I’ve been treated probably with the media. I know that you guys have no control of the bookies. I’ve been shown no respect, I won’t show respect to any of you guys tonight – I’m going to go home.”
