Rashad Sweeting reduced his chances in the match by throwing the 180
It left him with a tougher checkout, but he banked £1,000 for a good cause
The Bahamian star whipped out Cole Palmer's celebration as a fan had asked
By LUKE POWER
Published: 17:36 EST, 17 December 2024 | Updated: 17:36 EST, 17 December 2024
Bahamian darts star Rashad Sweeting has been hailed as a 'hero' and a 'humanitarian' after hitting a 180 for charity and copying Cole Palmer's goal celebration - despite it scuppering his own chances.
Sweeting - who works as an immigration officer - was leading Dutchman Jeffrey de Graaf 1-0 in their first round match and they were tied 2-2 in the second set. He needed 194 to take the second set and put himself on course for victory.
After hitting two double 20s, the crowd encouraged Sweeting to go for the 180 - and he obliged, despite it leaving him with a tricky double seven to pull off. He could have hit a lower sum to leave himself with an easier checkout.
He then copied Palmer's 'cold' celebration to send the crowd wild - although he didn't land the subsequent double seven and eventually crashed out 3-1.
For every 180 which is landed at the World Darts Championship, £1,000 is donated to Prostate Cancer UK - and thus Sweeting has been hailed as a 'humanitarian' for his self-sacrifice.
And one fan also revealed that he had messaged Sweeting to whip out the Palmer celebration, lauding him as a 'hero' after he did so.
Rashad Sweeting was hailed as a 'hero' for his Cole Palmer 180 celebration - and a 'humanitarian' for throwing it
Throwing a 180 didn't exactly help Sweeting as it left him with an awkward checkout, but it does mean £1,000 goes to Prostate Cancer UK
Sweeting was the first-ever player from the Bahamas at the World Championship and making his debut on TV - and his appearance almost went awry as he turned the wrong way during his walk-on.
'Not even exaggerating when I say this is the best thing I have ever seen. The 180 and then the Palmer celebration.. f*****g brilliant,' wrote one fan on X.
'Pure darts,' another wrote.
'Could have left a sensible double but remembered that for every 180 hit 1k goes to Prostate Cancer UK. The man's a fucking humanitarian,' commented another.
Meanwhile, one darts fan shared details of a conversation he had had online with Sweeting.
The supporter had wished Sweeting good luck and asked him to do the Palmer celebration.
'Rashad Sweeting you are my hero,' he wrote.
Sweeting, an immigration officer in his day job, qualified for the Worlds through the Championship Darts Latin America and Caribbean Order of Merit.
'I hope the bodyguards don’t push me away! I’m going to really shake some heads when I get on that stage,' he said in advance of his debut.
'I don’t want to seem cocky, I’m just confident. I was at work when the draw came out. They called my name, then I saw the two-time world champion, Gary Anderson (who he could have played had he won).
'My saying is that, "If you breathe, you can be beaten." I have no fear of no man.
'I’m here to dismiss the ideas of what people think a Bahamian dart player is like. People think we are playing with a dartboard on a palm tree at the beach. Never happened. Some people have put dartboards outside, but the weather is going to damage it.
'My walk-on is I’m a Bahamian by Nakhaz, which describes what Bahamian people are like. People think we still live in Tahiti huts. We don’t.
'I started throwing darts in 2009. We haven’t been on the biggest stages. I wanted to be the first player to get us on that map and be recognised, not only in the Caribbean but around the world.
'I’m a natural athlete, I play a lot of sports. I used to help (cousin) Lawrence with his kids to play volleyball and basketball, they are the No 1 sports. He wanted to introduce me to darts, he had the set-up but I was like: No, it’s a boring sport. But one day he beat me and that’s what got me into it.
'Phil Taylor was my motivation. I used to watch the mechanics of his game with slow motion on YouTube. I tried to dissect how he did it.'
Cole Palmer