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Huntly thrower John Henderson sheds light on PDC darts shutdown

John Henderson was piped onto the stage. Picture courtesy of PDC.
John Henderson was piped onto the stage. Picture courtesy of PDC.

John Henderson believes PDC darts is well positioned to come through the coronavirus pandemic.

Like all sports, darts is currently in lockdown as a result of the Covid-19 outbreak with no date for a resumption in the pipeline, although the PDC has set up a home tour where players take each other on from their own homes.

In recent years the tour has been well supported by numerous sponsors and has attracted lucrative TV contracts.

As a result, players have been competing for millions of pounds in prize money.

Henderson hopes the rude health of the sport will mean they can continue in a similar vein once coronavirus is under control.

The Highlander said: “Many of our sponsors are bookmakers and I know this is a difficult time for them because there is no sport for people to bet on.

“But I would imagine Barry Hearn (chairman), Matt Porter (chief executive) and everyone at the PDC will have us in a good position to come back strongly from this.

Huntly darts favourite John Henderson.

“Maybe prize money might have to drop, we don’t know, we’ll wait and see how we come out of this.

“Every sport will be hurt by this virus, there’s no question. PDC darts has been in a good place for a number of years so hopefully we can pick up where we left off.

“It might take time to get back to the levels we were at but I’m sure we’ll get there.

“It’s hard for everybody sponsors, TV companies, fans, everybody involved but I’m sure we can get back to where we were.”

Henderson is holed up at home in Huntly and is continuing to practice.

However, the 46-year-old admits it is difficult to remain motivated to put in the hours of practice without knowing when competitive darts will resume.

He added: “It is hard not knowing what’s happening and that’s the worst bit of it, not knowing when we might be back.

“You can practice for 10 to 12 hours a day but you can’t practice competition darts.

“Whenever we are able to restart everyone will be in the same boat and we will all be trying to find form again.

“It can be hard to find the motivation to play when it could be September before we’re able to play tournaments again.”