Frenchman Thibault Tricole eyeing bumper world darts clash with Luke Humphries

MALGUENAC – History-making Frenchman Thibault Tricole, the only darts player from his country to play at the PDC World Championship, has his eyes set on a possible dream second-round tie against reigning champion Luke Humphries when the 2025 edition gets under way later in December.

The sport has not taken off in France in the same way it has in much of Europe.

The world championship attracts millions of TV viewers in Britain, the Netherlands and Germany every year and the emergence of teenage star Luke Littler has won over many new fans, but it is rarely shown on French TV.

But Tricole – the second Frenchman to win a PDC Tour card – broke new ground by qualifying for the 2023-24 edition of darts’ blue-riband event, where he lost 3-0 to 2018 champion Rob Cross in the second round.

The 35-year-old will be a strong favourite when he takes on Australian qualifier Joe Comito in the first match of the tournament on Dec 15, with a clash against Humphries awaiting the winner that evening.

“I’m going to focus on the first (round) but I have to win to have this chance,” Tricole told AFP, of his hopes of facing world No. 1 Humphries at Alexandra Palace in London, where 3,500 enthusiastic spectators attend every session.

“At every tournament, you feel a huge fervour, but at the world championship, as it’s during the holiday season, I have the impression that each spectator experiences the event 200 per cent.

“All passionate and slightly competitive players dream of participating in this ultimate event.”

Tricole has gone from strength to strength since his world championship appearance 12 months ago after winning his place on the PDC Pro Tour in January at qualifying school, following several previous failed attempts.

He is No. 79 on the two-year ranking system after an excellent debut year, including a standout victory over 2021 world champion Gerwyn Price at the Players Championship Finals in November.

He appears poised to reach at least the top 64 by the end of 2025 and establish his place at the top of professional darts.

His compatriot Jacques Labre was the first Frenchman to win a Tour card in 2023, but he has struggled for match wins and will have to go back to Q-school in January if he wants to return to the circuit.

It has been a long road for Tricole, who first picked up a dart at the age of 12, before starting to take his prospects more seriously when his studies to become a landscape architect took him to Belgium for three years.

“You certainly don’t hear a child say, ‘I’m going to play darts’,” he said of growing up in France.

Facing players in Belgium who are much stronger than what he could find in France helped Tricole improve and his partner Marie convinced him to try to turn pro.

“I had two or three really difficult years,” he said of playing darts in a country where it “didn’t reach any media and there are very few potential sponsors”.

The French Darts Federation has only 2,000 members.

Tricole has earned £42,250 (S$72,000) in his rookie year and is guaranteed another £7,500 for reaching the world championship, which would rise to £15,000 if he wins his opening match. The world champion will take home £500,000.

Tricole says it remains difficult to persuade people back home that darts is a viable career.

“For 15 years, people would tell me, ‘Oh yeah, you play in bars, you drink beers’ ... However, when I talk to high-level athletes, we have the same language,” he said. “Even if I don’t make the same efforts in (physical) training as them, mentally, it’s clear that we’re on the same wavelength.”

But “The French Touch”, who jokes that he would probably be nicknamed “Frog Legs” if it were up to British fans, may steal some headlines in France if he can down Humphries, widely expected to challenge to retain his title. AFP