Ash Khayat dreaming of world glory

Wolverhampton's Ash Khayat could become a star overnight in the PDC World Youth Championship.

The teenager from Wednesfield is one of 64 players that will play down to two in a quick-fire day of darts at Crawley's K2 Centre on Friday.

Rich prizes await just for reaching the final - a PDC Pro Tour Card for two years with the four-figure fee paid for by Rileys Darts Zones, financially taking away the burden of turning over from the boys to mens ranks.

The two finalists will also be invited to compete at Wolverhampton's Grand Slam next week, the next big televised tournament, as a 'wild card' entrant.

The outright winner will be decided on May 17 of next year live on Sky Sports at London's O2 Arena and will walk away with £10,000, while the runner-up receives £5,000.

Khayat qualified for tomorrow's event by climbing to 21st in the PDC Youth Order of Merit - the top 28 go through automatically - largely due to reaching the final of the sixth Youth Tour event in April.

Michael van Gerwen, who lost to Arron Monk in the first World Youth Championship final in January, beat him on the night but it has given Khayat the confidence to kick on.

The 19-year-old beat five-time world champion Eric Bristow in an exhibition last year and has become a team player, winning the mens doubles in the Welsh Open and the mixed triples in the English Open.

And Khayat is hoping to show how far he has come when there's everything to play for tomorrow.

He said: "If I play like I can, I can do it. I have already reached one final, so why not?

"There's extra pressure because of what's at stake, but I have beaten some good players and that has given me confidence.

"If you miss one and two darts at doubles, you are not going to get another go, and you learn to deal with that sort of pressure.

"I have beaten some good players and that has given me confidence, which sets you up to go into the men's game."

Khayat comes from a darts family - grandmother Anne represented the county, while mother Carleen played in local leagues.

The teenage ace regularly practices at Wolverhampton's Rileys Sports Bar, Broad Street, where Birmingham's Matt Gallett also grabbed a spot at the World Youth Championship.

Gallett won a cracking one-day invitational tournament last Sunday afternoon and Khayat believes he could pose a threat.

He added: "Matt is a cracking lad and a cracking player, I wouldn't want to play him but they are all good players.

"It's all on the day and how the draw goes."