Bull's-eye! Darts Achieves Sporting Recognition

One-hundred and eigh-ty! Button up your XXL competition shirt and grab a celebratory drink, darts fans - Britain's favourite pub pastime is officially a sport.

Sport England yesterday recognised the athletic merits of Britain's 7 million regular tungsten hurlers, putting the game on a par with Olympic sports and opening the door for it to receive grants and public funding to foster the next generation of players.

The decision to recognise the game as a legitimate sporting activity represents a major victory for campaigners who have been pushing for it to be recognised alongside archery, shooting and similar games of skill.

Tired of the stereotype of beer-swilling, overweight men staggering to the oche and peering through a fog of tobacco to see the board, the British Darts Organisation (BDO) launched in February a campaign to force the government to acknowledge the skills required to regularly hit 180.

It enlisted the help of solicitors Hammonds, barrister Tom De La Mare, (given the obligatory nickname "The Brief") and crucially Dr Peter Gregory, a leading sports physician and medical adviser to the England and Wales Cricket Board.

The dossier compiled by the BDO, which included evidence that a darts player walks up to 16 miles in the course of a tournament, backed by the sports minister, Richard Caborn, appears to have swayed Sport England.

At a board meeting last week they approved recognition, and will recommend that the sports councils of Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland follow suit, paving the way for central funding for the sport.

The decision recognises the fact that darts is changing its image.

There is no longer tobacco sponsorship in darts, the players do not drink openly on stage any more, and while the 2004 BDO world champion, Andy Fordham, tipped the scales at more than 30st and recently withdrew from a match because of exhaustion, he has taken to ITV's Celebrity Fat Club to shed pounds.

Professional Martin Adams, the captain of the England team, welcomed the decision. "I am over the moon," he said. "I always compare myself with one of Britain's sporting greats, [shot-putter] Geoff Capes. Nowadays he would probably be called obese, but he stood still and hurled lumps of metal. If he can be a sporting hero, so can I."

Adams dismissed the beer and fags image. "We have loads of kids who do not drink or smoke, and it's not as if footballers or rugby players have a clean record on booze."

Robert Holmes of the BDO said recognition would ultimately benefit the next generation. "The game has proved it can deliver in all sorts of areas, not least child numeracy. We will use any funding we receive to make sure the grassroots of the sport are nourished."

Footballers

The England squad is preparing for tomorrow's World Cup qualifier with Northern Ireland. The players, have had three full training sessions. Today they will have a light preparatory session at Old Trafford.

Boat race crews

The crews of Oxford and Cambridge meet on the tideway on Sunday after a winter of hard training for the 151st University Boat Race. A typical week has seen them on the water twice a day for two-hour session five days a week, supplemented by weights and cardio-vascular work.

Darts professional

Martin Adams, England captain, says: "In Holland and on the continent they call it training, but in the UK we call it practice. In the run-up to a tournament, I practise around two hours a day from a month before, and that goes up to four or five hours before and during the competition. The key is to work on the bits of your game that aren't going well, say throwing doubles and out-shots, and to maintain the bits that are working. It's all a balance."