The NHS worker ready to make mark on World debut

David Davies only found out by word of mouth there was a qualifying event for the World Championship

When David Davies was in work two months ago he could not have imagined that only three months later he would be making his debut on darts' biggest stage.

Davies, an NHS area manager from Denbigh in north Wales, qualified for the 2026 PDC World Darts Championship through the UK & Ireland qualifying tournament at the start of November.

He has been balancing playing on the Challenge Tour - the PDC's second-tier tour for players who failed to qualify for a professional tour card - with his full-time job, having to use his annual leave to be able to play.

"Work have been really supportive, I've just had to use annual leave," said the 40-year-old.

"I have used a few unpaid weeks here and there to go to different things.

"It's just when you need annual leave for normal holiday stuff you're running thin because you've used them all for darts."

Davies' qualification for the World Championship almost came from nowhere, with the Welshman's name not being thrown around as a favourite to qualify.

"It was never on my mind at the beginning of the year, purely because I didn't have a tour card," said Davies.

"I like people to keep me under their radar as such, but I'm slowly building a reputation where my name is on people's lips.

"I didn't really know about the qualifier until another player mentioned it. I was sort of like 'yeah, why not?'. I've been playing good darts, I've won a Challenge Tour this year. I knew my game was there."

Qualifying for the premier darts event of the year, which will be held from 11 December to 3 January at London's Alexandra Palace, brings financial rewards too.

Davies is guaranteed £15,000 even if he loses in the first round of a competition that guarantees £1m to the winner.

Helpful pointers and hard practice

David Davies will be making his World Darts Championship debut

Davies started his journey in darts playing as a hobby in youth clubs and pubs. A self-admitted "late developer" in the world of darts, he was picked for his county team aged 32.

This step-up in quality of opponents encouraged Davies to work harder on his own game to compete with his new rivals.

"I just loved the game, the practising, the want to be better," said Davies.

"And then you start going to different competitions where there's better players, I'd look around the room and think, 'I want to be better than him'."

As anyone who has ever dabbled in darts at the amateur level will know, it can be a very frustrating game at times, with big scores often followed by missing the board completely.

Consistency is often what separates the very good from the very best on the oche, something Davies, who has recently started his own darts academy in Denbigh, is very aware of.

"Consistency is a massive word in darts, people's form goes up and down, where I think I've found a good, steady, solid line," he said.

"My scoring has been very good, and when tops (double 20) is flying I'm very difficult to beat. My 'A' game is very good, and I've managed to be able to back it up with a steady 'B' game."

A part of building consistency for players is creating routine, from practising in the build-up to the games, to the throw itself and even the walk-on.

Davies has worked closely with former PDC darts player and fellow Denbigh native Matthew Edgar, and former PDC World Cup finalist Mark Webster to work on his routines on and off the oche.

"It's all down to practise," Davies said. "Matt Edgar saw me playing at Modus and said on commentary that my practise regime was wrong. I'd never spoken to him before and he could tell.

"We got chatting and he tweaked my practice and gave me a few pointers. That conversation I had with him, and practising with Mark Webster and just picking up little things from him, has really helped.

"I'm still learning the game, I haven't conquered it, I'm still far away from that."

Even away from the board, Davies has his own routines as well.

"In my first ever county game I walked out to Crazy Train by Ozzy Osbourne, and I lost that game. It wasn't me, I blamed the song," he joked.

"That was eight years ago and only for one game. Ever since then I've used Cigarettes and Alcohol by Oasis.

"I'm sticking with that song for ever now and fingers crossed we can blast that around the Ally Pally a few times this winter."

Davies will be joining the World Championship in the opening round, before the seeded players enter in round two. He will find out his first-round opponent on 24 November.