AFTER an absence of ten years from the sport, local lad Shane Havard picked up the darts again recently and it’s been paying off handsomely.

Just nine weeks after he resumed throwing the arrows, he took first place in the BDDA Birmingham Open.

Havard gained 90 ranking points from the tournament and went on to compete in the BDDA welsh open (placed joint ninth), the BDDA Stafford open (placed third) and the BDDA Wolverhampton open (placed joint 17th).

The combined ranking points have put Havard on the road to the Winmau World Masters.

It will be Havard’s second time playing at the worlds as he made it in the Youth category in 2004 when he was placed joint fifth.

Havard has also been selected to represent Wales next year.