Sporting champ who needs 15 bottles of beer
Fri 16 January, 2004 03:57
By Sophie Hardach
DARTFORD (Reuters) - He never practises, drinks 15 bottles of beer before every match and finds climbing the stairs tiring but he is pre-eminent in his sport.
Like any true sportsman, newly crowned world darts champion Andy Fordham would much rather talk about his game than his lifestyle.
"Everyone asks me about my drinking, no one asks me about darts," he says perching his frame of some 130 kilograms or more on a bar stool in The Rose, the pub he runs in Dartford, east of London.
"It should be taken more seriously as a sport. Players have to cope with a lot of pressure. You're up there on that stage, everybody watching -- four million people watched the championship on TV."
Fordham's moment of glory came last Sunday when after years of trying he at last lifted the British Darts Organisation's world championship, beating compatriot Mervyn King 6-3 in the final shown live on BBC.
No matter that the week before, a separate darts organisation had produced its own world champion in another razzmatazz tournament shown on the rival Sky satellite channel.
This week belongs to the 41-year-old Fordham, a larger-than-life figure who has struggled with his weight since having to give up soccer some years ago with a back problem.
WILD CELEBRATIONS
The secret of his success? "It's about concentration and the old hand-eye-co-ordination," says Fordham, who does not practise between matches.
For him, the fascination of darts lies in the atmosphere at competitions, where hundreds of fans hold their breath while players take aim at the target, then release the tension with wild celebrations late into the night.
"You can't explain the atmosphere...people singing, arms waving about, it's madness," says Fordham as he describes the events where players with nicknames such as "Mr Glitter" and "Darth Maple" compete for points and the fans' attention.
Fordham himself started playing darts because it went naturally with his other hobby, drinking.
"I do drink quite a bit, I've always done," he says, adding that he would be too nervous to play in a sober state. He imbibes a couple of brandies and 15 bottles of lager to steady his nerves before every match.
"I'm a shy person," he says with a bashful smile that clashes with the gory tattoos on his forearm, one of the Grim Reaper, the other of a skull and his old nickname, "Bof".
His new nickname is "The Viking" because of his beard, mullet and beer belly, but Fordham looks more like a friendly bear than a conqueror as he gently steers the conversation back to his favourite topic -- darts.
"It's a happy sport. You enjoy yourself and have a bit of fun," says the champion.
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I knew there was a good reason for drinking 15 beers, where's my dart board?
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