For any budding amateur darts player, the PDC Challenge Tour can be an extremely tough battleground. I’d go as far as to say it can be like facing a samurai sword-wielding Chuck Norris charging at you on horseback when you’re armed with just a toothpick.
But then to be called up to the Pro Tour and face the world’s elite can be as terrifying for some as going up against the aforementioned martial arts legend riding a dragon, without the benefit of a defence in the shape of a small piece of plastic specifically designed to remove food particles from between the teeth.
However, for a select few this year, not only have they tamed the mythical beast, they’ve unseated Chuck and kicked the crap out of him. All metaphorically speaking, of course.
A few this season deserve special recognition. And here are those I am paying homage to, who more than deserve their place mixing it up with the elite.
JOE HUNT
Native to the Isle of Wight – not to be confused with the island in the Irish Sea which depicts three amputated legs on its flag. This is the one off the south coast of England and, amongst other things, is famous for a massive annual music festival and for being home for years to Jeremy Irons – you know, the bad-ass brother in Die Hard with a Vengeance who seeks revenge on Bruce Willis for chucking his sibling out of a Japanese skyscraper. Yeah, I’d feel the same if he did that to Our Kid too.
Not only has Joe been given a taste of the big time this year due to his fantastic start on the Challenge Tour, where he proudly sits top of the table, but given the fact there’s always at least one Tour Card holder who can’t be arsed with a Players Championship double-header, Hunt has been an ever-present. And an extremely successful one at that too, reaching the quarter-finals on no fewer than three occasions. In fact, he’s made enough money on that alone this season to buy his own ferry for the crossings.
DEREK COULSON
The Welshman is making his big break at the time most players are winding down their tungsten careers and thinking about a life of gardening, crown green bowls and, dare I say it, the odd trip to Mecca Bingo. But not Del Boy. God No! He’s loving life on the circuit. By this point in his darting life, Barney had retired more times we can remember.
Another who made a great start to this season’s Challenge Tour, meaning call-ups galore. Aside from the curtain-raiser in Hildesheim, which most professionals avoid like a Sunday afternoon visit to the mother-in-law, Coulson has missed only two events – and, in fairness, he would have been eligible had he not been committed to the MODUS Super Series that week.
At 57 years of age, Derek is one of the eldest regulars on the tour. Without checking every single year of birth, probably the oldest now Steve Beaton has decided to put himself out to pasture. When the Welsh slinger is in Milton Keynes, even some of the 42,256 roundabouts are younger than him. And with a winning ratio of over 50%, he is more than holding his own. Growing those marrows and tomatoes will just have to wait a little longer.
MARTIJN DRAGT
There are plenty of other Challenge Tour dudes who have done great when availing themselves of opportunities this year. However, I’m going with the Dutchman as my third mention. Fun fact: Martijn is the Dutch variation of Martin – they’ve just thrown a J in there to make it worth more points in Scrabble, without probably realising names don’t count. But don’t be misled by the additional consonant – this lad is very good.
According to Darts Orakel, he has an FDI rating of 1669. Now I have absolutely no idea what that means – for all I know, it might not be great. But others will, and by merely mentioning it, it takes up a few lines. Dragt has just turned 38 and is a Gemini which, to most people, is about as crucial a piece of information as his FDI rating or his choice of sandwich filling.
Hailing from Dedemsvaart in the Netherlands, whose residents apparently are big into their canal shipping, he has held a Tour Card before but lost it at the back end of 2025 after his rewarded two years were up. It looks like he’s going about regaining it the right way – probably planning on avoiding the arduous trek to Q-School, which makes facing Chuck Norris seem as deadly as being tickled by Florence Nightingale.
And for these few lads – as well as many others – they are in a fantastic position.
Riding high on the Challenge Tour and picking up money there, then availing themselves of the call-ups which inevitably arrive ahead of a Pro Tour, it leaves the door still wide open to have a crack at the MODUS Super Series, the ADC tournaments – hell, during the week they can even VAULT themselves to death if they fancy going all out for cash.
Truth be told, they’re probably in the best darting boat possible unless you’re in the one carrying the world’s top sixteen.
