The world is quite literally Henry Coates’ oyster after claiming a maiden PDC Players Championship title in Germany this afternoon.
And he hasn’t even got a Tour Card.
The pride of Derbyshire earned a Challenge Tour call-up and, boy, did he make the most of it. From start to finish, it was a sublime display. Then, to beat such an experienced and decorated floor-event winner as Damon Heta in the final? That’s the stuff dreams are made of.
Before we get to the showpiece and Henry’s finest hour, let’s take a look at how both he and The Heat got there.
I’ve no idea what the weather was like in Hildesheim today, but inside the former aircraft hangar – which, incidentally, is an ideal place for a darts event – Coates looked like a man on a mission.
Despite his opening four matches all being close affairs, with two going the distance, the youngster kept finding a way over the line. Poland’s Filip Bereza – who wins on the ProTour about as often as the ice cream van visits our street in January – was the first to fall.
Then came a couple of dramatic last-leg thrillers against two men with less hair than a fully shaved Chewbacca, Karel Sedláček and Mervyn King, before a blistering 104.59 average saw him dispatch fellow young Englishman Bradley Brooks.
Finally came a rather less nerve-shredding affair, as The Meat butchered former Lakeside champion Christian Kist without the Dutchman causing too many problems on the scoreboard. Just the 106-plus average there from Henry, who hoovered up legs at pretty much the rate his nickname suggests he would.
Coates then produced another polished display to see off Jeffrey de Graaf 7-3. If this had been an exam, both players would have walked away with an A-.
Prior to today, somewhat surprisingly, Heta’s best run of the season – discounting his many jogs around Welsh parks, of course – had only been a quarter-final. A little unexpected for a bloke who owns a fair few of these bad boys.
The Australian’s list of victims read: Dennie Olde Kalter, Ted Evetts, Richard Veenstra, Krzysztof Ratajski, Kevin Doets and, in the semi-finals, Niko Springer.
Exam grade for that lot? Er… B-. And that’s being generous.
But the final? Wow.
Both lads were phenomenal.
If I told you Damon Heta lost 8-4 despite averaging 106.11, there are plenty of players who would be feeling his pain right now. Gerwyn Price, from just a couple of days ago, immediately springs to mind.
The opening eight legs were nip and tuck, with the pair sharing the spoils at 4-4. Then Coates must have heard his taxi waiting outside give the horn a blast because he suddenly went full beast mode, rattling off four consecutive legs to crown what is, without question, the greatest day of his darting life.
Congratulations, young man.
Something tells me this will be the first of many.
