David Munyua, a veterinarian and a resident of Kabati town in Murang’a County, threw his first dart three years ago and the sharp-pointed projectile pierced the dartboard like a golden Cupid’s arrow. An obsession with playing darts was born in him that day.
“That moment gave me an uncontrollable urge to keep playing darts. I immediately bought darts equipment and I started practising,” Munyua told James Wokabi and Elijah Ouko on SportOn!, the NTV sports talk show which airs every Monday night.
“I did not know of darts competitions until my friend Joseph Kamanda told me about them. I only got to understand how to score in darts when I appeared in my first competition in Runyenjes, Embu,” Munyua, whose favourite checkout is the double 16 and has a penchant for aiming for the bull’s eye with his first throw, added.
David Munyua during an interview with NTV on November 17, 2025.
Photo credit: Pool
After more than 1,000 days and nights of throwing darts in his house and at local, regional, and continental competitions, the 30-year-old is set to become the first Kenyan to compete in the Professional Darts Corporation World Darts Championships as the African champion. Munyua qualified for the competition after defeating the South African Cameron Carolissen 8-6 during the finals of the African qualifiers held in Nairobi in September.
The PDC World Darts Championships is the world’s premier darts competition. The competition was first held in 1994. This year’s competition will run from December 11 to January 3, 2026. Munyua describes his path to appearing at its 33rd edition as “a long journey”.
“It’s been three years of practising day and night, staying fit to compete, and moving around Kenya and East Africa playing darts. It is not a one day thing to go from Kabati in Murang’a County to London in England to represent Kenya and Africa at the Ally Pally (Alexandra Pallace in north London),” Munyua said.
“The feeling of being in Ally Pally is too much to handle,” he added.
The Ally Pally is the nickname given to London’s Alexandra Palace, an entertainment and sports venue in the English capital that has hosted every PDC World Darts Championships since 2008. Before that, the competition took place at the Circus Tavern in Essex, England.
Darts is a popular sport in the United Kingdom, with viewership for the 2024 PDC World Darts Championship hitting a peak of 3.86 million. Yet, in Kenya, the sport does not get enough publicity today, unlike during its glory days in the 1980s and 1990s.
“The Kenyan darts scene is not publicised enough. We need more awareness of our competitions on social media and the mainstream media. Darts is a well-paying sport if we market and develop it,” Munyua said.
“Darts is an amateur sport in Kenya. We need a professional league and competition for junior players. Also, we should affiliate to the World Darts Federation,” Munyua said of what should be done to grow darts in Kenya and kill the myth that it is a bar sport.
Munyua makes his PDC World Darts Championships bow after the competition has grown in leaps and bounds over 30 years. The first edition of the PDC World Darts Championships attracted 24 players. This year’s competition will feature 128 players, up from 96 last year.
The prize money pool has increased from £64 000 (Sh960 000 then) in 1994 to £5 000 000 (Sh853 million) for the latest edition. This year, the winner will walk away with £1 000 000 (Sh171 million), double what English teenager Luke Littler – the competition’s youngest ever winner – earned for winning last year’s edition. Phil Taylor, who won the inaugural edition of the competition and is the competition’s record champion with 14 victories, was awarded £16 000 (Sh240 000 then) in 1994. Phil Taylor, nicknamed “The Power”, is also Munyua’s favourite darts player.
The winner’s prize money for this year’s edition has Munyua in a daze but he will be more focused on giving back to Kenyan and African darts.
“Beyond aiming for the prize money, I want my performance to showcase the best of Kenyan darts because we have talented players here. I want my play at the Ally Pally to result in more slots for African players. That will make me happy,” Munyua, nicknamed ‘Why Not’, said.
“I am prepared for the pressure of competing at the PDC World Darts Championships. I overcame a nervous start to win the African qualifiers. Also defeating Uganda Patrick Ochieng’, who had terrorized Kenyan darters for long, added to my experience of performing under pressure,” he added on his preparedness.
Munyua will become the 11th African to appear at the PDC World Darts Championships. The 10 before him – Cameron Carolissen, Charles Losper, Charl Pietersen, Devon Petersen, Grant Sampson, Les Francis, Nolan Arendse, Simon Adams, Warrick Scheffer, and Wynand Havenga – were all South Africans.
Havenga, in 2007, made history as the first African to feature at the PDC World Darts Championships.
Devon Petersen holds the record of most appearances by an African, nine, and best performance, fourth round in 2021, in the competition. Munyua will have to reach the quarterfinals this year to surpass his mark.
Overall, the competition is usually dominated by British players. Players from England, Scotland, and Wales have won 26 of the 32 previous editions of the PDC World Darts Championships. Only three non-British players – Canadian John Part and Dutchmen Michael van Gerwen and Raymond van Barneveld – have won the competition.
