The glut of fancy dress costumes. The walk-on music singalongs. The nerve-jangling sporting drama. These days, the only way the PDC World Darts Championship would signal the true start of Christmas any more clearly is if Cliff Richard were on stage throwing tinsel-wrapped tungsten in a Santa costume.
They flocked in their thousands up Muswell Hill to the venue that is fast becoming sport’s go-to destination during the festive season. Some came as Santa to mark the occasion. Others came as superheroes. Even the world champion, Peter Wright, who was due to play last on Thursday evening, joined in the fun, sporting a Grinch costume for his match against Northern Irish veteran Mickey Mansell.
And that is the beauty of this tournament, which is now in its 30th iteration. Anything can happen and unlike in most other sports, where the crowds only flock in their droves to see the world’s best and hold off in the early rounds, here even the prospect of the world No 88 Mansell taking on New Zealand’s Ben Robb – not even ranked in the PDC system – had the Alexandra Palace crowd lapping it up in their thousands.
Back when the tournament started in 1994 amidst a wave of uncertainty of darts’ very existence, things could not have been more different. Purfleet’s Circus Tavern hosted modest crowds throughout, Skol Lager were the sponsors and the tournament prize pool was a modest £64,000. This year, the prize money is £2.5 million, with the winner taking £500,000 of that. Darts is big business these days, with the best players multi-millionaires. Michael van Gerwen wasn’t even playing on the opening night, but there were green shirts almost everywhere you looked.
Just a stroll along the Ally Pally concourses reaffirmed how darts has gone from a game loved by a select few in the 1990s to a sporting money-making machine in the present day. There are merchandise stands as far as the eye can see, food stalls and, of course, the bars. So many bars. Even the hospitality tickets were a hefty £250 for the opening night.
Mansell’s 3-1 victory in the opening match of the night was a nervy one, aided by the crowd jeering him as he stepped forward to try to hit the winning double. That is perhaps the one side of this tournament’s growth that the purists are not so keen on, though the fact is that those in attendance are the ones that drive the prize money and interest up through ticket sales.
But the fact that darts has become a global brand away from the oche was just as evident on it during an entertaining night. There were seven players in action from six different nations – including Robb, the New Zealand qualifier, and South Africa’s Grant Sampson, who produced a sensational shock on his world championship debut.
Sampson, a little-known 40-year-old from the town of Brackenfell, had to win a qualifier against Africa’s other top players just to reach the Alexandra Palace and had never played in front of a crowd of more than 50. Nobody would have given him a chance against the world No 40, Keane Barry, but Sampson stunned the youngster to cause the first shock of the tournament. It won’t be the last.
But after 22-year-old Nathan Rafferty, the young starlet who is another reminder that darts is no longer an old man’s game, edged Jermaine Wattimena, it was time for the main event. For all the drama in the opening three games, those lucky enough to have a ticket for the opening night came to see one man: and Wright didn’t disappoint.
Wright’s walk-on to the Pitbull song Don’t Stop The Party is well-known for being extravagant. Fittingly as the reigning champion, he took it to new heights here, emerging in a full Grinch costume complete with gloves and a festive green Mohican. If that sentence doesn’t sum up the madness of this unique sporting spectacle, what on Earth does?
Everything extraordinary about Wright’s appearance and entrance was complemented by a straightforward opening to the defence of his title, though. He had far too much for Mansell and while the tougher challenges are undoubtedly to come, you wondered if all the pre-game shenanigans would throw Wright off his game. We should know by now, from a two-time world champion, that wouldn’t be the case, with Wright winning 3-0.
For the fans who attend, Ally Pally is an escape from reality for just a few hours, and a sporting party like no other. For the players like Sampson, who held back tears post-match and guaranteed himself a minimum £15,000 payday with victory here, the darts is a dream factory. Lives can change in the blink of an eye forever. It is sport, but not quite as you know it. Inside these four walls in north London, sometimes anything feels possible.
The big names are still to enter the fray over the coming days, and there is a long way to go before the winner of the 30th PDC World Championship is crowned. But these days, Christmas just wouldn’t feel like Christmas without the darts. That was evident from the second the opening dart was thrown on Thursday.
