Curtis Griffiths, 27, could scoop the money at the Paddy Power World Darts Championship final at Alexandra Palace, London.
Curtis Griffiths will take the stage at the World Darts final in front of 3,000 people
A darts fan from North Wales will be given the opportunity to win £180,000 at the World Darts Championship final tonight. Curtis Griffiths, 27, an electrician from Wrexham, will throw live on stage for a once-in-a-lifetime chance to scoop the huge prize.
He was selected at random from almost 30,000 entrants to Darts of Destiny – the first-of-its-kind fundraising sporting challenge, organised by tournament sponsor Paddy Power. His big moment will come in front of thousands of people ahead of the Paddy Power World Darts Championship final at Alexandra Palace, London.
Griffiths, who picked up his first set of darts aged 12, will start the year £180,000 richer if he can hold his nerve and score at least 180 from nine darts in front of the packed-out crowd just minutes before the finalists take the stage.
There’s no need for Curtis to check-out on a double, and he can’t bust either – he just needs to score 180 or more from a maximum of nine darts.
Griffiths will enter the arena in the same style as finalists Luke Littler and Gian van Veen, announced by master of ceremonies John McDonald as he walks out stage in front of the 3,000-strong crowd.
He will also be cheered on by his friends and team mates at Gresford Colliery Sports & Social Club in Wrexham where he plays his darts.
Griffiths said: “I’ve been playing darts since I was 12, but only just got into playing competitively in the last year or so. I’m a bit nervous about the challenge but hopefully I can keep calm and get it done.” Join the North Wales Live WhatsApp community group where you can get the latest stories delivered straight to your phone
A Paddy Power spokesperson said: “Most people can only dream of hitting 180 at Ally Pally – but this year Curtis Griffiths will get the chance to actually do it and walk away £180,000 richer, all thanks to the donation he made to Prostate Cancer UK. Everyone at Paddy Power, the 3000-strong Ally Pally crowd and everyone watching on from home will be cheering him on as he steps up to the oche tomorrow night to throw his Darts of Destiny.”
The Darts of Destiny initiative alone has raised more than £123,000 for Prostate Cancer UK whilst the bookmaker’s continued pledge to donate £1,000 for every 180 hit during the Paddy Power World Darts Championship as part of The Even Bigger 180 campaign has raised over £1million so far – with this year’s total already a record for the tournament.
Paddy Power’s The Even Bigger 180 campaign follows the huge success of The Big 180 and The Bigger 180 campaigns in their first two years of sponsorship of the tournament, with the Professional Darts Corporation and Sky Sports again joining Prostate Cancer UK as partners for the hugely-successful fundraising initiative.
In addition to the £1,063,000 pledged so far following 1,063 180s in the tournament to date, Paddy Power and Prostate Cancer UK are also calling on 180,000 men to take Prostate Cancer UK’s online risk checker. During the tournament so far, more than 130,000 men have checked their risk and taken a potentially life saving step in the early detection of the disease.
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