Paradarter Darren Kinnish enjoyed a hectic and somewhat successful conclusion to 2023 at national and international level.

In November he won the Malta Open, defeating Ian de Sweemer 2-1, losing 1-2 to his regular doubles partner Mark Couchman of Northern Ireland and defeating Dirk Sampers of Belgium 2-0 in the group games.

He then went on to win the semi-final 4-1 against Kevin Stringer of England and gain revenge over Couchman when defeating him 4-2 in the final to become champion.

In the World Paradarts Malta Masters he topped his group in the round-robin with straight wins over de Sweemer (Belgium), Bradley Zefara (Malt) and Sergio Bartolini (Italy).

Darren then lost a close semi-final to Couchman 3-4, the latter going on to defeat Jesper Andersen of Denmark in the final.

The world’s top 32 wheelchair players gathered in Chelmsford for the World Paradarts World Masters and World Masters in early December.

Kennish topped his group with two straights wins to make it into the last 16 where he won 2-1 against Rob Gillan of New Zealand.

In the last eight he won 3-1 win over Normie Eckard of South Africa and in the semi-final defeated Michel van den Hengel (Netherlands) 3-0.

Unfortunately he lost the final 0-4 to Vincent D’Hondt of Belgium after a day of darts of the highest quality.

In a straight knockout competition the following day he beat opponents from New Zealand and Denmark to get into the quarter-finals, checking one out with a fantastic 157 finish.

He won his last-eight match 3-0 over Carsten Steensig (Denmark), then beat Serge van Belle (Belgium) 4-2 in the semi to set up another final against his great friend D’Hondt, which the Andreas man unfortunately lost 1-5 in a high-quality final, the Belgian producing a 13-dart leg to win the match.

This string of good results lifted Kennish back to World Paradarts No.1 in the annual rankings.

Commenting, he said: ‘It was an honour to represent the Isle of Man in such high-class competitions, with the world’s best wheelchair players all in attendance.’

At the end of a packed season of events, he would like to thank his wife Janice and family for all their support, his daughter Charlotte having looked after him all weekend in Malta.

Also Horizon Darts/Laserdarts, JP Corry Isle of Man, the late John West for all his support and advice over the last few years, Dart King Promotions, Michael and Lorraine Callaghan for help and support travelling to and from events throughout the year.

‘These people all helped make it possible for me in what was another fantastic year, ending with me sitting No.1 in the world rankings.’