Callan Rydz sends message to fans mocking his hair at World Darts Championship

Callan Rydz saw off Robert Owen to reach the World Darts Championship quarter-finals (Picture: Getty)

Callan Rydz says he is not bothered about fans mocking his hair at the Paddy Power World Darts Championship as he has had far worse stick from his own friends back home.

The 26-year-old, ranked 43 in the world, has established himself as one of the dark horses for the title with a string of exceptional performances at London’s Alexandra Palace.

After defeating Romeo Grbavac, Martin Schindler and Dimitri Van den Bergh without dropping a single set, Rydz appeared to be struggling in his last-16 clash with Robert Owen this afternoon.

But Rydz fought back from going 2-0 down to win 4-3 and book himself a place in the quarter-finals for only the second time in his career. The Riot will face off against either Michael van Gerwen or Jeffrey de Graaf for a semi-final spot.

On Sunday, Peter Wright picked out Rydz as his ‘favourite’ to win this year’s title, applauding his Newcastle-born rival on some ‘fantastic darts’ across the early rounds at Ally Pally.

‘He loves the mind games, doesn’t he?’ Rydz said in response to Wright’s comments shortly after his victory over Owen.

‘But listen, Peter, fair play to him. Last night I watched the game and absolutely fair play to him after the year he’s had.

The Riot won his three opening matches without losing a single set (Picture: Getty)

Snakebite has named Rydz as his favourite for the title (Picture: Getty)

‘I know the feeling, I’ve had a bad two years and this tournament has been a breath of fresh air for me so absolutely fair play to him. He’s a lovely lad, Peter, I’ve got a lot of time for him.

‘It was nice words but I’m not thinking about that. You’ve got to take it one game at a time. Whether I play Michael [van Gerwen] or Jeffrey [de Graaf], I’ll be ready, I’ll be up for it.

‘Day off tomorrow, I’ll be back on the practice board and that’s the main thing.’

During his win over Owen, some sections of the Ally Pally crowd could be heard mocking Rydz’s haircut, with chants of, ‘He’s got s*** hair, we don’t care!’, clearly audible on Sky Sports’ broadcast.

‘They can say what they say, I’ll not cry about it. I’ve had worse off loads of people back home,’ Rydz replied when asked for his thoughts on the chanting.

‘I’ve had friends [do the same], they’ve ripped the mick out of me all the time! But listen, the crowd won me that game, I didn’t win it.

‘Averaging 97 in the end and I felt like I’ve struggled. It shows I’m in good form going forward.’

While Rydz could come up against close friend Chris Dobey in the semi-finals, he is keen to avoid looking too far ahead.

‘If I win my next game and Dobey wins his next game, we’re going to play each other in the semi-finals. It’s going to be the battle of Bedlington!’ he continued.

‘We’d both be really up for that but, at the same time, we’re very close. Practice partners, I’ve played local darts with him for many years.

‘That would be great, knowing one of us would get to the final, but we’ve got to focus on the quarter-finals first and then see what happens.’

For more stories like this, check our sport page.

Follow Metro Sport for the latest news on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.