NAIROBI — The upcoming Nairobi Darts Masters has been tipped to be the latest episode in the growth of the sport as a revenue generating venture for players.
Dan Karori, director of Sirua Darts - who are the organisers of the event - said the three-day competition will provide top performers with the chance to go home with bulging pockets.
"The impact of the Nairobi Darts Masters is showing the level at which the game has grown in the country in terms of the players being able to reach very high levels and also the earnings in terms of the prize money and the prize money being big enough for players. This is to also attract future players to know they can turn the darts game into a pro sport and to create ways for future tournaments to play at that level within the East African stage," Karori said.
Karori further said the competition is a huge milestone in Sirua's efforts to resurrect the sport, which began in 2020 during amid Covid-19 pandemic.
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"It's a culmination of a very long journey. For the last three years, we have been trying to professionalise the game, bringing partners and growing the game to the level that it's attractive both to the fans and to the players locally and internationally, creating a lot of buzz around the development of the game in Kenya," he said.
The tournament is set for the December 4-6 at the Broadwalk Mall in Westlands, with competition across three categories - Masters, Ladies Showdown, Juniors Under 15 and University Darts.
The men's competition will feature 96 players, 32 of who have been selected from a series of matchplays and tours across Nairobi and Nakuru.
Sixty four other competitors will be added to the category, 16 of who are foreigners from countries, such as South Africa, Canada, Uganda, United Kingdom, Zimbabwe, Tanzania and Switzerland.
The ladies' category will be an open one, with 32 competitors expected to battle for top honour.
Winners of the Masters division will walk away with approximately Ksh 250,000, the women's winner pocketing Ksh 50,000 as the junior category coming with a purse string of Ksh 20,000.
Karori expressed optimism that Kenyan darts will return to the era of the 90s when it would attract corporate sponsorship.
Part of the strategy for this is to spread the sport across the grassroots and debunk the belief that darts is majorly confined to the bars.
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Besides lack of enough funding, Karori revealed that the stereotype around darts has been a big bottleneck.
"I think the biggest one has been the perception of darts not being a serious sport. I think that has been the biggest challenge, to bring the darts outside the bus to halls where people can play at all levels," he said.
Karori added: "The other challenge has really been the funding in terms of the government not being able to fund the federation to create more opportunities for the people and also for us as a private entity supporting the federation as an affiliate to be able to access funding from either corporate players, corporate organisations who can fund these events, as well as government participating in funding some of these events."
He added that darts is a family-friendly event that appeals to all ages.
"Darts is a movement to create avenues at all ages, from younger players, the Gen Z's, people within the university circles, to the older players, although we have players who are playing very well at 60s and 65s," Karori said.
Among top competitors expected in action is Manspreet Kalsi, who won this year's Africa Continental Tour (ACT) Challenge Cup after beating Benson Ngari in the final.
