TEESSIDER Colin Osbourne has received a late call up to the PDC World Darts Championship, which begins at Alexandra Palace in London this weekend.

Osbourne, who is nicknamed ‘The Viper’, failed to make it through the qualifying tournament for the biggest event in the darts calendar.

However, he was offered a reprieve after Edward Santos was forced to pull out of the World Championship because of travel problems.

Santos, who won the Philippines qualifier earlier this year, announced his withdrawal yesterday, and his place goes to the next non-qualified player from the PDC Order of Merit.

That is Osbourne, a former Championship League winner and UK Open finalist, who dropped out of the world’s top 32 earlier this year.

The North-Easterner will face Denmark’s Dennis Lindskjold in a preliminary-round tie on Sunday, December 15, with the winner taking on Irishman Brendan Dolan in the first-round proper later the same night.