John Part on Gibraltar goal

JOHN Part believes competing at the JDC’s week of world championship darts in Gibraltar in November is “the dream” for the best young players in North America.

The Canadian legend remains the only non-European to win the PDC World Championship and the only North American to lift the BDO/WDF version.

And he feels the opportunity to play darts overseas at such a young age is a perfect incentive for those looking to make waves outside North America.

The JDC will host a week of tournaments in Gibraltar from November 25-29, with a mix of individual and team events as the best junior players in the world head to The Rock.

“It’s good that there’s a central body like the JDC hosting a World Championship week,” Part told DartAsylum.

“That’s the dream for a Canadian or an American – to go overseas to play darts, right?

“That’s a goal they can look at and think: ‘That’s not ten years in the future – if I do well, that could be in a few months.’

“That’s pretty exciting for a lot of kids. So the more of these clubs and academies that are popping up around the world and can unify to get under the banner, the better.”

In last year’s JDC World Championship, which was eventually won by Luke Littler at Alexandra Palace after every round up to the final was played in Gibraltar, 13 different nationalities were represented in the last 32.

And while darts at all levels is arguably at its strongest in a pocket of Western Europe, Part feels a lot of the work done by the JDC and PDC over the last decade or so is starting to bear fruit elsewhere in the world.

“I think the interest level is greater in Britain to start with,” he said. “But now we’ve seen PDC Europe have got the viewing figures in Northern Europe.

“There’s that market of people who don’t play darts who are now watching darts – and that’s what sustains the pro game, and that trickles down into things where they need to create the new pros. 

“The success is good for everybody and now it’s at a point where perhaps some of the opportunities created in the past 10 or 15 years through the JDC and PDC have got results, which keep it going again.”

Written by Steve Cotton (Dartasylum)