Robert Hughes’ darts dream came true last week when he made his debut on the oche at the BDO World darts championships at Lakeside.

The Milford Haven-born-and-bred player gained enough ranking points to automatically qualify for the last 24 on the world stage.

Welshman Hughes, making his debut at the age of 42, finished brilliantly to beat 16th seed Australian, Eddy Simms 3-2.

But in the second round Rob faced world number one Gary Anderson, and it was always going be a big ask for the Milford man.

But Hughes finished brilliantly to come from behind and a take a surprise 2-1 lead at one stage.

But canny Scot Anderson kept his composure and finally hauled his way back to beat Hughes and clinch a quarter final place.

Welsh team manager Malcolm Hawkins spoke of his delight as he watched Hughes’ performance on TV and said: “Rob has done himself, his county and his country proud. He’s the first born-and-bred Pembrokeshire player to throw darts at the world championships. It’s a fantastic achievement.”

Malcolm found Rob’s performance frustrating, as he knows only too well what Rob is really capable of.

“He’s a fantastic finisher, but his scoring let him down –but he will be a better player after this excellent experience.”

What’s up for Rob next?

Well it’s back down to earth with a bump as he plays for Pembrokeshire in Merseyside over the weekend of January 17th-18th with bus leaving at 3am in the morning.