How I started playing darts

 

 

 

Hello, this is Arlo!

Today I’d like to talk about my hobby.

 

I’ve always been curious, so I’ve tried my hand at a lot of things.

I’ve been playing darts for a while now.

 

In the past, I would just play darts if they were in a store while drinking.

But before I knew it, darts became my main hobby.

 

First time in a darts bar

It was around 2009 that I started to get into darts.

I found a darts bar near where I was living at the time.

 

It was a small place on the first floor of a rundown apartment building, and the atmosphere was quite uncomfortable to enter.

All you could see from the outside were two darts machines. There were no customers in the bar.

I walked around in front of the bar for a couple of days (now that I think about it, it was pretty suspicious).

It was then that I decided to go in.

 

There were still no customers that day, but if there had been, I might not have been able to enter.

 

 

 

 

Hat trick!

When I walked in, I was greeted by a tall, thin manager.

 

It was a bar, so I ordered a beer.

I wanted to try throwing, but I was embarrassed to be throwing in front of people, so I started talking to him.

 

I told him that I’ve only played darts for fun, but he seemed to be willing to teach me.

Well, I can throw darts just fine, but of course I’m not very good at it.

When I think about it now, I’m sure I was just throwing and the way I was throwing was lame (laughs).

 

But then, a miracle happened!

He taught me how to throw with the right form and power.

What a hat trick! A hat trick is three throws to the bull (center) in one round.

I knew it existed, but I thought it would only happen if I was lucky enough.

I was very satisfied.

Now I think it was this hat trick that got me hooked.

 

 

 

 

Encounter with a classmate

So after my first visit, I’ve been going to darts bars three to four times a week.

 

Apparently, on my first visit, it was early in the day, so there were no other customers.

But around 8:00 or 9:00 p.m., more and more customers started to arrive.

Some of them were the same age as me and some were younger than me, and I regretted that I should have come earlier.

 

One day, I went to a place where I had been for a few days, and I saw a familiar face.

I ran into my classmate from junior high school.

We didn’t go to the same high school, but we were good friends and worked together.

We hadn’t really kept in touch that often since I started working.

I didn’t know that he played darts at all.

 

When I talked to her, she told me that one of her seniors at work had brought her here a while ago and she had started playing.

We were at the same level, so it was a good opportunity to practice with him.

 

It’s been a great first visit, and we’ve created a great darts environment.

 

 

 

First Tournament

Three or four months after I started playing darts, I was invited by the manager to participate in my first tournament.

I participated in the Sotobo Tournament, which is held every year in Chiba.

 

It was a doubles tournament, so I was paired up with the senior player from my class.

I was paired with a senior classmate of mine, who I’ve been paired with in subsequent tournaments, and we are now good friends.

 

As for the results of the tournament, we managed to get through the preliminary rounds to the final tournament.

Unfortunately, we lost in the first round.

I still remember the scene where we lost (laughs).

 

 

 

 

 

 

After that, I started participating in leagues, or I moved to a different home store and made new friends.

Now, it’s difficult to go to a darts bar because of the Corona disaster, but I just hope that the world will return to a place where we can play while goofing off again.

 

I don’t have anything interesting to say about the rest of the story, but I’ll write about it again when I feel like it (laughs).

 

So long~!

Translated with www.DeepL.com/Translator (free version)