WHATEVER HAPPENED TO THE LIKELY LAD OF DARTS?

World final's youngest star Shepherd went from double top to zero in blink of an eye

- MIKE WALTERS

HE was the 1,000-1 rank outsider at Alexandra Palace who earned £5.25 an hour making nuts, bolts and screws in a sheet metal factory.

But just four years after he reached the PDC Darts World Championship final at 21, Kirk Shepherd was down to his last brass tacks.

By his own admission, Shepherd's life "went a bit doolally" in a tailspin of drinking and gambling.

Soon he would be living in squalor, battling to keep his Tour card as he slipped down the world rankings.

Then, when he was struck down by "dartitis" - the oche's version of the yips in golf - he became so stressed by the anxiety that it turned him into a hermit, and he has not picked up a dart in almost three years.

When the Paddy Power World Championship begins at Ally Pally next Friday, Shepherd - now 37 - will still be the youngest-ever finalist at the tournament.

Whatever happened to the likely lad? His story of a light that flickered is a cautionary tale for every player chasing the rainbow, but his recovery should also serve as a beacon of hope.