INTERVIEW - Haupai Puha ahead of representing New Zealand at World Cup Of Darts for the first time: ‘I think we are definitely a threat’

Haupai Puha will represent New Zealand at the World Cup Of Darts for the first time as he teams with a familiar face in Cody Harris.

Puha has been in superb form though as of late and currently sits as the DPNZ Number One. He previously impressed in the World Series last year and could prove to be a shrewd addition to the team.
He spoke to DartsNews.com ahead of his debut and admitted it is a dream come true to represent his country.
‘To be able to represent my family and my country is an honor and a dream come true I set big goals when I started 3 years ago and this was one of them,’ said Puha to DartsNews.com.
On whether this new pairing is a threat, ‘Hopes’ said that both have been putting the hours in so he believes they will be.
‘Cody plays well all the time and I have prepared well and done alot of practice and I think I'm as ready as I ever will be. So yeah I think we are definitely a threat.’
They will take on Lithuania in the opening round and he said that they were lucky to not draw a seed but that like them they are the top two players from their respective country.
‘We did get lucky by not drawing a seed but we are playing 2 top players from another country who also feel they got lucky aswell. All we can do is play our game and hopefully all the hard work pays off.’
Puha like alluded to made his World Series debut last year and for him this experience helped him a lot in his development up to now.
‘You can’t buy experience so it definitely helped. More so being able to warm up and practice with the pros.
‘Just to see them missing was an eye opener, you know when you see them on TV doing what they do you expect them to almost throw perfect darts while practicing so yeah definitely helped me a lot.’
Finally players like Cody Harris have moved over to the UK to chase their dream and for him, if all goes to plan this year he will be giving Q-School a go.
‘I play darts with goals and one of which is getting my tour card so yes at the end of this year if everything goes to plan I will give Q School a go.’