Paul steps up to the oche in style

YOU’RE THE MAN . . . Paul Cartwright with 2004 BDO World Champion Andy Fordham (right).

DARTS:

AN amateur darts player from Oldham will swap his garage board for a game on the world’s biggest stage, after beating hundreds of competitors to qualify for one of the sport’s biggest tournaments.

In a David and Goliath story for the sport, Paul Cartwright stepped up to the oche at a recent qualifying event in Stoke in the hope of making it through to the Speedy Hire UK Open at Bolton’s Reebok Stadium in June.

He eventually prevailed and is now dreaming of a date with destiny against Phil ‘the Power’ Taylor and the cream of the darting world.

Cartwright’s first obstacle was to score enough points with 15 darts to qualify for a one-off leg of 501 against another successful amateur.

He then held his nerve in an all-or-nothing game to seal the winning doubles and to share the same stage as some of the world’s finest players.

Speedy Hire enlisted the help of 2004 World Champion Andy Fordham to offer expert advice, who was an impressed onlooker throughout.

Cartwright said: “I was so nervous I can’t begin to explain.

“I’m a huge darts fan, but never thought in my wildest dreams that I would stand at the oche and

qualify for one of the biggest tournaments in the sport.

“To have a world champion watching me in the process made it even more special.”

He added: “I was like a wreck. I have never been so aprehensive. To qualify for an event like this means the absolute world to me.”

The opening night of ‘The FA Cup of Darts’ in the Premier Suite at Reebok Stadium will see 140

players in action in the preliminary, first and second rounds.

The top 32 professional players from the UK Open Order of Merit will come in at the third-round stage on Friday, June 3, with the remaining professionals, 32 Speedy Hire qualifiers and 32 Rileys

qualifiers having to compete in the early rounds.

With play across eight stages simultaneously at the Reebok Stadium, the Sky Sports-televised event will see two former champions — 2008 winner James Wade and 2004 victor Roland Scholten — in action on the opening night.