Kirk Shepherd's astonishing run to the 2008 World Darts Championship final remains one of the most remarkable underdog tales in the sport. The 1000-1 outsider defeated several of the day's top star on his way to a showpiece clash with John Part, earning himself a handsome £50,000.

Terry Jenkins, Peter Manley and Wayne Mardle all fell victim to Shepherd, who was just 21 at the time. The Kent-born thrower emerged from complete obscurity before eventually suffering a heavy defeat to Part in the final. His days of juggling darts practice with a modest wage at a sheet metal factory vanished overnight, with Shepherd's dream-like fortnight delivering instant financial security and a brief spell in the spotlight.

However, it proved short-lived. A dramatic lifestyle transformation and the overconfidence that accompanied it saw him plummet down the rankings into anonymity. He eventually relinquished his tour card in January 2022 amid struggles with dartitis.

"I went from being a normal lad working in a factory to back-page headlines and a nice big pay cheque," Shepherd told the Daily Star in 2023.

"After that, the devil came for me. I went a bit doo-lally and got carried away by it all. I thought everything was going to fall on a plate for me and it was the start of a new beginning, a bright new dawn, but I stopped putting in the effort. I got lazy.

"From earning £50,000 as runner-up at the World Championship in 2008 and having some wealth, four years later I was living on my own in a flea-ridden one-bed flat."

Dartitis, a condition likened to the 'yips' in golf that results in players struggling to let go of the dart, led Shepherd to experience severe anxiety and panic attacks, to the extent that he didn't touch a dart for nearly three years. He eventually received support from the PDC and PDPA and found himself in a better place.

He said: "I've been qualifying as an electrician at a firm called Bilfinger in Haydock. I don't think they knew who they were taking on at first, but now I am just plain Kirk Shepherd, not the 1,000-1 outsider who reached the final at Ally Pally.

"I'm a father of three boys and things are so much brighter that I'm even considering picking up the old arrows again. I might have left darts, but darts has never left me."