Emotional Ritchie Edhouse reveals father-in-law has given him extra motivation to hit 180s at World Darts Championships
RITCHIE EDHOUSE has a special reason for throwing as many 180s as possible at Ally Pally – because cash will go to a charity close to his heart.
Sponsors Paddy Power are once again donating £1,000 for every maximum thrown by the 96 players across 16 days of competition.
There were 914 in total last time but the betting firm rounded up from £914,000 to £1million.
The money went to Prostate Cancer UK and the hope is this dosh will go some way to saving lives by encouraging men in their 40s upwards to get themselves checked early.
And £60,000 went to the cause when Dutchman Christian Kist threw a nine-darter on Wednesday night.
Edhouse – who had a breakthrough moment in October when he won the European Championship – knows all about the deadly disease as it is something his family are dealing with.
Basildon-born Edhouse, 41, told SunSport: “At the moment, my father-in-law Bob is suffering with prostate cancer and is about to start treatment next week.
“It originally started in 2019 but he had a stroke as well, so he wasn’t strong enough, and then there was Covid.
“He loves the darts. He supports me. He’s a proud man. He would tell me: ‘Man up, just get on with it, it happens all the time.’
“If he wasn’t so weak, he would 100% be at Ally Pally. Before and after my games, he will be on my mind.
“I want to smash the 180s and hopefully earn a lot of money for the charity.
“So, it’s close to home. It’s a good charity. Whatever we can do for it, with the money raised, hopefully we can smash the £1million mark.
“It’s very important that people get checked. It doesn’t take long. It could save lives.”
Edhouse, who is based in Enfield, banked £120,000 when he crushed Jermaine Wattimena 11–3 in the Euros final in Dortmund.
Madhouse eliminated Michael Smith and Gary Anderson from the tournament in Germany as he celebrated a career-high.
The former carpet fitter, who plays Ian White on Sunday, said: “Everything worked out that weekend. I got home and my grandkids made a big mural on the wall, saying: ‘Well done granddad.’
“I was very emotional. There were big cuddles and kisses.
“They loved the trophy. But that’s all they keep asking me. It doesn’t matter wherever I am playing now. They all ask: ‘Have you won a trophy?’”
+ Paddy Power and Prostate Cancer UK aim to inspire at least 180,000 men to take the lifesaving risk checker this year.
Early action saves lives. Take 30 seconds to check your risk: prostatecanceruk.org/darts-risk