Peter Wachiuri pumped his fists as he sensed victory at the Jacaranda showground in the Kenyan city of Nakuru. Leading his opponent, James Kamama, in the final of the main event, Wachiuri approached the oche again, picked a dart from his left hand, leaned forward with an intense gaze on the dartboard, and threw double 10.“Game shot!” the announcer’s voice boomed across the hall. Cheers erupted in the crowd, gospel music played out of the speakers and Wachiuri launched into a celebratory on-stage dance.Match Play 2, a two-day tournament, had drawn 161 participants from around the country. “The tournament was excellent and all the players were great,” a jubilant Wachiuri said from the stage before the awards ceremony.
Peter Wachiuri and James Kamama pose for a photo after the final of the main event
After years in the doldrums, darts is enjoying a resurgence in Kenya. The groundwork was laid by darts development and marketing organisations that began to establish leagues and tournaments three years ago, professionalising the sport. As Dann Karori, a co-founder of Sirua Darts, which organised the Nakuru event, said: “We want to make Kenya the capital of darts in Africa.”The lift-off moment occurred last year when David Munyua, a veterinarian, became the first Kenyan to qualify for the sport’s showpiece event, the PDC World Darts Championship, held at Alexandra Palace in London. Not only did he qualify, Munyua went on to win his first-round match against the Belgian 18th seed, Mike De Decker, in one of the tournament’s biggest ever shocks.“There was a very big tsunami after everyone watched Munyua play,” said Manpreet Kalsi, 42, a mall general manager and the top-ranked player in the first season of the Sirua Darts Circuit (SDC) league. “[People thought] ‘these guys can do it, why can’t we?’”Walk-ons and celebrations during Nakuru Tour – loopWachiuri discovered darts at a bar in Ngong, the town where he lives, and initially played to pass the time. He fell in love with the sport when he started making enough money to feed his family by betting on his own matches.Nicknamed “Kenyan King”, he later quit his job as a lorry driver to focus on darts and he is today one of the most accomplished players in the country, his achievements opening the door for others.In 2024, the year before Munyua’s breakthrough, Wachuiri was one dart away from making it to the world championship himself, missing his target by millimetres at the African qualifiers in Nairobi.
