Heydon’s got Grand plans for Slam debut

Heydon came through eight games to win the wildcard qualifier at the K3 in Crawley and seal his place in the £400,000 tournament.

He had to dig deep to beat Kim Huybrechts, Brian Woods and Colin Lloyd in deciding legs along the way, with Lloyd having darts in two legs to progress.

However, the 41-year-old then eased to a 6-3 semi-final success over Ian White to seal one of the two wildcard spots before capping a memorable day with a 6-4 defeat of Magnus Caris in the final.

“I had to play really well. I rode my luck, like when Colin Lloyd had darts to beat me but it’s fantastic to be through,” said Heydon.

And, while admitting that anything else is now a bonus, the 250-1 shot was delighted with a draw which sees him pitted against fifth seed Gary Anderson, Wayne Jones and Brendan Dolan in the group stages in Wolverhampton.

“I’m really happy with it. It’s one of the better groups for me.

“Gary Anderson doesn’t like to play me because I’m a bit slow and I’ve beaten Wayne and Eamon before.”

Heydon kicks off his campaign tomorrow evening when he faces second-favourite Anderson.

And, with the whole tournament broadcast live on Sky Sports, The Undertaker says the exposure will be invaluable as he builds up to a second appearance at the Ladbrokes World Championship in December.

“I get three games at it and it would be nice to get a bit of sponsorship ahead of the worlds and a few patches on my shirt,” he added.

Steve Beaton, meanwhile, has been drawn in a tricky group containing world number one Phil Taylor, Mervyn King and 19-year-old James Hubbard.

n Local trio Kim Morris, Angie Jones and Nina Bolt have been called up to represent Warwickshire against Cheshire on November 19 and 20.