competitions is an option for a few
players. Vilmar Juro, a regular on
the circuit and participant at the
Estonian Open, says: “A few of us
travel to the Riga Open, another
WDF ranked event, in one car so
the travel costs are lower. We go
to the Baltic Open and there is
also the Nordic Cup.”
allowing them to supply locals
with boards and darts sets at an
affordable price. This is particular
important as the average salary
in Estonia does not lend itself to
spending inflated sums of money
on what is, essentially, a hobby
here.
However, the fact that there is
still no official supplier of darting
equipment in the country is an
example of the challenges the
EDO has faced. “We used to buy
directly from Winmau but there
was a minimum spend of £2000
(the cost of around 100 boards) and
with little interest countrywide
there was no guarantee we could
sell the products. It wouldn’t
have been a profitable business,”
Erki says. However, with the
convenience and opportunity
the internet has brought, the
organization are now able to
buy from online shops in the UK,
The organisation itself does
not have the funds to promote
the sport to generate a higher
level of interest and, for
players located outside t h e
capital,
travelling
longer distances to
events is not an
option. “It’s too
expensive
for
players from Narva
(located 130 miles
from Tallinn on
the border with
Russia) to come
and play on
a regular basis.
We currently have three clubs
operating in Tallinn and one or
two in other towns but money
is just too tight for people to be
able to travel around the country”
says Erki. Meelis Aule, a fireman
who is considered one of the best
Estonian players on the circuit at
the moment, is faced with this
very problem. His best result at
the Estonian Open was third place
in 2010 whilst coming second
at the Baltic Open in the same
year but he struggles to get any
momentum going as a result of the
lack of finance and