Nicole Regnaud during the 2024 WDF World Championships Darts at Lakeside.
Women’s darts has undergone a seismic change in recent years and a 25-year-old from Upper Hutt is among the new wave of young females leading the sport into a new era.
Nicole Regnaud heads into the year ranked fifth in the world but admits that she doesn’t feel like she belongs among the elite.
Since 2021, Regnaud has won 17 ranking titles across New Zealand and Australia, including six last year which ended with her maiden trip to the quarter-finals of the World Darts Federation (WDF) Women’s World Championship at the original home of darts, the Lakeside Country Club in England.
The catalyst for growth in the female game dates back to December 2019, when Fallon Sherrock became the first women to win a match at the Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) world champs, which historically is a male-dominated event.
That led to increased interest in the women’s game, and subsequently, more investment, bigger prize pools and chances to play on the big stage.
And regular competition against New Zealand’s best men is what Regnaud puts her recent success down to, by being a regular competitor in the PDC’s affiliate tour, run by DartPlayers New Zealand.
“It’s been a side quest for me, playing those huge names and talent, the men have is massive,” she says.
“I like the scare the men because they don’t know what to expect.
“It’s an investment in myself to go out of my way, find those hard games and improve my darts as the men don’t give you any chances, so there is no room for error which has helped my game.”
Darts runs in the blood of the Regnaud family, with her father Jason, mother Yolande and older sister Ashlee all heavily involved in the sport and a big reason why Nicole got involved.
After establishing herself as a threat locally, Regnaud made waves internationally in August 2022, when she beat four-time women’s world champion Lisa Ashton at the Australian Open, with an 87 average and two ton-plus finishes of 134 and 140.
While trailblazers like Sherrock and Ashton are still heavily involved in the sport, young players are setting the tone and leading darts into a new era.
Beau Greaves (21), Lerena Rietbergen (22) and Regnaud (25) all ranked inside the top five in the world, while Sophie McKinlay (18) was beaten in the final of the most recent Women’s World Championship and Paige Pauling (16) is the reigning girls (under 18s) champion.
Greaves is currently setting the standard globally for women’s darts and is on track to become the most dominant women’s player of all time after winning her third-straight women’s world title just before her 21st birthday.
Regnaud considers it a privilege to be considered among the best in the world, she admits it is difficult being based on the other side of the planet.
“Short answer, no,” she says in response to being asked if she considers herself to be one of the best players in the world.
“Being from New Zealand with tall poppies, it’s hard to base yourself around that number.
“It’s an incredible privilege to be ranked that high. Lots of blood, sweat and tears have gone in to chase the wins.
“To be viewed in the top five is incredible, but we will keep aiming higher.”
After a brief break over Christmas and starting a new job at the Environmental Protection Authority in Wellington, Regnaud is eager to return to the oche and build on her impressive 2024.
She has signed with Katikati-based darts manufacturer Shot Darts as a key sponsor moving forward and has mapped out her season, which includes trying to defend her titles and qualify for the PDC’s New Zealand Darts Masters in August, where the likes of Luke Littler and Luke Humphries will travel to Auckland to face the best local players.
But the goal is to one day go over to the UK and play in the PDC’s Women’s Series, which has grown from four events to 24 since it was first launched in 2020.
However Regnaud concedes that it’s easier said than done being on the other side of the world.
“I love watching those ladies in their element, it would be a dream, but it’s not that easy,” she says.
“I would love to drop everything and play in those tournaments, but they’re once a month, and leaving everything behind to chase a dream is tough.
“Being able to attend international events, just makes you more passionate and do more in the game, and I hope the women and kids here can see the pathway there and follow.”
History of women in the sport dates back as far as the 1930 when an image of Queen Elizabeth appeared in British newspapers of her throwing darts.
But it wasn’t until the 1970s when women’s darts first emerged on TV and in 1985, New Zealand’s Lillian Barnett created history by winning the World Masters in England – at the time it was the biggest tournament in the world and forty years on, she remains the only person from the southern hemisphere to have won the event.
Women’s darts has come a long way since those days and in recent years, those opportunities are only getting better, but there is still plenty of work to do.
The women’s world champs and other major tournaments are organised by the WDF globally and locally, the New Zealand Darts Council, although it is considered the amateur side of the sport.
In 2020, the PDC began investing in the women’s game on the back of Sherrock’s heroics at the world champs and Ashton becoming the first lady to win a two-year Tour Card.
They initially launched the Women’s Series, with the top three ranked players at the end of the year qualifying for the World Championship, while there are two spots at the Grand Slam of Darts, and eight players qualify for the Women’s World Matchplay.
While these are often praised Greaves has hit out at the restrictions in women’s darts between the two organisations as current rules prevent players from taking part in the both the WDF and PDC tournaments, a rule the Doncaster thrower has labelled as “stupid”.
Greaves has opted to defend her women’s title, which she views as important to her career at this stage and has called on the PDC to introduce a separate ladies-only Worlds, but the organisation’s chief executive Matt Porter says there is no plans to introduce a separate Women’s World Championship are the current tournament is “open to all players.”
Regnaud has high-praise for Greaves, saying she’s the perfect ambassador for the women’s game.
“She’s very humble and down to earth, she’s bubbly and just wants to be nice,” she says.
“She knocked me out of a tournament with a 100 average, she doesn’t realise how good she really is. The level she can play and make it look easy is incredible.”
Along with all her other achievements in 2024, Regnaud was named the Hutt Valley Sportswoman of the Year, beating out Tall Fern Stella Back and Wellington Phoenix forward Emma Main.
But one of her favourite moments of the year came at the recent world champs when she met darting icon Paul Lim.
The Singaporean is a cult hero of the sport, known for hitting the first nine darter at the world championship in 1990 and even features in a video game, Yakuza 6 where you must play him in a game of darts to advance.
Lim was at Lakeside where he played at the men’s world champs, eventually losing in the final, where a win would have made him the oldest world champion at 70.
Regnaud said she blew the chance to meet him years earlier, but was too shy to say hello, so was glad when the opportunity came up again.
She says Lim offered some sage advice after her quarter-finals loss.
“He was really nice. He came over and gave me a shake up and told me not to dwell on it.
“I am so thankful I just got on with it and asked for a photo. It was one of my favourite moments.”
Regnaud’s first title defence comes this weekend at the Canterbury Classic.
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