If you’ve ever caught the wild sport that is competitive darts on television, you’ll know it’s a spectacle like no other.
Instead of having to fly all the way over to the UK to get the ‘darts on steroids’ experience, you can catch it right here in Kingswood this Saturday night.
The Penrith Gaels Club will be hosting the Sydney Darts Exhibition Cup tomorrow evening, which will see two international darting legends grace the Irish club’s stage.
Nine-time PDC Major TV Finalist “The Bull” Terry Jenkins will be in the house along with fellow Englishman WDF World Finalist and fan favourite Alan “Chuck” Norris.
“Terry Jenkins is a nine-time professional finalist and would have been the best in the world over a 10-year period had it not been for the legendary Phil Taylor,” Sydney Darts Club Founder and event organiser, Mike Plested told the Weekender.
“His opponent Alan Norris was in the world’s top 20 players five years ago and is having a resurgence of late and is making his way back up the ladder.
“They are both very high level players and the audience is in for a real treat!”
The Sydney Darts Exhibition Cup will feature all the excitement associated with the modern game including dart anthems, walk-on music, a professional MC and caller along with close-up action on the big screen.
Fans are even encouraged to wear their best fancy dress for that added bit of colour.
“It’s called an exhibition format, so it’s not on TV and we’re not playing for £100,000, but it’s that kind of spectacle,” Plested said.
“There will be 10 locals from Penrith who will take to the stage one by one to play these guys and then the top two who perform best, will have their own final for bragging rights on the night.
“At the end it’ll be a longer format for the two pros, and they may even do all sorts of trick shots and things like that for the crowd.”
Over the past decade, the pub favourite has well and truly exploded in popularity with events selling out like rock concerts and television numbers through the roof.
“Darts is growing all the time… we’re in the third great wave of darts. The first two waves were in the ‘60s and ‘80s, and now it’s a worldwide phenomenon,” Plested said.
“It’s an inexpensive sport that was really turbocharged by the pandemic. The sport shops were sold out of darts equipment, and we’ve even installed dartboards at 20-30 venues over the last five or six years.
“Darts is pretty wild and, the thing about it is, it’s really exciting when you know exactly what’s going on.”
The Sydney Darts Exhibition Cup will be held at Penrith Gaels Club on Saturday, May 13 at 7pm.
Tickets are $20 each and are on sale at the club or by phoning 4722 8180.
Nathan Taylor is the Weekender’s Deputy Editor and Senior Sports Writer. He also compiles the weekly Chatter on the Box TV column. Nathan is an award-winning journalist, who has worked at the Weekender for a decade.
