With his third appearance in the PDC World Championship coming up I’ve had an interview with Darius Labanauskas about both his own life and career and the future of Lithuanian darts. He regard reaching the quarter finals of the PDC World Championship last year as biggest achievement, despite reaching the quarter finals of the BDO World Championship in the third of his four appearances. Labanauskas has made it to the semi finals of the WDF World Cup singles as well. However Darius Labanauskas may seem modest he is aiming to become top of the world.
According to him, there is lot of talent from Lithuania to keep an eye of, while darts in Lithuania is getting bigger and bigger. Mindaugas Barauskas is probably the best well-known, but we should keep an eye others, including some women as well.
Who are you (for example, what is your job, where do you live, where are you born, do you have a wife and children)?
I am a PDC Tour Cardholder. My name is Darius Labanauskas, my nickname is LuckyD. I am from Lithuania and was born in Garliava, where I am still living. I have got a wonderful wife and two children. They are my life and I really love them.
When and how did you start playing darts? For example, because you saw something on TV, via family/friends?
It all started, of course, with a woman, like many men. I met my current wife, then her brother, who had an amateur target at home. One side is a number from 1 to 10, and the other side is like an imitation of a real darts board. I tried it with him, we had a good time, later we bought an electronic darts board, probably many of you have tried it at home too.
After that, we saw that competitions are taking place in Kaunas, one of the Lithuanian tours, we went to them, I really liked them, I started attending the training. And so things started to turn, I did very well from the beginning. Some of the better Lithuanian players told me then that I was promising.
I was 27 then, it would be really late for other sports, but for darts, it was a really good time. Most players achieve their loudest victories already over 40 or close to 40.
Which darts do you use?
In collaboration with Cosmo darts, I have my own unique darts. These arrows are 25gr.
What is/are your best achievement(s) so far?
As you know, this PDC World Championship is the most important event in darts for all players and fans. Getting into it is a long, difficult, and very labor-intensive process. I can be glad that I will participate in it for the 3rd time this year. So the biggest achievement for me is of course the last PDC World Championship, where I made it to the 8 best players of the tournament. The most aspiring and greatest goal-achievement would be the PDC World Champion title I will pursue in my career.
Who are the top 5 players from the Lithuania (either man, woman, youth, may, of course, be players of the past as well)? And why?
A very difficult question. I don’t want to single out players, because we really have a lot of great players and growing talents in Lithuania. I want to believe that over time I will see more and more Lithuanians in international competitions. For now, I could single out the top 6 players for my opinion:
Mindaugas Barauskas. He is currently the best player in Lithuania. He participates in PDC Q-school selections, seeking a PDC card. We have been representing Lithuania in the PDC World Cup (pair) for two years. He is a strong player who can really achieve significant victories for Lithuania.
Arūnas Čiplys is a long-term player with a lot of experience. When I started playing, it was hard to beat in the Baltic region. I grew up trying to beat him, together we represented the Lithuanian national team at the WDF World and European Championships.
Laimis Zubavičius has just started playing tournaments and surprised everyone when he came to their first ranking competition and won it. This is very, very rare. The boy has gunpowder and talent. In the future we want to see him aim for ever higher places in international tournaments.
I would single out a few women as well. This is Kornelija Lušaitė, who is currently the leader of Lithuania’s ranking. Her throwing technique is really nice and good, which allows her to win many tournaments.
Sandra Rimkevičiūtė is another perspective female player. She trains with men, works hard to achieve stable results, and stay among the winners. She is definitely going to international tournaments, which I think she will only increase and will allow her to grow and fulfill her dream to participate in Women’s tournaments, either in the PDC or in the WDF.
Andrius Pikiotas is one of the most perspective youth players and is still under 18. A responsible approach to training, observing the fights of the best players, and learning greatly helps him. Playing with men captures really good results. Wishing that as experience skills grew, the number of his victories would also increase.
What is your favorite tournament and why?
It’s very hard to single out one because at different levels, I enjoyed different tournaments.
One of the most interesting tournaments in Lithuania is the Prienai Cup. The tournament is exceptional in that it is the only tournament taking place in the sports arena in Lithuania. It creates a magical environment, good organization, communication, really a lot of participants, a super final scene, live TV broadcasts of the final battles, unique cups.
