by When Eilidh Milne was visited by her father and brother on Tuesday, she initially objected to their insistence on watching the world darts championship on television.
But Milne, 26, soon found herself on the edge of her seat, shouting at the TV and jumping in the air when teenager Luke Littler, who took the competition by storm, beat 2018 world champion Rob Cross in the an idiot. – finals.
“I had no idea the sport could be so exciting, and it’s definitely made the future of darts more interesting,” says Milne, adding: “What’s learning is What I quickly learned about the darts is that it’s not really over. it’s over, the whole game can go over his head in a few minutes.”
Milne, an engineer based in London, is one of a new generation of younger people with a growing interest in darts. Long considered a sport for specialist fans rather than the general public, darts is undergoing a phase change and reaching a new audience. The Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) semi-finals averaged 1.5 million people with the Cross v Littler semi-final telecast on Sky drawing a peak of 2.3 million viewers – a 165% increase on last year’s semi-finals, according to to Sky Sports data.
Milne says she was disappointed Littler lost Wednesday’s world championship final at Alexandra Palace to 28-year-old Luke Humphries. “I’ve always loved rooting for an underdog,” says Milne. But for a sport that’s getting older and more male – she says women don’t always have access to it – having a 16-year-old competing for the title “feels more inclusive to the younger generation”.
‘Pushing on the pressure’
When Omar Soliman went to a wine and cheese event on December 30 with his partner, Kaye Morrissey, the darts came on the TV after the football, which was playing in the background. Soliman, a 40-year-old writer from Stoke-on-Trent, was no stranger to darts, but found himself, along with the rest of the room, sucked into the drama surrounding Littler. They watched as he dispatched former champion Raymond van Barneveld, a man more than three times his age, four sets to one.
Soliman first became interested in darts about 10 years ago, he says, when his colleague would introduce him to the shared television. “We really got into it [after Christmas] into the new year, when we were both off work and nothing was really happening.” That was the era of Phil “The Power” Taylor, also from Stoke-on-Trent, and Soliman enjoyed the importance of the enthusiastic crowd at games.
The best competitions, according to Soliman, are like psychodrama. He began to enjoy the mental side of the game and “putting in your triples, putting in your doubles, basically piling on the pressure”. It was also encouraging how quickly a game could turn if one of the players got too much pressure.
And that was Littler’s appeal, says Soliman. During the tournament he showed that “he is not that afraid, he can only play his own game and not worry about anyone else”.
After seeing the competition so strong, Soliman says he and his friends have “made plans to go to Ally Pally in fancy dress next Christmas”.
‘I love individuality’
John Johansson, 42, from Orebro, Sweden, got into darts after reading a recent Swedish newspaper article about Littler, while watching his match against Van Barneveld. To decode the old rules of the sport he turned to a modern tool: ChatGPT. “I used it not only to understand the count [down from 501 to zero]but why are you targeting a certain number at a certain time,” he says.
Before watching his first game, Johansson assumed that darts would be boring and monotonous, but he was drawn to the tactical skill of the players, the cheers and applause of the crowd and the big personalities of the dart throwers. “I love his individuality,” he says.
Johansson has already started watching highlights of old games online, created alerts for Littler’s next fixtures, and plans to check out other darts professionals whether they are Swedish or female. “A mistake in this sport can be 1mm,” he says. “It’s very, very exciting.”
‘You don’t have to be Usain Bolt’
Lizzie Prince, a 59-year-old from Brinklow, Warwickshire, first developed an interest in darts in the 1980s on black-and-white television, and was blown away by the skill of the greats of the time, such as Eric . Bristow. “It was just amazing,” she says. “When I’ve played darts I’m rubbish – I’m lucky if I hit the bloody board!”
Looking back now, she says, it’s “lovely to see the next generation” in the audience at venues such as Alexandra Palace. “I like watching the crowd at the game because they are usually young, which is surprising because we think darts is an old man’s sport, [but] it’s all about young people drinking and singing and wearing funny costumes,” she says. “It’s brilliant.”
Prince says that professional darts, unlike other sportsmen, show a sense of authenticity and personality. “It brings it alive and makes them human, makes them fun,” she says. Furthermore, darts does not require the sculpted athleticism of other sports. There’s a meritocratic vein that promises that, with enough practice, you can throw a decent arrow. “That’s why I like darts, it’s more of a leveller, you don’t have to be Usain Bolt or Wayne Rooney,” she says.
Prince, who rooted for Littler, says Humphries’ win is still good news for the sport, and hopes it will help attract more new fans. “You can’t laugh or laugh, you just want to be a part of it,” she says.
