The 2014 Premier League Darts recently visited
the brand new SSE Hydro in Glasgow, host of the
upcoming Commonwealth Games netball and
gymnastic events.
It would be possible, if the formats and organisation
is right, to do two tournaments in one day and not
cause an events pile up later in the games.
Unfortunately the prospect of darts in the
Commonwealth Games seems even more remote
than any Olympic aspirations it may have.
After no cities came forward to bid for the 2022
Games, Mike Hooper, the Commonwealth Games
Federation (CGF) chief executive, announced back in
February that the number of sports may be cut from
17 to 10 to ‘encourage interest in tough economic
times’.
Only at effectively 58 minutes past the eleventh
hour did Durban and Edmonton throw their hats into
the ring on deadline day, 31 March.
But the problem with the Commonwealth Games is
the large emerging talent pool in Europe wouldn’t
be able to compete, meaning any such competition
would be diminished.
PDC co-founder and tournament director Tommy Cox
has also brushed off any plans for his organisation to
bid on the sport’s behalf for entry into the Olympics
or Commonwealth Games.
“There are no plans at all. Can you imagine the
outcry from whiter than white organisers at such an
idea?”
His colleague, Matthew Porter, the PDC’s chief
executive, says: “It’s not something we are planning,
but we always have ideas for new tournaments.”
Nevertheless, just because the Olympic and
Commonwealth Games seem like non-starters, does
not mean that darts is up a certain creek without
a certain instrument. There exists
another possibility.
Founded in 1981, the World
Games is a quad-annular
event for sports which
are not part of the
Olympic Games. These
sports include: squash,
netball, tug of war,
karate and darts’ fellow
pub and club sports pool
and snooker.
London hosted the event
in 1985.
Unlike
the
Olympic
and
Photo: PDC/Lawrence Lustig
Commonwealth Games there initially seems to be
no draw backs.
But with over 100 PDC events per year alone the
darts calendar of both organisations is practically
full already. If it was part of the 2017 World Games in
Wroclaw, Poland, a European Tour event with strong
crowds would be most likely have to be jettisoned.
The World Games is practically unheard of in the
UK, and this would put off players who are used to
competing in front of crowds of up to 10,000 week
in week out.
Nevertheless darts could be expanding through
its own means and could be at the beginning of
something big.
Last year saw the first two World Series events in
Dubai and Sydney.
The strong darts following in Australia took the first
chance to see their heroes with open arms, and an
event in Perth has been added to the calendar for
this season, with Singapore also being announced
recently.
PDC boss Barry Hearn has recently said he’s had
calls from organisers in Hong Kong, host of soft-tip
darts tour events, and Toronto, home of triple world
champion John Part, wanting their own event.
If this keeps up, perhaps in a generations time darts
could have a championship like Formula 1’s with
events around the world.
And who knows maybe even a break every four years
for the Olympics?