A YOUNG darts fan hit the bulls-eye after returning from a trip to the World Championships with a prized trophy of the board used in the final.
Ellis O’Donnell was thrilled to watch his hero, Phil ‘The Power’ Taylor, seal his 15th Professional Darts Corporation world championship, when he beat Australian opponent Simon Whitlock 7-3 in last Sunday’s final.
But to add gloss to the near 600-mile round trip to London, the nine-year-old admirer left the Alexandra Palace with the board used in the final.
Ellis travelled with his parents, former pub darts league player Tony, and mother Nadine, to watch the professional players’ version of the world championship.
They noticed how Taylor handed the match board to a member of the crowd as he won through earlier rounds and were poised ready as the Potteries legend neared victory in Sunday’s final.
Mr O’Donnell said: “All through the final Ellis kept saying: ‘Get me the board, dad’.
“Well, that put pressure on me. But a dad’s got to do what a dad’s got to do.
“When we could see he was about to win we squeezed our way down towards the front near the stage and I had Ellis on my shoulders.
“I think Taylor winked at Ellis and put the thumbs up at him, and when it came to handing the board out, one of the security people passed it over to Ellis.
“Well, it just made his trip.
He was just buzzing.”
Mr O’Donnell said he plans to mount the board with pictures of Taylor with the world trophy, alongside Ellis’ final ticket and the board.
Meanwhile, the aspiring ‘Power’ has benefited from the recent cold snap in the days since returning to the family home in County Durham.
The enforced closure of Ellis’ school, Our Lady of the Rosary RC Primary, in Peterlee, has enabled him to recreate the world championship on his own board in his bedroom.
As father Tony pointed out, the check-out calculations darts players religiously remember mean it can only help his son’s maths studies, even away from school.
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