Mick McGowan: ‘The days when guys could be on the stage with pints in front of them, it’s good to have moved on from there’

Mick McGowan lost at the Ally Pally yesterday, but after injury and illness, he was delighted to be back on the big stage oche.

Mick McGowan qualified for his third PDC World Darts Championships by winning the Tom Kirby Memorial Irish Matchplay Trophy in October. Yesterday, at Alexandra Palace, he beat China’s Qiang Sun 2-0 in the Preliminary Round, before bowing out 3-0 to Welshman Mark Webster.

Q: You struggled with a shoulder injury coming up to the championships, is that a hazard of the darts game?