Darts star Ritchie Edhouse has ‘one objective’ forward of World Championship after main success
EXCLUSIVE Ritchie Edhouse has had the season of his dreams, winning the European Championship on the eve of the Paddy Power PDC World Championship – and he now has ‘one goal’ at the Ally Pally
It was the biggest night of Ritchie Edhouse‘s darting career.
Edhouse, 41, had never been close to a final, and here he was, in Dortmund, with one more game between him and his darting dreams. In his way stood the then World No.40 Jermaine Wattimena, who was also experiencing a fairytale run in Germany.
“It sounds cliche, but I just took it as any other game,” Edhouse told Daily Star Sport on the eve of the Paddy Power PDC World Darts Championship. “I just took it one game at a time,” he added before admitting he didn’t watch any other games.
Edhouse claimed the scalps of Dave Chisnall, Gary Anderson, Michael Smith and Luke Woodhouse en route to the final. Wattimena, meanwhile, stunned the darting world with a 10-4 demolition job against the World No.1 Luke Humphries.
The Bailsdon-born thrower rose to the occasion: “I didn’t even realise I had won until they shouted out ‘champion’,” he added. For the first time in his career, Edhouse wasn’t just a major winner, he had cracked the Top 32 in the world.
“I can’t pinpoint one reason why my season has gone the way it has – it’s the combination of a few things. I changed my stems and flights to Mission Force 90s [an all-in-one set-up].
“Just before one of the qualifiers for Riesa, I think it was, I played out of my skin, went to Riesa and I had a brilliant run – beating Michael Smith and Rob Cross.
“Confidence breeds confidence, and that’s how my season has taken off. I now walk into a room thinking I can beat any of these. And that’s it.”
In his darting pomp, Edhouse is now set to open his World Darts Championship campaign on Sunday (December 22). Madhouse will start his assault on glory against Ian White, who progressed to the second round after Sandro Eric Sosing pulled out on medical grounds.
Edhouse has one goal: make it past Christmas – something he has never accomplished.
In 2020, he crashed out to James Wade in the second round, he didn’t even qualify in 2021. The following year he fell to Gerwyn Price in the second round and last year, Edhouse failed to make it past the first round.
“It will just be nice to feel that I’m still in the championship after a little Christmas break,” Edhouse admitted. “And that’s it really, I’ll take it one game at a time. Obviously, the main goal is to win it.
“But the little mini goal is just to win a game and then come back and then see how it goes.”
Paddy Power has teamed up with Prostate Cancer UK and the PDC, to launch The BIGGER 180 campaign at the 2024/25 World Darts Championship, where Paddy Power will donate £1,000 to Prostate Cancer UK for every 180 scored during the tournament.
The addition this year sees a colossal £180,000 bonus up for grabs for every nine-darter, to be split between the player, the charity and one lucky fan at Ally Pally.
Paddy Power and Prostate Cancer UK also aim to inspire at least 180,000 men to take the charity’s lifesaving risk checker this year. Early action saves lives – don’t wait. Take 30 seconds to check your risk today: prostatecanceruk.org/darts-risk
