LEDBURY darts ace Terry Jenkins is celebrating his first year as a professional by continuing his rise up the world rankings, writes Richard Prime.

"I always knew I could do it," said Jenkins, who gave up his second-hand furniture business in the town last year for a crack at the professional circuit.

And now his decision has been fully justified as a succession of good recent performances has seen him rise to 41st in the Professional Darts Corporation rankings.

With rankings based on performance over a two-year period, there is every chance of further improvement because Jenkins can only point to results dating back to the turn of the year as this is his first season.

Jenkins, who played in the Hereford City League with the Cotterell Arms five or six years back, recently claimed his first Professional Darts Corporation title with a win in the first ever Dutch Open at Vroomshop in Holland.

More than 500 players attended the event and Jenkins' final three opponents were all ranked in the world top 20.

There was disappointment, however, at the Winmau World Masters at Bridlington which saw Jenkins eliminated, 3-1, at the quarter-final stage by number one seed Raymond Barneveld.

"I really should have gone two sets up against Barneveld and then who knows," said Jenkins.

The season has seen him collect world ranking points in a variety of tournaments spanning the dart-playing world, from the Irish Masters to the Antwerp Open and as far afield as the Las Vegas Desert Classic where he came second in his group behind top-ranked Phil 'The Power' Taylor.

After taking part in the Budweiser UK Open Welsh regional final last weekend in Swansea, Jenkins continues his travelling this weekend with a trip to Belgium for the Primus Belgian Masters.