Darts star Callan Rydz is in action on Monday night at the World Darts Championship. The Englishman will line up against Josh Rock in the round of 32 but is still grieving from a devastating family tragedy.

After beating Daryl Gurney in the previous round, Rydz broke down in his Sky Sports interview as he spoke about the passing of his granddad and the interview was cut short due to this. He spoke about how good Gurney had been to him in recent times: "Daryl has been one of the only lads who knows what has been going on back home with my grandad. Every other day he has been messaging me, asking if he is OK. I'm getting emotional thinking about it..."

Speaking backstage once he had composed himself, Rydz added: "I wear my heart on my sleeve. I'm struggling. It's hard when you have stuff going on back home. I came here to try and forget about it. It's hard.

"I play for my family. I've got a job to do and thankfully I got through. I have too much stuff going on back home. I hear the crowd sing my name and I smile. But I wish I was home.

"We are preparing for this to be the last Christmas. I haven't practised either. I've been ill. Had that flu that has gone around. I was in bed for two days. I will go home now, see how the big man is. Listen once he goes, I will probably consider packing in. Probably. But I don't know. I have a decision if I want to keep doing it.

"My grandad likes a laugh about that - and that makes me happy. I play for my family. My grandma, grandad, my mum, they got us into darts. Everything I do is for them."

However, just a few hours after his win against Gurney, Rydz confirmed his grandfather had passed away. Writing on Instagram, he said: "There's not enough words to say [deep frustration emoji]. RIP Grandad [red love heart emoji].

"I'll promise to try and make you and grandma proud up there [red love heart emoji]. I love you."

When he takes to the stage to face Rock this evening, Rydz will have an awful lot weighing on him, but he'll be trying to win and do his grandfather and grandmother proud.

The Ally Pally crowd will no doubt get behind Rydz this evening but they have not been kind to the thrower in the past, often targeting his hairstyle, but the main man takes it all in good humour.

"They can say what they say, I'll not cry about it," he said. "I've had worse off loads of people back home. My best friends, they rip the mick out of us all the time. The crowd won me that game, I didn't win it.

"I'm all for the banter - I can give it them just as much as they can give it me, if I meet them individually. I love the banter with them and I think they won me this game, I didn't win it through darts, so I've got to thank them."