Ricardo 'Pikachu' Pietreczko on strange nickname: "Never actually had anything to do with Pokémon"

Ricardo Pietreczko caused a sensation at the German Darts Championship last weekend. The 28-year-old German defeated Peter Wright 8-4 in the final.

As befits every good darter, Pietreczko also has a nickname, in his case it is "Pikachu," a character from Pokémon. "But I've never had anything to do with Pokémon," Pietreczko told Het Laatste Nieuws.

"The name came about because of a slip of the tongue. When a player called out to me during a tournament, someone mistook my last name for Pikachu. It caught on immediately."

Pietreczko, who captured his PDC Tour Card in 2022, has moved up to 53rd in the world rankings thanks to this final victory and also appears to have secured his Tour Card.