Danny Baggish Did Something No American Darts Player Has Done In Over A Decade

The PDC World Darts Championship is not a major event in the United States, although there are more and more folks each year that have learned to enjoy the pageantry and spectacle of The Darts. That is due to, in large part, the general lack of American talent at the highest level of darting competition.

Entering Tuesday morning’s action at the Alexandra Palace in London, no American had won a game past the preliminary round of the tournament since Darrin Young in 2010, marking a decade-long spell of general darts malaise. Enter Danny Baggish, the top American darts player who, yes, his name sounds like he should be Scottish or something, but I assure you he is full-blooded American, just ask the giant Chicago Bulls and San Francisco 49ers tattoos on his throwing arm.

Baggish stunned Damon Heta of Australia in the first round and came into Tuesday looking to break that spell against the No. 21 player in the tournament and a two-time world champion, Adrian Lewis. The end result was darting delight for the American, who rolled past Jackpot in a 3-1 win to become the first American to advance to the Round of 32 in over a decade. Baggish punished loose darts from Lewis early, who missed his first 11 attempts at doubles, rolling to a 2-0 set advantage in the first to three showdown.

Lewis would win the fourth set thanks to a sensational 127 checkout and then took the first two legs of the fourth, indicating the American’s dream run might be coming to an end.

However, Baggish saved his best work for last, dialing up the first Big Fish of the tournament, taking out 170 — the highest point total you can checkout on in darts — for his first leg of the fourth set.

He then got a needed break of throw on a 91 checkout, taking advantage once again of poor finishing from Lewis, before cruising to a low-pressure win in the final leg to stun the former world champion.

The atmosphere at the Ally Pally is far from what it normally is in the fanless world of 2020, but Baggish’s upset is massive for American darts and, while a second round win isn’t going to make the country darts crazy, if he can pluck off another win or two it might at least pique the interest of American sports fans who grew accustomed to midday sports during the pandemic and could flip over to DAZN for the darts for that fix now.