David Munyua, a 35-year-old veterinarian from Kenya, has been playing darts for three years. Now he has rocked the “Ally Pally” with a crazy win.
Munyua won 3-2 on Thursday against world-class player Mike De Decker, seeded number 18, and was the first at this year’s World Championship to turn a 0-2 deficit into a win.
Munyua fought back tears after his first-round win. “This is the best moment of my life,” he said on Sport1.
Charged twice in a short space of time
The game provided several strange moments. In the third set, Munyua played a finish of 135 points and then celebrated despite having ten points left. Later he had to hit double 20, but threw to double 16 and hit that too.
“I’m glad I didn’t find out that I miscalculated,” Munyua said.
Fans sing the praises of Munyua
At Alexandra Palace, the debutant increasingly became a crowd favorite. Munyua, nicknamed “Why not”, fought impressively back from being behind and also defied a wasp that sat on his face during the game. “World class. What an afternoon session, awesome,” said German professional Florian Hempel on the DAZN microphone about the game.
The fans in London sang the “David Munyua Wonderland” based on England’s record world champion Phil Taylor. The fans had celebrated the 16-time world champion with this song for years. On Thursday Munyua was sung. His opponent De Decker received boos during the game. Every miss he made was applauded.
This is probably why the major winner played well below his potential with an average of 83 points and a checkout rate of 24 percent. Munyua had an even weaker average of 80 points, but was more successful at checkouts (33 percent).
Munyua wants to be a role model
Munyua is the first African World Cup participant in the PDC who does not come from South Africa. According to his own statement, he only started playing darts three years ago. Now he wants to inspire his compatriots.
“I want to show that there is talent running around in Africa. We have really good players who can throw hard. I want to create a good environment for them” said Munyua. “If I can do it – why can’t you?”