Internationally, I really like Finder Darts Masters, formerly known as Zuiderduin Darts Masters, in The Netherlands because it all comes together very well but which had come to an end unfortunately. The environment, the format of the competition and the hotel ensured the overall package for the entire tournament is super. A tournament you want to go to and go to play. I would recommend everyone to go there at least once to play and stay if it returns on the circuit.
Lakeside (BDO) – for its aura and uniqueness. That’s where the beginnings of all the best players began. My first tournament that started the road to a higher level.
And most important at the moment is PDC World Championship in Ally Pally. Only all the best players play here. The place is truly unique, not only that brings together the best players and fights for the most important and exciting, but also the fans. The atmosphere with them gives an indescribably unreal feeling, which makes the heart tremble more than once, the blood fills with adrenaline.
What is your goal for 2021 and the further future?
My goal with having a PDC card is to stay at least among the top 64. The maximum goal is top32, and then even top 16. I would very much like to participate in more and more TV tournaments. Also the Grand Slam, and to play the most in the PDC Premier League at least once.
Also a little joking about wanting to improve Steve Beaton’s record (Beaton played his 30th World Championship, ed.) and take part in more PDC World Championships then he does 🙂
More seriously, then in 2021. I want to go back to the PDC World Championships and other TV tournaments I’ve been to this year and add a few more. I want to reach at least the same results as I did or climb at least a step above.
How often do you practice? How do you practice?
I will train for more than 3 hours before bigger tournaments. In less free time, warming up is easy and lasts from an hour to a few. The goal is achieved when I reach my game form. I like to train individually without a partner.
For those who want to learn more about my workout routine, I invite you to follow the profile the LT_DARTS on Twitter and Instagram, where you will find videos about my workout games.
What is your favorite moment in the history of Lithuanian darts? (For example, an event hosted in Lithuania, a Lithuanian player performing something great, a happening/development which made darts more popular/wider spread in Lithuania)
After the WDF World Championship 2015, where I won a bronze medal (losing 6-5 against Jim Williams in the semi finals, ed.), we participated in the Lithuanian national television show, where we told about darts, how to play, what’s going on with tournaments, federation. From that moment on, more and more enthusiasts began to emerge. However, the biggest impetus to grow was given by winning a PDC tour card and entry into the PDC World Cup for the first time. It was shown on the main channel of Lithuanian sports, and after that, a lot of darts enthusiasts came to our darts clubs.
Thus, from that moment on, darts in Lithuania is growing, it is becoming more and more visible and still popular, and it is becoming more and more recognizable in Lithuania. I think that now not only am I giving a big boost to this, but also the ongoing Lithuania Open. Thanks to the Lithuanian Darts Federation for that, because more and more international players are coming to Lithuania with whom Lithuanians really want to meet and compete. We will wait and play how many darts players we will have in a few more years.
Have you ever hit a 9-dart leg? If so when and against who?
Yes. Once in a official tournament and four times during the warm-up and practising. In the official competition in Sweden Adeficator Open 2016. I recorded this against one of the Scandinavian players.
What are your good and bad sides within darts?
I think my technique is bad, while I have a good concentration. That‘s all.
What do you think about darts in Lithuania? What do you think the influence of you being the first-ever Lithuanian darts player who broke through in both the BDO and PDC is on Lithuanian darts? For example, how could darts in Lithuania improve, are there national (ranking) events?
I am glad that darts is growing in Lithuania. Currently, the number of participants is growing significantly faster than the level of players. It takes time for the level of players to grow. I believe that over time, there will be more and more victories not only in personal tournaments but also in representing the national team at the WDF World and European Championships or in the PDC. Also, you can already see that there are really perspective players who could play in international arenas.
I think that we have quite several ranking stages in Lithuania, we are really cooperating with other Baltic countries and going to play with them (for example, PDC Nordic & Baltic, ed.).
My success story is just a small example of what you can dream of and work to achieve. I am so glad that the crowds of my followers are growing and I am grateful to them for their support, their faith. At the same time, having free moments, I always try to help Lithuanians and other players who want advice to achieve victories. So things are moving in the right direction, and we will see where this takes us in the future.
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