Remember the name Jonny Tata (Ngati Maniapoto, Te Āti Awa). He’s been dubbed a giantkiller and is well on his way to becoming a professional darts player – a world away from his day job as a truckie in Petone, Wellington.
Last week at the NZ Darts Masters in Hamilton he stunned the darts world by beating world No 2 Peter “Snakebite” Wright in pool play and was only two throws off beating eventual winner Rob Cross in the quarterfinal.
“I went on stage hoping for a good game. Whatever happens, happens. I was happy to hit a 180 on stage, and take a leg off him [Wright] I was happy, but I ended up hitting the 180 [perfect score] and taking the game,” he said.
“[Wright] was such a good guy. I was shocked myself. I shook his hand and I went to start putting the darts back, and he tapped me on the shoulder and said ‘turn around mate, this is all your crowd, give them a wave’.”
It would have been “quite a thrill” to have beaten Cross, but he said it was a “thrill” just to be there, particularly in front of thousands of fans.
“With the crowd behind you ... it was something crazy,” Tata said.
“[Against Rob Cross] the whole arena was on my side. They were roaring my name out as loud as can be. It was intense! It does put pressure on you, but it’s an awesome feeling.”
Even famed darts referee Russ Bray – whose call of “180″ is iconic within the sport – was impressed.
“As soon as we’d finished the game backstage he came up to me, shook my hand and said I’ve got a great future. To hear him say that to me was a thrill.”
Tata’s success reignited a love and passion for darts, and he’s off to Australia on Tuesday and London in December, the latter for a $100,000 tournament.
He’s even considering whether a professional career might be possible, and if so he’ll have to stay on in the UK to play in qualifiers. If he is to make it through, he would receive a professional “card” for two years.
But all of this nearly didn’t happen. The 30-year-old from Wainuiomata has darts in his blood. His dad Ra was a national champion, so Tata followed in his footsteps first picking up the darts at age nine. He went on to win several national youth titles but at 17, because he wanted to “have all the fun experiences as a teenager”, and with rep games on Saturday mornings, he gave it up.
“As a little kid watching him, obviously that’s what I wanted to do,” he said.
“He always said ‘have fun’. I’m definitely having fun. I enjoy the game of darts … it’s the fact my dad was into it, and now my son [Leo, 7] watches me play, and now he’s got a set of darts.
“It’s showing your son what the opportunities are, if he wanted to do something like this then there are opportunities.”
But then Covid happened, and with plenty of time at home, out came the dart board once more, set up on his back deck. He tries to get in a few hours in a day of practice.
His road to last weekend’s competition started only a month ago, with a qualifying tournament in Christchurch. Only two spots were available, and he squeaked through on the last day.
“It was all quite lucky I suppose. I thought I might as well fly down and give it a crack, and give myself a month to prepare for the big tournament,” he said.
Travelling the world with darts is a far cry from his day job driving trucks for Gilmores in Petone. He’s been nervous asking for time off, but they’ve been incredibly supportive and are “right behind” him as he prepares to slay more giants on the world stage.