Darts star Charlie Manby is aiming to get his hands on the £1million main prize at the World Championship after winning his first two matches at Alexandra Palace. But the 20-year-old has been forced to carry on working at a building site during the tournament to support himself.
Manby opened his World Championship campaign in mid-December as he caused a huge upset with a 3-2 victory over Cameron Menzies. That match hit the headlines after Menzies put out an on-stage firework with his bare hand and punched a table in anger three times after being dumped out of the tournament. Manby went on to dispatch Adam Sevada 3-0 in his second match on Monday to set up a third-round showdown with Ricky Evans.
Manby will leave Ally Pally with at least £35,000 following his endeavours in the early rounds. He needs two more victories to get his hands on £100,000, and would walk away with a whopping £1m if he is crowned champion at the start of next month.
But the talented Yorkshireman is still focused on earning money away from the sport as he revealed to The Sun: “I’m not working over Christmas. But I went into work on Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday last week.
“It was all good. Most of the lads had been down here with me anyway, so they enjoyed it and they had a good time.
“I’m self-employed. If I don’t work, I don’t get paid. If I have the opportunity to work, I’ll work. I’m not work shy.
“You look at all the people coming through who might not have worked a day in their life. I’m not like that, I just want to crack on. I love going to work and I enjoy it.”
Manby works for GBV Construction, with the firm owned by his girlfriend’s father. And the darts star added: “It’s a family-based business. They’ve helped me out. The sponsor on the back of the shirt, GBV. They’ve done a lot for me.
“They’re top class for me and they still see me at work as Charlie Manby, not this champagne Charlie Manby on stage. It’s completely different.
“My boss is also my girlfriend’s dad. He’s actually the one that suggested that he’ll sort tickets out because I can’t be bothered with people messaging me left, right and centre.
“He’s been really good. He’s just top quality. I’m not a professional darts player. My main income for the past three years has been bricklaying. It’s as simple as that.”
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