Winmau, the British Darts Organisation (BDO) and the World Disability Darts Association (WDDA) will host a demonstration event for wheelchair players at the 2014 Winmau World Masters in Hull from 9th to 12th October.
The WDDA has made great strides in recent years and has successfully gained World Darts Federation recognition of a new dartboard height of 137cm for wheelchair users. Global darts giant Winmau has been working with the WDDA for the past 18 months and they now include wheelchair setup instructions in their range of premium bristle dartboards, as well as featuring the WDDA in their catalogue and on their website.
The BDO’s motto is Darts For All, and it has always supported disabled players. They have formed a close relationship with the WDDA and it is hoped that, if the demonstration event at the Winmau World Masters is a success, wheelchair darts will be included in more events in the future.
There will also be the added bonus of a money can’t buy prize – the winner of the wheelchair demonstration event will get the chance to play one of Winmau’s professional players live on the main Winmau World Masters stage!
Russ Strobel, founder of the WDDA, commented: “We have come a long way in the past couple of years, and we have to thank all our hard working officials as well as Winmau for their unwavering support. However, what we’ve lacked so far is a global platform to increase the awareness of disabled darts, and the Winmau World Masters provides the perfect opportunity. We can’t thank the BDO and Winmau enough for their help in making one of our dreams become a reality and for giving us the chance to showcase the talents of the many wheelchair players around the world.”
Ian Flack, Sales and Marketing Director of Winmau, added: “The visibility of disabled darts has increased dramatically in the past few years, and the WDDA are largely to thank for this. We have been fortunate enough to work with Russ and his team, and Mike Skuse (founder of the Winmau Wheelchair Darts Association in the UK) as well as fostering links to the charity WheelPower who work tirelessly to help those with disabilities. Darts is a sport than can be enjoyed by all ages and abilities and we are proud to be able to offer wheelchair players the chance to take part in the oldest major tournament in the world”.
We are relying on the support of those wheelchair players in the UK and around the world to make this first demonstration event a success. If you would like to take part, please email your name and address to info@winmau.com and indicate your preference with regard to playing at the 137cm height or standard height (173cm).
For further information with regard to the WDDA, please visit their website http://www.world-disability-darts.org/ or email allbrothers@bigpond.com You can also follow the WDDA on Facebook or Twitter (@wildfire137)
