Luke Humphries hopes for plethora of nine-dart finishes at World Championship
Title sponsors Paddy Power have pledged a £180,000 bonus for a perfect leg of darts.
World champion Luke Humphries is hoping for a plethora of nine-dart finishes at the World Championship in order to raise as much money as possible for Prostate Cancer UK.
Title sponsors Paddy Power has pledged to donate £1,000 to Prostate Cancer UK for every 180 hit as part of its BIGGER 180 campaign during the Alexandra Palace tournament, which starts on Sunday, as well as a £180,000 bonus for a perfect leg of darts.
The bonus will be split three ways, with £60,000 going to the charity, £60,000 to the player and £60,000 to a fan in Ally Pally.
Humphries has more reason than most to want to see as many nine-darters as possible after his fiancee’s dad Peter Jones was diagnosed with prostate cancer last year.
“It’s a cause that is massively close to my heart, my father in law went through it,” Humphries told the PA news agency.
“It is something that for me is important we raise awareness for, last year we raised a million.
“The new incentive this year for the nine-darter where is there £180,000 being donated, £60,000 to the player, £60,000 to Prostate Cancer UK and £60,000 to a fan.
“It’s amazing, there is no limit on that so hopefully we can see an array of nine-darters, it would be amazing for everyone.
“He was diagnosed early enough to get it manageable. That is why it is very important to keep raising money on his behalf because it is always nice when you get over these things as a family and you can raise awareness for other people.
“It takes 30 seconds of your life to check whether you’re at risk. It can save someone’s life so that’s why you should do it.”
Jones is relieved the cancer was detected at an early stage and has urged people to get tested.
He said: “I’m fine now. But I was so lucky my cancer was detected after a routine blood test. It’s low grade and low volume.
“Being told you have cancer sends your mind into overdrive. You have thoughts like ‘am I going to die? What do I tell the kids? The fence needs painting before I die. Silly stuff.
“I left my wife Elaine to tell the kids and family as I didn’t know what to say, really. Thankfully, I may never need treatment, so it proves that this disease is not the end of the world if caught early.”
:: The BIGGER 180 campaign aims to inspire at least 180,000 men to take the charity’s lifesaving risk checker at www.prostatecanceruk.org/darts-risk.
