"I got accused of cheating because I was stepping over the oche" - Dartitis and cheating accusations overcome as Chris Wickenden moves up the darting ranks

Christopher Wickenden has enjoyed a lot of success in recent times on the Challenge Tour, winning a title and sitting high in the rankings with ventures on the ProTour becoming more common. His goal of getting a Tour Card is the closest it has ever been in as he looks to break into the elite.

Also known as Pugs, the 38-year-old explained the reasoning behind that nickname. “Pugs comes from when I was younger at school," he told Bang on Target. "I was about 10 and had a shaved head with a blonde fringe. One of the older lads said I looked like Pugsley off The Addams Family, and it’s stuck ever since.”

Wickenden has been competing in the sport since 2013, desperate to get his hands on an illustrious Tour Card. This for the time being has evaded his grasp, but not for the want of trying. While he has yet to achieved this, there was a big gap in time where he stepped away from the oche with dartitis.

“I stopped playing due to dartitis," he explained. "At the time, I was playing some good stuff and picking up a few local titles when, bang, the dreaded D-word hit. I carried on trying to play through it for a while, which was very frustrating."

One fateful game saw him move away from darts into a variety of other sports. "Then, during one local league game, I got accused of cheating because I was stepping over the oche, and all hell broke loose. After that, I decided to put the arrows down and took up golf, fishing and whatever else I could sink my teeth into.”

Eight years later, he got back into the sport with his mates. While the prior problems that saw him leave the sport for good were still lurking, he was enjoying himself once more.

“To be honest, darting-wise I wasn’t great back then – just a half-decent pub player trying to break into the county team. Eight years later, some of my old teammates got a side together and asked me to play again, so I picked the darts back up. I played all season and the dartitis was still there. I lost all my games but enjoyed the craic with the lads and turned up every week.”

Eventually, he managed to get back on the winning side. “Come the end of that season, it was the individual singles competition and I drew a teammate, Mick Hall, a lovely old chap who’d been around the local darts scene forever. Again, my dartitis was bad, but somehow I managed to win the game.”

Thanks to being currently seventh on the Challenge Tour Order of Merit, Wickenden is having the chance to compete in Players Championship tournaments with the best players in the world. He has managed to make that step up in quality, proven on the Challenge Tour which is a notoriously tricky place to make a name for yourself.

A lot of experience and has been welcomed with open arms with him relishing the opportunities he is getting. Sitting 141st on the Players Championship Order of Merit, only eight players sit below him in the rankings. He has won two matches coming in the first round of PC18 and PC 19, but has failed to win any matches in the other six events he has featured in. One of these wins was a 6-2 triumph over world number three Gian van Veen, a huge confidence booster.

“The step up has been great," he admitted. "I’ve known what I’m capable of for a while and have always felt I underachieved. I just never really put my game together when it mattered most in the bigger events, or I’d play fantastic and still get beaten."

He has the capabilities to produce some good darts, proven in the past albeit with some bad luck. “I’m pretty sure I went through ten Challenge Tour events in a row averaging 90 and losing in the first round a couple of years back. But it feels good to be playing at the top level and giving it a go to see how my game measures up against the best in the world. I don’t feel I’ve fully settled into it just yet, but I’m loving every minute of it.”

He is loving playing and competing, hopeful of making it his full time job. “Of course, that’s the ultimate goal – to be there full-time. It would be great to make darts my living, and that’s the dream and what I’ll work towards. At the minute, I’m in that unique situation that not many people are in. Being ranked higher up on the Challenge Tour gives me the ProTour invites while still allowing me to play in all the amateur events.”

As he improves, more travelling will be a factor and the expenses will go up. One of the next tasks for Wickenden is to get more sponsors. “I’m currently with Bardon Premier Management, run by Chris Pick. I’ve got a few shirt sponsors, but a few more would come in handy. I’m yet to have an equipment manufacturer on board, which would be a nice thing to get under my belt when the time is right.”