Slevin set for prime-time at the Darts

Darts doesn’t need much of an extra selling point at Christmas, but it will from an Irish point of view this Friday night as Borrisokane native Dylan Slevin takes to the oche for the second time at the PDC World Darts Championship in London.

By Shane Brophy

It is a case of the master versus the apprentice as Slevin, ranked number 67, takes on world number 48 William O’Connor from Cappamore in the first round which is a novel Tipperary v Limerick rivalry on the world stage, but with no hurley in sight.

The World Championships at the ‘All Pally’ began last Sunday and with Slevin v O’Connor not taking place until the evening session of day six is a huge bonus as the tournament will be well underway at that stage, plus their clash is the third on the bill with a potential primetime slot around 9.00pm on Friday night, just ahead of Michael van Gerwen’s first round game.

“We were blessed with where we were put,” Slevin said of the schedule, and should he win, will pay world number eleven Dimitri Van Den Bergh in round 2 on Sunday night.

“There are a good few of my family coming over, a load came over last year,” he revealed.

“It will be smaller this year as it isn’t my first and now it feels like just another tournament, although it is the biggest tournament of the year.

“There are a few lads coming over, but I don’t know what they secured tickets for the night I am on.”

Ocean’s Slevin, as is his darting nickname, added: “It’s the third game on Friday evening so it allows everyone who has to work on Friday to get home or to go to the pub to watch it.

“The draw couldn’t have gone any better, two Irish lads in the first round.

“It is a bit of a killer though as you’d want all the Irish to get through to the second round, but we will both be there to do a job, to beat each other.”

Slevin and O’Connor have practised together regularly in recent years but have only met twice in official competition, with both having recorded one win each.

“I call him more of a mentor than anything,” Slevin says of his first round opponent.

“Willie is probably the longest serving Irish man on the tour.

“He is a good friend so it will be hard to play him, but he will be there to do a job, I am there to do a job, so we’ll put our friendship aside for that one hour and crack on.”

This will be Dylan Slevin’s second time competing at the world championships, having come through the qualifiers last month, as he looks to get his first win in the tournament after falling short twelve months ago, but not without leaving his mark.

“Everyone wants to get their first win,” Dylan admits.

“I played well in the first set against Florian Hempel, came out with all guns blazing, then I don’t know where I went in the second and third sets and some of the fourth, and then the 167 (checkout) came out of nowhere. After that my darts strayed again, maybe that was down to the lack of experience.

“Set play is completely different to leg play; you could be two-nil up in sets and still lose 3-2 or vice versa. I wouldn’t have played (format) that often but now that I have last year under my belt, I am more confident going into it this year.

He added: “At a young age, I always said I would love to be at the Ally Pally and to be a world champion.

You don’t become a world champion overnight, you have to work for it, improve as you go along and hopefully progress further in the tournament this year with the years experience I have, and who is to say that cannot happen as if I can play to what I know I can play, I can do it.”

2024 was Dylan’s first full year on the PDC tour as he got used to life on the road, which meant a move away from his native Borrisokane.

“For the first six months I stayed at home, but I have moved to Dublin as it is easier on me in terms getting to the airport which is only half an hour away. It isn’t much travel which is a big thing,” he revealed.

“I generally always came home but the travel up and down to the airport in the mornings, you could be leaving Borrisokane in the middle of the night.”

In a darting context, the World Championships gets most of the focus from the casual fan but for the rest of the year, there is a lot of travel and tournaments to get to and a lot of sacrifices to be made for Dylan to live his dream.

“You are living the dream, but you are missing a load of things; family gatherings, birthdays etc…,” he says.

“I am lucky that I have a family that understands what I have to do in the first few years to become and professional, for anyone that wants to get into darts you have to understand what you are leaving behind.

“You end up missing things you don’t want to miss but you have to miss, you can’t go to a tournament wishing to be somewhere else as you then aren’t in the right headspace. You have to be one hundred percent committed.”

Darts is riding the crest of a wave at the moment, particularly with the arrival on the scene of Luke Littler, who at this tournament last year as a sixteen year old, got all the way to the final where he fell narrowly to world number one Luke Humphries who successfully opened the defence of his title with a first round win on Sunday.

“What Luke Humphries and Luke Littler have done for darts, is incredible,” Dylan said.

“It is more 50-40 to Littler in terms of bringing in more young players.

Darts tournaments are selling out quicker than ever, so it makes it better for all of us, and for the PDC.

“Luke Littler has been a blessing for the PDC, what he has done in the last year for a seventeen year old is crazy and a lot of the players on the tour now look up to him, and I am one of them.