‘I’m a pro darts player but I’d make one change that would upset conservatives’ | Other | Sport
Charlie Manby has made waves since bursting onto the scene (Image: Target Darts)
The interview hadn’t even started, and Charlie Manby was already showing off his charm. “Get rid of that Man City shirt,” the darts prodigy joked. Manby was referencing the 2022/23 home shirt hanging on my office wall in the background of the Zoom call.
“Don’t forget, City won the treble that season,” I was quick to add. We laughed it off and got on with the chat. Manby made headlines for his run to the fourth round of the World Darts Championship on debut. The youngster beat Cameron Menzies, Adam Sevada and Ricky Evans en route to a meeting with eventual runner-up, Gian van Veen.
Van Veen proved too much for Manby in the end, but it was a breakout tournament for Champagne Charlie, who announced himself on the darting scene in style. There’s been no let-up since, as Manby picked up a tour card just after the Worlds and has been competing in Players Championship events ever since.
“You have a bit of time off here and there and you think ‘wow amazing’, but you’ve got to come back down to earth,” Manby told Express Sport. “It was a bit difficult at the start [on tour], but I got a taste of it last year, being invited to a few.
“I knew what it was like mainly, but I’ve sort of found my feet now after a few events. It’s just about pushing on. Don’t really have time to think about much. Travelling here and there, one place to the next.”
Manby was speaking after it was announced he’s put pen to paper on a multi-year deal with Target. “It’s great. Looking forward to the journey, it’s where I want to be. We had a visit, got showed around, had a chat with everyone. They’re head and shoulders above everyone else.”
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Charlie Manby made headlines for his performance at the World Championship (Image: Getty)
Manby has already taken some big scalps on the Pro Tour, including Premier League ace Stephen Bunting and two-time world champion, Gary Anderson. There was a noticeable twinkle in the 20-year-old’s eye when the victory over the Flying Scotsman was brought up.
Manby demolished Anderson with a 6-2 victory in a recent Players Championship encounter. It sent a statement to his Pro Tour rivals, but it was my eyebrows that were raised when Manby said that if he was in charge of darts, he’d scrap the ‘must finish on a double’ rule.
It was said in jest, sort of, with Manby revealing it was the weakest part of his game. “You don’t have to finish on a double,” a smirking Manby said when asked what the one thing he’d change about darts if given a Genie’s wish. “Sometimes they’re alright, then you miss seven or eight darts at a double, it would just be easier if you could finish on a single instead.”
Wait until he finds out seven or eight darts before hitting a double is considered a good visit for us regular folk…
“It always has been [a weaker part of my game],” he continued. “But it’s definitely kicked on and there are times where I was never confident throwing at a double. But you’ve got to be confident throwing every dart.”
It’s unlikely to get the seal of approval from the old-school darts loyalists, but Manby is part of the generation of stars writing their own set of rules in this new era of darts.
To find out more details about Charlie Manby and his upcoming Target Darts product release in September, please visit the Target website.
