When her father and brother Eilidh visited Milne on Tuesday, she initially protested their insistence on watching the darts world championships on television.
But Milne, 26, found himself on the edge of his seat, shouting at the TV and jumping in the air as youngster Luke Littler took the tournament by storm, defeating 2018 world champion Rob Cross in the semi-finals. -finals.
“I had no idea the sport could be so immersive and it has definitely made me more interested in pursuing darts in the future,” says Milne. “What I quickly learned about darts is that with darts the game is never really over, it’s just a matter of minutes.” “The whole match can turn upside down.”
Milne, an engineer living in London, is one of the new and young generation whose interest in darts is increasing. Long considered a sport for expert fans rather than the masses, darts is taking a step forward and reaching a new audience. The Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) semi-finals averaged a record-breaking 1.5 million viewers, while the Cross v Littler semi-final broadcast on Sky peaked at 2.3 million viewers – a 165% increase on last year’s semi-finals. to Sky Sports data.
Milne said he was disappointed Littler lost his world championship final to 28-year-old Luke Humphries at Alexandra Palace on Wednesday. “I always liked supporting an oppressor side,” says Milne. But for a sport that skews older and male (she says it doesn’t always feel accessible to women) having a 16-year-old compete for a championship “feels more inclusive for the younger generation.”
‘The pressure is increasing’
When Omar Soliman went to a wine and cheese event with partner Kaye Morrissey on Dec. 30, darts appeared on TV with football playing in the background. Writer Soliman, 40, from Stoke-on-Trent, was not new to darts but found himself, along with the rest of the room, caught up in the drama involving Littler. They watched him dispatch former champion Raymond van Barneveld, more than three times his age, four sets to one.
Soliman says he first became interested in darts about 10 years ago, when his roommate put it on shared TV. “We really got into it [after Christmas] We entered the new year at a time when we were both off work and nothing was really happening. This was the era of Phil “The Power” Taylor, also from Stoke-on-Trent, and Soliman enjoyed how lively the enthusiastic crowds were at the matches.
Soliman says the best tournaments are like psychodrama. He began to enjoy the mental aspect of the game, “bringing his threes in, bringing his doubles in, basically turning up the pressure.” He also found it exciting how quickly the game could end if the pressure was too much on one of the players.
That’s part of Littler’s appeal, Soliman says. He showed throughout the tournament that he “didn’t have that fear, he could just play his own game and not worry about others.”
Soliman, who finds the tournament so intriguing, says he and his friends are “making plans to attend the Ally Pally in full fancy dress next Christmas.”
‘I love individuality’
John Johansson, 42, from Örebro, Sweden, took up darts after reading an article about Littler in a recent Swedish newspaper and then watched him play against Van Barneveld. To unravel the rules of the ancient sport, he turned to a modern tool: ChatGPT. “I didn’t just use it to understand counting [down from 501 to zero]”But why target a certain number at a certain time?” he says.
Before watching her first match, Johansson thought darts would be boring and monotonous, but she was attracted by the players’ tactical skills, the crowd’s chants and boos, and the dart throwers’ big personalities. “I love the individuality of it,” he says.
Johansson has already started watching highlights of past games online, set up alerts for Littler’s next matches and plans to keep an eye on other darts pros, Swedish or female. “In this sport, the error can be 1 mm,” she says. “This is very, very exciting.”
‘You don’t have to be Usain Bolt’
Lizzie Prince, 59, of Brinklow, Warwickshire, first became interested in darts on black-and-white television in the 1980s and was blown away by the skills of the greats of the day, such as Eric. Bristow. “She was truly amazing,” she says. “I get absolutely ridiculous when I play darts; I’m lucky to hit the board!”
Watching it now, he says it’s “so nice” to see the next generation in the audience at venues like Alexandra Palace. “I love watching the crowd because they are mostly young, which is surprising because we think of darts as a sport for older people. [but] “It’s all young people drinking, singing and wearing funny costumes,” he says. “This is genius.”
Prince says darts pros exude a sense of authenticity and personality unlike other athletes. “It makes it come alive, makes them human, makes them fun,” he says. Additionally, darts does not require the sculpted athleticism of other sports. There is a meritocratic vein that promises that with enough practice you can throw a good dart. “That’s why I love darts, it provides more equality, you don’t have to be Usain Bolt or Wayne Rooney,” he says.
Backing Littler, Prince said Humphries’ win was still good news for the sport and he hoped it would help attract more new fans. “You can’t help but smile or laugh, you just want to be a part of it,” he says.