The highly-anticipated World Darts Championship semi-final between Ryan Searle and Luke Littler saw something slightly different in the crowd, all in the name of a good cause.
Searle faced defending champion Littler in a mouth-watering contest at Alexandra Palace, but was thoroughly beaten 6-1 in sets on Friday night.
It is the furthest he has ever reached in the competition and the feat is all the more remarkable considering the eye condition that afflicts he and his family.
The darts player, nicknamed ‘Heavy Metal’ and who worked as a window cleaner before turning professional, has a rare eye condition known as Autosomal Dominant Optic Atrophy (ADOA). This means Searle is sometimes unable to see where his darts land on the board.
And in showing support of Searle and others with this condition, Paddy Power raised awareness by blurring their branding, including LEDs and their 180 cards, shown during the semi-final clash.
The initiative was to highlight how Searle and others would see this branding.
Searle has raised around £15,000 for the Cure ADOA Foundation and is hoping to bring in more going forward. Paddy Power have agreed to match that fee to charity.
Speaking about his condition, the soon-to-be world No 8 had previously told Sky Sports: ‘It was only in the last 18 months that I realised what the diagnosis was for my vision.
‘It’s been bad for as long as I can remember.
‘But to have a diagnosis for it is really good and it puts you in that place where you know what’s wrong with your vision. There’s no cure for what I’ve got so I’m stuck with it. I wear contact lenses now to try and take a bit of the blurriness away from my vision.
‘But sometimes on stage I’m asking the caller what I’ve scored and sometimes I don’t and it puts me in a bit of a difficult position!
‘If I can inspire people that maybe can’t see as well as others to pick up the game and give it a go, then it means a lot to me.’
The 38-year-old also revealed his daughter is registered as ‘visually impaired’ and explained how his vision is so bad that he may be unable to drive when he’s older.
‘It can get worse out of nowhere,’ Searle added. ‘I’m on the legal limit now to be able to drive so I wear glasses or contacts to be able to drive.
‘If my vision was to get any worse, which it could at any point, then I’d have to find a driver somewhere.’
Speaking about Searle ahead of the semi-final, Hedy Smit-Wigchers, a board member at the Cure ADOA Foundation, said: ‘We’re so proud of everything Ryan has achieved so far at Ally Pally.
‘The vital funds and awareness he’s helped raise for the Cure ADOA Foundation will have a life-changing effect for thousands of people.
‘Whatever happens tonight, Ryan is our hero.’
Paddy Power said: ‘Ryan plays at the top of the sport while managing a serious eye condition. We thought the clearest way to acknowledge that was to blur our own logo to highlight this cause.
‘Turns out sometimes the sharpest message is a slightly blurred one.’
Searle’s run to the final four is even more notable given he has generally shown his best form away from the televised stage.
The Tiverton-born player, who earned a PDC tour card in 2017, also remarkably claimed earlier at the Worlds that Gary Anderson and Ryan Joyce were probably only two players who cared less about darts than him.
Despite the defeat, Searle will rise 12 places in the world rankings to world No 8 after his run to the semi-final.
