Kyren full of praise for his fellow Kettering star Ricky

While Kyren Wilson has been rising up the rankings in the world of snooker over the past few years, a mate of his has been doing the same in darts.

Both Wilson and ‘Rapid’ Ricky Evans have been representing Kettering on the national stage in their respective sports.

While world No.5 Wilson is gearing up for The Masters this weekend, Evans will be looking ahead to another year on the PDC Pro Tour having featured recently at the William Hill World Championship where he was the 32nd seed.

Evans defeated Mickey Mansell 3-1 in the second round and then suffered a 4-0 defeat to Dutch star Michael van Gerwen, despite an impressive display which saw the Kettering player average over 100.

After his second-round win, Evans said during an interview: “I am practising because I am bored and I am fed up with watching snooker!

“I have been watching Kyren Wilson every week! He was the World Championship runner-up and Kettering is remembering him. I am better than him, at dancing at least!”

Such a claim deserves the right to reply and Wilson said: “He is easily a better dancer than me!

“It’s the way he moves his hips, he really gets them moving!

“I watched Ricky and he was awesome against Mickey Mansell and he was awesome again against Michael van Gerwen.

“To lose 4-0 the way he did when averaging over 100, van Gerwen had to be on top form.

“If Ricky plays a large percentage of anyone else on the Tour, he would have won that match with those averages.

“He has to hold his head up and if he keeps up that sort of standard then he will do well this year.”