Webster makes move to PDC

Former BDO world champion Mark Webster has joined the PDC and will make his debut in Gladbeck at the end of February.

The 25-year-old Welshman won the 2008 Lakeside Championship, defeating Simon Whitlock in the final. He lost in the second round at this year^s event.

Now the left-hander has decided to make the move to the PDC, with his first appearance being at the Players Championship double-header in Germany later this month.

Webster reached the quarter-finals at the Grand Slam of Darts in November and is is also a former International Darts League runner-up.

Challenge

"It^s a new challenge and I^m hoping to revamp my darts career," Webster said at the opening night of the new Premier League Darts season.

"I think I needed to be hungry again, I wasn^t hungry last year and hopefully this will do the trick.

"It was quite an easy decision and I wish I^d done it last year. It^s not a big deal, as far as I^m concerned I just want to play darts again.

"Playing the circuit last year became a bit stale for me, I wasn^t as hungry as I should have been and maybe my attitude at times wasn^t as good as it should have been.

"Hopefully this year I can kick on and make it a success. I^m coming here to give it my all - I don^t want to be half-hearted.

"Mervyn King and Robert Thornton are obviously the two main players who have been successful since joining the PDC in the last couple of years. If I do half as well as them I^ll be delighted.

"My first tournament will be out in Germany and then there^s tournaments for six or seven weeks on the trot. I^ll be thrown in at the deep end and I hope to be successful.

"Obviously the priority is to make the World Championship but I^m going out to Las Vegas and I^ll be trying to get in all the televised tournaments."

Viking returns

Webster is the second former BDO champion who has opted to move onto the PDC circuit, with 2004 winner Andy Fordham set to return to action.

"I^m really nervous going up to start playing again in front of people," said Fordham, who has recently struggled with a bad back.

"I^m throwing with a different dart and have to build my confidence up. Hopefully in six months there will be some improvement and then I^ll be able to carry on from there.