RYAN SEARLE has the beating of his pal Luke Humphries on Call of Duty – now he has the firepower on the big stage.
The World 20 blitzed German Martin Schindler 4-0 in just 23 minutes to reach the Last 16 of the World Championship at the Ally Pally.
Now Searle, 38, faces James Hurrell for a place in the quarter-finals and has his sights on the £1million jackpot.
He said: “We had a few games in the week. I’d say I’m a bit better than Luke at Call of Duty. I need to catch up on the darts.
“Luke’s a different animal. Obviously, the two Lukes are the people that everyone’s trying to catch up to and that’s the standard that we all sort of strive for.
“I would have to play like I did today just to get anywhere near them and it’s something I’m working on.”
Searle has always had a laidback persona but admits he’s up for winning the title and the seven-figure prize.
He added: “If you can’t get up for playing for a million pounds, then you shouldn’t be playing the game, should you?
“I said back before the Matchplay probably that the World Championship is the main one that I was focusing on just because of how top-heavy the prize money is.
“So it’s good that it’s gone to plan because sometimes you can say that and turn up and lose first round. I’ve done alright.”
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Searle admits he’d love to play his practice partner pal Gary Anderson in the showpiece final on January 3.
He said: “Yeah, we’ll split the money! That would be a nice final, obviously. I think the last time I played Gary was in a final of the Pro Tour.
“We played each other twice in a row. I think that was one of the last times we played each other.
“So, yeah, that would be nice and the way he’s playing, I wouldn’t put past him to reach a final.”
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LUK OUT!
