Fans at the opening night of the World Darts Championship

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It’s 8pm on the opening night of the World Darts Championship and Michael van Gerwen is sinking a pint to raucous roars at Alexandra Palace. It’s not the Michael van Gerwen, admittedly, although from a distance there is the same pink bald head, the same iconic lime green shirt, and if you discount the slightly smaller, rather rounder frame it makes for a convincing double. Van Gerwen, the three-time world champion and last year’s beaten finalist, does not play here until Tuesday but as the man wearing his costume finishes his beer and the room erupts to chants of “Oooooh, Michael van Gerwen!”, the party at Ally Pally is underway. It is utter carnage already.

Later, Michael Smith, the World No 1 and conqueror of Van Gerwen in last year’s final, will take to the stage at the front of the packed hall and begin his title defence. Smith is returning to Ally Pally for the first time since his victory over Van Gerwen, a match that changed his life and produced the greatest leg of darts the sport has ever seen. Smith’s historic nine-darter in the World Championship final, which came just seconds after Van Gerwen had his own shot at immortality, became the leg that was heard around the world: Wayne Mardle’s iconic commentary – “I CAN’T SPAKE, I CAN’T SPAKE” – helped create the sport’s first genuinely global viral moment, racking up over 30m views on social media.

It transcended darts, sparking a new wave of fascination with a sport that, on one hand, is so simple and recognisable yet, on the other, produces such electricity, generating rowdy crowds, frenetic atmospheres, and gripping moments of tension that are celebrated with the most euphoric release. No other game can be met with such unbridled scenes or uncontrollable limbs. Of course, the darts boom and a sport’s journey from the back rooms of pubs to the big stage of Ally Pally is hardly a secret, but every time a solar eclipse occurs, in a moment like Smith’s nine-darter, it brings a new audience behind this strange curtain: welcome to the party.

The opening night of the World Darts Championship at Ally Pally

And so, on the opening Friday night of the 2024 World Darts Championship, here I am in the biggest pub in London, squinting through a colourful, throbbing sea of fancy dress and a blurry haze of pints to soak in a scene that has become such an integral part of the festive season. There is darts happening at the front but along the long tables and benches facing the stage and in the surrounding stands, there are not many who are watching. Instead, the crowd sways beneath a rumbling hum of shouted pub chat, milling around and repetitive chants of “boring, boring tables”.

Michael Smith, the defending champion, began his title defence on Friday night

It’s all very England away, except on a stag-do to Prague, and on Halloween. A gang of Teletubbies encounters another along a narrow aisle and its ringleader, the purple one, calls his opposite number a “c***”. Around the room, the reds of lobsters and Chelsea pensioners mixes into the oranges of traffic cones and fades a cast of Ali Gs and their yellow jumpsuits. As Yoda hobbles back into the room and along tables double the length of lorries – every inch covered with cups and empty pitchers – a paper mask of Harry Kane with eerie, empty eyes looks down at his pint forlornly, as if his lederhosen is too tight around the waist.

On stage, and on the very spot where Smith made history, Scotland’s Cameron Menzies is loving every moment. While ‘Bully Boy’ picked up a winner’s cheque of £500,000 after winning last year’s final, Menzies is an example that, in darts, even the World Championship remains amateur at heart. He’s just had his own viral moment, posting on social media earlier that afternoon that he was out on a job and was fixing up a sink after only being allowed a half-day off work. “Plumbing at 11 darts at 8,” the World No 63 said. Now just past 9pm, Menzies is dancing through the room and up to oche to the Rangers anthem ‘I’m Feeling it’. Powered on, Menzies sweeps into the second round, where he exits to 2010 runner-up Dave Chisnall the following night.

Scotland’s Cameron Menzies won his first-round match at Ally Pally

During the break in between matches there are karaoke classics like ‘Karma Chameleon’, then darts classics like ‘Stand Up If You Love the Darts’, in which people stand up and declare they do, indeed, love the darts. The room sways as if distracted by the latest song, dictated by its own rhythm. Among it, Smith is suddenly there as he prepares to walk-on and begin his title defence. Standing above it all, particularly here at Ally Pally, he resembles a king amongst his men, although a slightly hesitant one given the champion arrives following a series of early defeats in recent competitions.

Now, the prospect of becoming the first defending champion to lose a first-round match since 2009 hangs heavy in the air. Smith bumps the fists of his team as he makes his way onto the stage before shaking hands with his opponent, the World No 66 Kevin Doets. While Smith has the look of a man born to play darts, with a gentle demeanour Doets appears to have slipped out of the back of his office at 4pm to make it on time. The Dutchman is barely acknowledged by the crowd as he takes his place.

But soon, as Doets leads Smith by two sets to one in best of five, Ally Pally is hanging onto every throw. The beauty of Smith’s nine-darter and of darts itself is the fine margins, and although Doets has thrown wonderfully, he is about to pay the price. Smith wakes up as he’s left with a 142 checkout in the decider. The crowd immediately clicks into action. Suddenly there is the rush of the bullets: thud, yes! thud, yes! thud – and a final “whoooaar” as Smith clenches his fist and Doets is left to look on with a glassy stare. It’s enough to finally turn the thriller in Smith’s direction and as the crowd soon begin their walk down the hill and towards the trains back into London, it’s a piece of magic that will have them back for another year.

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