From Borrisokane to the World for rising Darting star Dylan Slevin

Dylan Slevin makes his debut at the World Darts Championship this Sunday evening

There are two places in the world where Christmas feels that little bit extra special: Bethlehem, and the Alexandra Palace in London.

The latter venue, affectionately known as the Ally Pally, is basically a carnival, a two-week festival of darts in which the world’s finest players converge and compete in front of bubbling, buoyant audiences. The music blares, the shouts of 180 echo off the walls, the party atmosphere crackles day and night. And while the crowd shouts and drinks its way into oblivion, the players stand tall on stage firing little metallic arrows at minute targets on a small black and red board.

There’s tension, anticipation, excitement and sometimes tears. It’s a real-life sporting drama which never ceases to capture the imagination. And this year, one young Borrisokane man will be part of it all, fulfilling a dream which he has harboured since his mid-teens, since he began to realise that darts really can take you places.

Dylan Slevin is an ambitious guy. He plays darts partly for the fun of it, but his main objective is to win, irrespective of the competition, the location, or the time of year. But even he admits that competing in a first World Darts Championship will feel a little different, a little bit more surreal.

The 20-year-old has worked hard to get here, painstakingly hard, and the road has not been smooth. Carving out a career as a professional darts player is not a straightforward process, nor is it a task for the faint-hearted. It takes guts, stamina, and a whole lot of self-belief.

But all that hardship is made worthwhile on occasions like this, when one earns the right to compete alongside the best in the world, on the biggest stage of them all, in the greatest theatre which the sport is home to.

“It’s a shock to the system but it’s also a dream come true,” he said.

“As a young darts player you dream, you watch it at Christmas and you say, ‘I wish I was there.’ And to now be there, to be in the Ally Pally playing with the best in the world, it’s a massive achievement in my career.

“I’m throwing since I was about 15 years of age. I never thought that I’d be on the professional circuit, at this age, doing what I’m doing at the moment. Look, I’m only 20, I’m still young and I have a lot to learn, but it’s just a massive achievement. To be honest about it, I didn’t really know how to react at first.”

Nor did the entire Tipperary sporting community. When word first emerged that a young Borrisokane lad had somehow scaled the ladder and qualified for the PDC World Championship, there was a strange mixture of surprise and confusion palpable across the county. People were asking questions: How did he do it? Where had he come from? Is he a genuine contender?

There are numerous routes to sporting stardom, but in darts the opportunities are fleeting, the margins slim. You need raw talent and a certain degree of audacity, but more than anything else it requires ferocious work ethic and a will to succeed. Dylan didn’t walk out of the pub and into the Ally Pally. He’s been putting in the hard yards since he was around fifteen, and right now, it’s beginning to pay off. He has a professional tour card, therefore making him eligible to qualify for the big events, but as he explains, there are several different pathways a player can take to scale the ladder.

“If you get your tour card, you’re on the professional circuit. But if you don’t get a tour card, you can play on the Challenge Tour, and if you finish first or second in that, you can qualify for a spot in the World Championships and get a tour card as well,” Slevin explains.

“There’s also another thing called the Development Tour and I actually played on that. And if you finish first or second in that, you can also get to the World Championship. So, there are loads of pathways to get where you want to get to.”

Staying Disciplined

The tournaments are only one component of the darts lifestyle. Glamour events like the World Championship are tremendous fun, but to get to those dizzy heights it requires incessant practice, unrelenting dedication, and a fair degree of discipline.

However, Dylan admits that it can be a lonely profession. Isolation is an issue. Many of his days just consist of him and the board. He could be at it for hours at a time, practicing in solitary confinement - throwing, adjusting technique, throwing some more. A perception exists that darts players simply waddle from the bar stool to the board and back again for hours on end. Dylan dispels that as a myth. Playing darts at the highest level requires stringent discipline - and mental resilience.

“It can be a very lonely lifestyle,” he reveals.

“When you have no one with you and you’re throwing darts all day by yourself, that can be hard. You look around and there’s no one there supporting you - it’s you against the world. But that’s when you need to be disciplined. You need to have discipline to play darts.”

Dylan isn’t in any way circumspect when he talks about his ambitions for this World Championship. He’ll travel to London as a complete outsider, but when he walks out on stage on the evening of Sunday, 17th December, when MC John McDonald bellows his name and the entry music starts playing, he’ll stride out with a winner’s attitude. His opponent, Florian Hempel, is irrelevant - he is simply an obstacle to be overcome. It’s cut-throat stuff.

“You might be friends away from the board but once you’re up against one another, once you’re in the game, then that’s it. There’s no eye contact, there’s no talking. Your enemies, until the last dart is thrown,” Dylan says.

The Ally Pally is the short-term focus, but Dylan regards it as a stepping stone on a longer-term trajectory. He wants to utilise his World Championship appearance as a springboard, to harness the experience and use it to propel himself up the rankings ladder. The more experience he gets, the better his performances are likely to be, the bigger his ambitions are likely to become.

“My first professional tournament I got to the semi-final. I was new, I had no experience, but I managed to get that far,” he added.

“That’s when it really hits you, when you realise that you’ve made the top four of a professional competition. And that’s when you start testing yourself and asking yourself can you do it again, can you go even further? So hopefully over the next year I can qualify for more major tournaments and maybe win a few ranking events - that’s my priority.”

Career progression

His career progression over the past few years has been astonishingly impressive. Dylan had no great devotion to darts.

He liked it as a sport and as a hobby, but he never really envisaged making a career out of it. He is a sports enthusiast, excelling in numerous different codes.

It was only during the Covid-19 pandemic that he began to take throwing more seriously. The innate talent was there all right. But it had never been nurtured. Sure enough, once he started putting in the hours in front of the board, the improvements were dramatic.

“Everyone has their own throw,” he states.

“Everyone is different when it comes to that. In my case, when I was younger anyway, I would have always thought that I had a bit of natural talent, because I never really practiced - I was too busy playing soccer, hurling, football. But then Covid hit, and I started playing more regularly, and my averages started to go up, so I knew I was getting better. I could feel myself improving.”

Once he started travelling to tournaments, success quickly followed.

He was selected on several Irish teams, and it was only then that he began to consider properly forging a career in the sport.

It all happened rapidly, in the space of a few condensed, Covid-affected years, but he’s now in a position whereby darts is his focus in life, his raison d’etre if you like.

His family and his girlfriend have all rowed in behind him. The support network is there - which Dylan reveals is essential for any darts player. It’s too lonely a sport to tackle completely on your own. You need people around you, people who are willing and able to make sacrifices for your sake. Thankfully, Dylan has those people.

Beyond these World Championships, the future is bright and brimming with potential. But for now, Dylan’s focus is on the Ally Pally. He’ll be brushing shoulders with the best - the likes of Dutchman Michael van Gerwen and reigning world champion Michael Smith - but intimidation won’t be an issue. Dylan has earned his seat at the top table. By his own admission, he isn’t afraid of anyone. Nor should he be.

This is a golden opportunity for the young Tipperary man, a chance to showcase his talent on the international stage. There will be pressure, lots of it, but he’s ready to embrace those emotions, to relish this experience.

Once the arrows start flying and the game begins, he’ll sink into his own little world on stage. The adrenaline will flow, and Dylan will be in his essence - playing darts. And the whole of Tipperary will be behind him.