FLINGING HOME DER BACON

Dutch ace Van der Velde is in a totally udder world

- BY MIKE WALTERS

ONLY in darts could you find a dairy farmer with a herd of - wait for it - one hundred and eighty cows.

And Jurjen van der Velde has to get up so early to milk them that he goes back to bed for a couple of hours before he practises hitting the bullseye.

In the bleak midwinter, outside the weather is freezing but in the cowsheds the cattle are Friesian.

And Van der Velde can't wait for his double-Dutch clash with No.6 seed Danny Noppert at the Paddy Power PDC World Championship at Alexandra Palace on Tuesday night it's been a red-letter date in his 'dairy' since last month's draw.

If he wins, quietly-spoken Van der Velde, 23, will not be shouting the odds from the rooftops. He will be seen and not, ahem, herd.