WHEN Embassy World Darts champion Tony David strolled back into
the scene of his greatest triumph last week, he was overcome with
emotion.
"Coming back to Lakeside, I can't explain it," David said.
"It gave me goosebumps, it put a tear in my eye."
The 35-year-old haemophiliac from Townsville, an oddity in victory
last year when he defeated the cream of English competitors, returns
to the Lakeside Country Club in Surrey in quest of successive championships
and proof 2002 was anything but flukish when he became Australia's
first world champion.
Unable to straighten his throwing arm as a consequence of his illness,
David is the favourite to defy convention and defend the world championship.
Making the title defence even more poignant is the presence of his
girlfriend and highly-rated competitor Natalie Carter and her parents,
Irene and Dennis, and David's parents Alf and Vivien.
"It's great having the family (here), for them to see where
I won the world title," David said.
Tall and angular, David cannot plan the type of schedule which would
allow him to capitalise on his standing as a world champion by playing
exhibitions.
Long distance flights, for instance, leave him vulnerable to prolonged
fatigue.
David's life, in fact, is virtually unaltered in a financial sense
in a sport which rewards its leading practitioners on a robust scale.
The Queenslander remains on a disability pension because of his
blood disorder.
Symptomatic of an uncertain life governed by fragile health, David
does not allow himself any expectation.
"I don't expect anything . . . because expectations are about
anticipating outcomes and that is something I never do," he
said.
"I'm happy to be representing Australia." |
