Factory worker who reached World Darts Championship final saw his life 'fall apart' but could make shock return
A former factory worker who unexpectedly reached the PDC World Darts Championship final says he struggled to cope with the fame and pressure that accompanied his success - but could soon make a shock return to the sport.
From the beginning of the World Championship in 1994 all the way until 2007, every final had featured eventual 16-time champion Phil Taylor.
But that record would be broken in 2008, with 'The Power' being knocked out by rival Wayne Mardle in the quarter-finals.
The final ended up being contested by 2003 world champion John Part and the previously little-known 21-year-old Kirk Shepherd.
Advert
Shepherd had only joined the PDC 12 months previously, having been one of many players to make the switch from the rival British Darts Organisation (BDO).
'The Karate Kid' only reached the World Championship via last-chance qualifying, and the bookmakers reflected his chances of a lengthy run by handing him odds of 1000/1 to win the tournament.
He produced a first-round shock by beating former world finalist Terry Jenkins, who had seven match darts to win the match himself.
He then beat Mick McGowan and Barrie Bates, before surviving four match darts to defeat Peter Manley and reach the semi-finals.
There, he took on Mardle, who was harbouring hopes of finally winning the World Championship after countless near misses at the hands of Taylor.
'Hawaii 501' went 4-3 up in sets but couldn't go all the way, with Shepherd eventually winning 6-4 and booking his spot in the final.
There would be no fairytale ending for the 21-year-old, though, who never looked like challenging in the final and lost 7-2 to Part, who lifted his second world crown.
His consolation prize was a £50,000 cheque, which catapulted him from obscurity to being on the cusp of the top 16 as world number 22.
Darts was beginning to grow into the increasingly global phenomenon it is today back in 2008, with the PDC moving out of the more popular but smaller Circus Tavern venue and into the Alexandra Palace.
What followed for Shepherd was a move into the limelight as the 2009 season began - but no notable results to speak of.
He qualified for the 2009 World Championship as a seeded competitor, but he lost 3-2 in the first round to Dutch player Jan van de Rassell.
Speaking in an interview with the Daily Star, Shepherd revealed that the £50,000 prize - in the context of never having received such a big cheque from playing darts before - caused him to 'get carried away'.
"It was a fantastic run, one of the greatest weeks of my life," he said.
"But I went from being a normal lad working in a factory to back-page headlines and a nice big pay cheque.
"After that, the devil came for me. I went a bit doo-lally and got carried away by it all. Much as I hate to admit it, I was gambling and turning to drink. I had no manager to straighten me out and I went off the rails.
"In hindsight, reaching that final at Ally Pally was too much, too soon."
Shortly after the 2008 championships, Shepherd quit his part-time job as a factory worker to focus on darts.
After a challenging campaign, the Ramsgate-born dartist did have a more encouraging 2009, reaching the quarter-final of the US Open and the second round of the Grand Slam of Darts.
A run to the third round at Alexandra Palace then followed - including Shepherd gaining revenge by beating Part 4-1 - but he lost out to Mark Webster in round three.
But he endured a difficult 2010 campaign, and another first round defeat at the 2011 World Championship would prove to be Shepherd's final appearance in darts' biggest tournament.
He would retain his tour card throughout much of the next decade - though did have to win it back via Q-School on several occasions - but despite showing flashes of brilliance, he was never again in a position to challenge for major honours.
He explained: "I thought everything was going to fall on a plate for me, and it was the start of a new beginning, a bright new dawn.
"But I stopped putting in the effort. I got lazy. Four years later [after the 2008 final], I was living on my own in a flea-ridden one-bed flat.
"I went through a crazy phase because I had suddenly run into all this fame, and I didn't know how to deal with it. I'd gone from nowhere to a big final, without reaching the last 16 or quarter-finals of other competitions along the way, and I had nothing to fall back on by way of experience."
Shepherd's 2008 semi-final opponent Mardle explained to the Daily Star last year how, if 'The Karate Kid' had been a young player today, his career would likely have panned out much differently.
He said: "He wasn't a professional darts player when he reached the final. He worked in a body shop. Darts was just a hobby that was paying a bit for him.
"It's different now. There's hardly anyone now who is going to make the final without being experienced around the world of darts.
"I don't think there is anyone coming along and not understanding what they're getting into. Nowadays, there are professional people around the high-end amateurs, who will be getting better management advice than Kirk had."
Shepherd would continue on the PDC main tour until 2022, when he handed in his tour card after suffering with dartitis.
He recently told the Daily Star that he has been training to become an electrician, and is now a father to three children.
"Things are so much brighter that I'm even thinking of picking up the old arrows again," he added. "I might have left darts, but darts has never left me."
Topics: Darts
Ryan Smart