Darts is synonymous with a great night out and hilarious outfits.
If you’ve ever watched a professional darts game, you’re already aware of the dress code and behavioral expectations. Is this, however, a true sport or merely a good excuse to get decked up in fancy dress and drink and sing and shout, while watching people throw arrows at a board who are also drinking and having a great time?
The definition of a skill, according to the Cambridge dictionary is; “an ability to do an activity or job well, especially because you have practiced it”.
The definition of a sport according to the Cambridge dictionary is: “a game, competition, or activity needing physical effort and skill that is played or done according to rules, for enjoyment and/or as a job”.
Darts players are extremely skilled in their job. A skill that has been earned through countless hours and years of practice. Therefore backing up the definition of a sport! There’s no doubt that Darts is a real sport. I must admit, there isn’t much physical exhaustion, however, the expertise and preciseness that comes with dart playing definitely makes up for this.
So to answer this question, yes. Darts is definitely a sport. The spectating is just a huge bonus.
Not just any person could throw a 180 at the dart board, this requires a lot of skill and precision. This is what makes this a sport. A lot of hard work and dedication to practicing comes with being a great darts player. I’m sure most people have tried darts at least once in their life. Every pub in the UK has a darts board. If you have ever had a go, you will know that it’s nowhere near as easy as it looks!
In most towns across the UK, pubs host dart competitions throughout the week. Of course this is a social event and it’s in a pub so it’s a good excuse to have a drink and a laugh with other members of the team while playing! It is a hobby for thousands of people. However this sport requires seriously good aim and precision to be good at it, which is what makes it a sport.
It also takes a lot of confidence and nerve to be able to walk out onto the stage with a large crowd who are quite intoxicated, so they are shouting, screaming and chanting while you walk out and after your every throw. This could either be chanting in your favor or against you and I think that takes so much nerve to be able to still concentrate and stay on top of your game. Only the strongest can survive in that atmosphere, but that’s what makes darts so great to watch. It’s suspenseful, it’s fun, and it’s loud. Everyone is there to have a great time.
There’s a reason why the prize money is at the level it is, why they sell the number of tickets that they do, why they have the number of broadcasters that they do! And that reason is the atmosphere that’s created to go along with the show the players put on up on the oche. Although, I’m pretty sure that the crowd probably doesn’t have a clue what’s going on after a few hours of drinking and singing! But they’re still having a great time.
Some of the greatest dart players of all time
Peter Wright aka Snakebite
Peter is a two-time and reigning world champion, having won the PDC World Darts Championship in 2020 and 2022. Following his 2022 World Championship win, Wright joins the list of just five other players to have won the tournament on more than one occasion.
For any darts player, hitting a nine dart finish is as good as it gets, and for Wright that moment came against Daryl Gurney in 2020.
His nickname comes from his favorite drink. Which is pretty cool.
Michael Van Gerwen aka Mighty Mike
Michael is a Dutch professional darts player. Van is only the second Dutch player to have been named as world no 1 multiple times. He is currently ranked number three in the world, having been world number one from 2014 to 2021. He is also a three-time PDC World Champion, having won the title in 2014, 2017 and 2019. Van Gerwen began playing darts at the age of 13 and by 17, he became the youngest player to win the B.D.O. ranking event, 2006 World Masters and Winmau World Masters.
John Lowe – a legend
Lowe won the world title three times, in 1979, 1987, and 1993. He was also a two time World Cup singles champion and a two time winner of the Winmau World Masters. Lowe won 15 BDO and WDF majors in total. He was ranked No. 1 in the world four times.
He was the first player to win the BDO World Championship in three separate decades. He was at the top of the darting world in the 70s, 80s, and 90s. One of the most famous Lowe moments was when he became the first player in darts history to hit a 9 darter on television.
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