Invercargill-born Kayden Milne earned the men’s national title for under 24-year-olds after competing in the 57th national men’s singles competition held at the Invercargill Workingmen’s Club this month.
This is the third time he will be competing in the PDC international darts competition and he hoped he would not return empty-handed.
"You've got to stay sharp throughout the whole year.
"I practise at home and at the club during club nights; that sort of thing is the key to having the cutting edge," Milne said.
The apprentice plumber picked up the game at the age of 10 after reluctantly having to watch his dad play.
Fifteen years later he’s gone from dawdling after his father to beating national and international darts champions.
Last year he dazzled the darts world when he knocked out the British professional Fallon Sherrock at the New Zealand Darts Masters.
The following evening he had a crack at competing against the 2023 world champion, Michael Smith. While he lost, that only energised him to do his very best this year.
"The last two years I’ve lost against a very good opponent who regularly competed against professional guys.
"So I had a bit of a mental moment during that second time, but the goal this year is just to get past that little speed bump and get into the next stage of the event, which would be a big achievement," he said.
The 24-year-old stressed his training was not a solo effort and he had learned a lot from the darts community.
"I don’t have a specific personal coach, but I’ve picked up tips from Steve Padgett who helps run the darts hall here.
"Sometimes you won’t even realise he’s standing there watching you and he’ll come up and say, ‘Hey this is a little area of improvement’.
"So you have to rely on the guys who have been in the game for so long, because they can see some stuff that I wouldn't see that comes through," Milne said.
Waihopai darts guru Warren Parry also inspired Milne to carve out a career in the darts world.
"Warren Parry has done amazing things in the darts world for Invercargill and for Southland. He’s a great darts player and the one I most definitely look up to," he said.
Milne will compete against 100 international youth darts players at the Professional Darts Corporation Winmau World Youth Championships in Wigan, England in October.
