DAMON Heta partied hard when he shocked the darting world to win the Brisbane Darts Masters as a qualifier in 2019.
Heta checked out on 32 on his 32nd birthday to defeat 2018 World Champion Rob Cross 8-7 and on a night to remember stayed up until 4am celebrating his breakthrough victory.
But that was, by all accounts, the last night on the tiles for the former roofer from Perth, who dedicated his life to the Professional Darts Corporation’s Qualifying School and securing a place on the PDC Tour.
The win over Cross was just part of Heta’s journey to where he wanted to be.
“I don’t think I will forget it,” he said of his remarkable success in Brisbane.
“It was totally unexpected because it was all about just getting the first-round win and that was just a massive thing in itself.”
Fellow Australians Corey Cadby and Kyle Anderson had both made the final in the World Series in 2017, with Anderson winning in Auckland.
Heta was aiming to follow in the footsteps of his great mate but was as in much shock as the watching crowd in Queensland on that famous weekend.
“I just took every game as it came and somehow just got over the line,” he remembered.
“I had my family and friends there. I don’t think I went to bed until about 4am.
“It was my 32nd birthday and I hit 32 to win.
“You couldn’t write it.”
Heta’s success in Brisbane was a far cry from his World Series debut in the Sydney Darts Masters in 2014 when he lost 6-0 to Dave Chisnall.
He also had close losses in subsequent World Series events to Michael van Gerwen and Gary Anderson (twice) Down Under and beat close friend Anderson 6-5 at the 2018 Melbourne Darts Masters.
The success in Brisbane came out of the blue but was on the back of another breakthrough win at the Australian Open the week before.
“I was numb,” Heta said.
“I just ran with it. There was no pressure on me really because I was always the underdog.
“I just wanted to show the world what I can do and it just all happened for me.”
While he had lost to Anderson and van Gerwen, Heta knew he had played well and those tight defeats inspired him to do better as he went through Q-School.
“I aimed to give it a fair crack,” Heta said.
“If everything failed, I had a life still to come back to.
“It was that year and a half of planning that got me to the tour.”
Moving to Europe and the PDC Tour was a bit of a culture shock for Heta at first but now after two years on the tour, his hard work has paid off.
He sits at No.20 on the PDC world rankings and is No.9 on the PDC Order of Merit.
Heta is happy with how his first two years on the tour have gone but will not be resting on his laurels.
“I feel I have grown as a dart player and I have just had this steady rise,” he said.
“That’s fine. Sometimes you have to walk before you can run. I think I have done well. Look at Gerwyn Price, it took him seven years to be a world champion and if I could do the same in that amount of time then I would take that any day of the week.
“I have my goals. My biggest is staying in the top 16 on the pro tour order of merit.
“If you stay in the top 16 then you are guaranteed a spot in all the majors.”
The World Series was supposed to roll into Townsville and Wollongong in 2020 and 2021 but both tournaments had to be cancelled because of the global pandemic.
Heta will fly the Australian flag alongside two other British-based Aussies – Simon Whitlock and Gordon Mathers – in Townsville for the PalmerBet Queensland Darts Masters from August 12-13 and the PalmerBet New South Wales Darts Masters a week later in Wollongong.
The trio will line up alongside four qualifiers from Australia and one from New Zealand to take on eight PDC stars, including world champion Peter Wright, world number two Gerwyn Price and world number four Michael Smith, who defeated Michael van Gerwen to win the US Darts Masters in New York on a weekend of brilliant darts.
While Heta is looking forward to playing in Queensland and New South Wales, it is the prospect of seeing family and friends for the first time in more than two years that is inspiring him to play well again on home soil.
“That’s gonna be all the boost I need,” he added.
“Hopefully I can bring my darts along too and we can give it a good crack.”
This year’s World Series will be the first time Heta has played in Australia since the passing of his best mate and fellow darts star Anderson, who died on August 24, 2021, at the age of 33.
The pair had grown up together playing darts as juniors in Perth and Heta still keeps a picture of his lifelong mate in his practice room.
Heta changed his walk-on music for a couple of tournaments shortly after Anderson’s death and was thinking of doing that again, but said his old mate won’t be far from his thoughts.
“I am not too sure how I am going to go,” he said.
“Everywhere we went in the world, he just knew everyone or he just hugged everyone.
“He really made my darting journey so easy for me.
“I am just so grateful to him and he probably didn’t even realise what he did for me and all the other darts players in Australia.”
Tickets for both events are on sale at https://premier.ticketek.com.au/shows/show.aspx?sh=TOWNDART20 and https://www.ticketmaster.com.au/search?q=darts.
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