This article was originally published in the July 2019 edition of the Darts Planet TV magazine..
In a small city just 100 miles north of Russia’s capital of Moscow, a darting legend was born. Anastasia Dobromyslova grew up in Tver – a city that has nurtured many a talent including CSKA Moscow coach, Igor Aksyonov, and Olympic gold medalist, Viktor Denisov – and noticed her talent at the age of 12 whilst beating the boys in her local youth club.
“I started playing in a youth club after school and I started to beat some of the boys and someone spotted a talent in me and told me to keep on playing,” Anastasia said, as she recalled her route to the oche.
Dobromyslova rose onto the darting scene nigh on 18 years ago at the age of 16 as she lifted the Girls’ World Masters in defeating Denmark’s Jeanet Thomassen 3-1 in the final at the Lakeside.
Dobromyslova casted her mind back to her beginnings in the sport and taking to the oche at the youth club in Tver. “There was not many players at all,” she said. “But now with me making darts more of a higher profile sport in Russia, there are lots of girls playing now especially in academies and training schools. Many play soft-tip which has attracted a lot of players.”
Six years after her triumphant Girls’ World Masters campaign, Dobromyslova made the three-and-a-half hour trip across the pond once again. This time to compete in the BDO Ladies’ World Championship. She reached the semi-finals on debut, losing out to a rampant Trina Gulliver – who had maintained a six-year winning streak in the prestigious tournament.
One-year down the line, the Russian thrower returned and lifted her maiden world title, defeating Gulliver in the final, ending her almost seven-year reign as world champion.
Gulliver met Dobromyslova once again in the 2013 world final. The Russian reigned supreme once again amid a heated final in which she was accused of ‘mind games’.
Anastasia’s husband, Tony, told Cheshire Live following the final: “There was a lot of controversy while we were down there. It took the shine off everything. We want an apology because we feel it’s tarnished her name.”
It certainly hasn’t tarnished her name. Anastasia is loved across the globe, and now sat on three world crowns, how many can she win? Who knows. I put the question to her and, she said: “That depends on how long there will be a BDO Ladies’ World Championship. There needs to be big improvements in the money or I feel the PDC may come in and create something.”
After winning back-to-back Lakeside titles Dobromyslova, decided to have a dig at the PDC circuit – which led to her becoming just the second women to appear at Alexandra Palace.
“It was a great experience and one I will never forget,” said Anastasia – who’s PDC career didn’t stop there as she went on to defeat established professional, Vincent van der Voort, in that Grand Slam of Darts clash. “I hoped ladies’ darts in the PDC would have kicked on from there, but we had to wait until this year to get the chance again which I am happy they gave us.”
It took nigh on a decade for the Russian thrower to return to the theatre of dreams. She joined her fellow three-time ladies’ world champion, Lisa Ashton, at the 2019 William Hill World Darts Championship. Her campaign didn’t quite go to plan as she exited at the first hurdle thanks to Ryan Joyce.
Anastasia said, on the decision to hand women a chance at the PDC World Championship: “I think it was a great decision, just like back in 2009. It made the BDO stand back up then and raise the prize fund for the ladies, so I hope this makes them do the same again and increase the prize money and also the playing format.”
Do the PDC need to do more for ladies darts? Possibly. A short five-weekend tour with the top two qualifying for the World Darts Championship in London sounds like a great idea, right? Russia’s Dobromyslova certainly thinks so. “I couldn’t think of anything better,” she said. “I do believe this would be well attended and every lady that wants to play darts seriously would need to attend and take the chance. It would be nice to play in a professional set up on a regular basis.”
We witnessed Lisa Ashton come close to clinching a coveted PDC tour card at Qualifying School in January. But, is a female thrower on the tour close to becoming a regular occurrence? Anastasia doesn’t think so.
She said: “Unless ladies can get the much needed financial backing, I don’t think this will ever happen. Most ladies work and have families so don’t get the chance to practice as much as the men who are top ranked players. There are some good youth players but who knows where darts will be when they [are] old enough.”
Dobromyslova has already reached finals in Slovakia, Denmark and Prestatyn this year, but Slovakia was extra special. Not only did she reign victorious, but her husband, Tony Martin, did also.
“It was a nice feeling,” she said. “I’m not sure how many times it will happen again if it ever does, we have won events playing together, but never a singles event each at the same time.”
You’d think having been around for 18 years and having won three world titles, the BDO World Trophy, World Masters and over 40 tournament across the world, Dobromyslova would be a lot older than 34 years of age, but that is not the case and she could be dominating the ladies scene for many years to come.
“I would like to be able to practice more and get my game back to how it was a few years back,” the Ellesmere Port-based ace said when asked her aims for the future. “I’m not playing my best on a tabular basis due to the lack of practice due to family commitments.
“I’m confident I will qualify for the BDO World Championship and I will give that my best shot. I’m hoping the PDC announce a ladies play-off again as I will 100% attend that again.”
