This article was originally published in the April 2019 edition of Darts Planet TV’s magazine.
What were you doing at 16 years of age? Maybe preparing for exams or staying at house parties until the earlier hours of the morning. But, things were very different at that age for Southam’s Ted Evetts as he embarked on a career as a professional darts player.
Evetts made in his PDC debut on the Development Tour in 2014 – a tour that he didn’t hit the ground running on to at the least. It took ‘Super Ted’ three years to finally join the youth tour winner’s circle, but it was worth the wait in a year that also saw the 21-year-old qualify for the World Darts Championship.
Things begun for Ted at just seven-years-old, as he clapped eyes on the dartboard for the first time. “I got my first board and darts at around seven or eight but hardly ever used it,” Evetts said. “But, I got into it properly at 14, starting in the local pub league.”
Evetts’ first taste of success came into qualifying for the World Masters in 2015; he was defeated in the last 80 of the event, but to qualify for such a prestigious tournament at such a young age will live long in the memory of the now five-time Development Tour winner.
“I didn’t really think too much of qualifying for the World Masters really as I didn’t know too much about what I’d done,” said ‘Super Ted’. “I just enjoyed turning up at events and playing but happened to qualify and didn’t play too badly in the event.”
Evetts now has five years of Development Tour play under his belt and could potentially undergo another three years of action with the age limit for the youth tour currently issued as 24.
“The Development Tour has been huge for me,” stated the 21-year-old. “When I first started on it I was around a 70 average player but playing better players and with steady progress I found myself on my second stint on the ProTour.
“They definitely have been good to me, helping me qualify for the PDC World Championships and earning my tour card back and not having to go to Q School.”
The World Youth Championship will also be something that Evetts will be looking to add to his glowing career. He was a semi-finalist at the tournament last year, with Dimitri van den Bergh being crowned champion for a second successive year, but will be hoping to go one better this year. And, he will certainly be one of the favourites alongside former champions, Corey Cadby and Max Hopp.
Back to the subject of the Development Tour, and a lot of criticism has been thrown at the PDC with four events being held in a weekend, with some claiming it is simply too demanding to hold two events in one day with a elongated field for 2019.
“Personally, I enjoy two events in one day,” Evetts added. “Most of my Development Tour wins have been in the second event of a Sunday afternoon.
“Also, I like that you can put right what you’ve done in the morning if losing, it doesn’t mean you have long to dwell on a loss in the first event as you have to prep again for the second.”
PDC commentator, Dan Dawson, alluded to Evetts rushing his second and third dart last year on the ProTour. If wasn’t a major problem with the Southam-based throwers’ approach, however Evetts has ironed out the slight issue and reaped the rewards.
“I have been slowing my second and third dart down and have been finding myself more consistent and crucial as of late,” Evetts said. “If I’m really in the zone then I can speed back up and have still some awesome scoring power at times.”
Evetts has not only came out victorious twice on the Development Tour since eradicating the problems in his game, but he’s also hit two nine-darters on the circuit, with only Michael van Gerwen having hit perfection more times than ‘Super Ted’.
“The two nine-darters have been at crucial times in matches so it makes them even better,” Evetts stated.
Nine-darters are being thrown more and more on the ProTour, but Evetts doesn’t believe there is a horse race between the players as to who can hit the most. “I wouldn’t say there’s competition between players for numbers of nines hit, it’s more about asking which way you’ve gone, as there has been some ridiculous ways so far!”
As previously mentioned, 2019 will be mammoth year for ‘Super Ted’. He will lay eyes on the World Youth Championship following his run to the semi-finals in November, as well as a full year on the Development Tour and ProTour after winning his tour card at the backend of last year.
However, his aims stand simple: “My aims for the next 12 months are just to keep improving and pushing myself, and to qualify for as many events as possible!”
