"100% I think it was aimed at me! But why target me? I'm just about finished" - Simon Whitlock sticks with aggressive points and laughs off rule change hoping to ban them

Simon Whitlock's darts have caused quite a stir over the last few seasons. Despite this, the 55-year-old Australian has no plans to stop using them any time soon.

Whitlock has been using darts with coarse tips for some time because they stay in the board better. However, last year it was announced that the DRA (Darts Regulation Authority) wanted to ban the use of aggressive points due to the damage they were having on the dartboards. Consequently, a rule was effectively issued early this year stating the following: 'If the tournament director believes that darts are unduly damaging the dartboard, he will prohibit the use of these darts in the event. If a player is in doubt as to whether their darts are allowed, they are advised to contact the tournament director for clarification.'

In reality however, barely anything at all has changed since this rule change came in. "It's not affected me at all. I said straight away that there's no way this rule will come in because everyone uses points with grooves and criss-cross patterns and stuff. And, pretty much every player who doesn't will rough their points up," Whitlock says in conversation with Online Darts. "I've stuck with the same thing, it's not damaging the boards and it's all cool."

"100% I think it was aimed at me! But why target me? I'm just about finished at darts now so what's the point," Whitlock laughs. "But also, Winmau boards do not fall apart like Unicorn boards which were pretty awful at the end. You'd throw three darts and you'd be pulling out stuff. The dartboards are brilliant now, and there's absolutely no damage whatsoever."