Isle of Wight darts player Joe Hunt reached the semi final of the PDC Challenge Darts Tour on Saturday (18th January), in the 4th Challenge Tour event of 2025 at Milton Keynes.
The tour sees those who miss out on a coveted Tour Card try to win themselves a spot on the PDC Tour. The top players will claim a Tour Card at the end of 2025, with PDC World Darts Championship spots also available for the top 2.
In the 1st round, Joe achieved a 5-3 win over Ian Lever. He then went on to beat Mark McGeeney 5-1 in the top 256, before overcoming Aiden Kirk 5-4 in the top 128, then defeating David Evans 5-2 in the top 64.
Joe’s winning run continued with a 5-4 victory against Danny van Trijp in the top 32, a further 5-4 win over Christian Perez in the top 16, before beating Simon Whitlock 5-4 in the quarter finals.
Unfortunately, Joe went out at the semi-final stage, narrowly beaten 4-5 by Mervyn King.
Joe lives in Ryde and works as a driver for Ryde Taxis when not playing darts and football. On Saturdays, he turns out for Harwoods Division 2 side High Park.
After his success in reaching the semi final, Joe said:
“It was a good day, and everything clicked. It’s all new to me at the minute, but I have great backing from my management and sponsors, Opus Sports Management.
“This is just the start. I travel to Germany in March in hopes of climbing the order of merit and continue on my journey.
“Thank you for all the messages I’ve received.”