A Darts Champion… Who’s Legally Blind
SALT LAKE CITY, UTAH – April 29, 2015 (Gephardt Daily) – Utahn Charles Gillard plays darts in World Championship tournaments, yet he is legally blind. Gillard practices at Sandy Station, and due to the technology of the internet, he is playing against, handicapping, and seeing a competitor from Japan.
Gillard was born with cataracts, and had many surgeries. His right eye is a glass eye, and his left eye is corrected to 20/40. He says he has trouble seeing the score, or the video of his competitor, but he can see the target, and after years of practice, he began winning.
He placed fifth in the medalist World Championship Master Pro-Am in June 2002, and went on to play in world championships from 2002 to 2006, and has the trophies to prove it. He was playing with arguably the best darts player in the world, Paul Lim.
“I got nervous,” he said. “I was really very nervous. I never played against a good player in my life.”
He retired in 2006, and all this practice now is to make a comeback, he says.
Sandy Station bartender J.J. Walker is rooting for him: “I think it’s awesome. A guy that’s got a disability like he does, plays darts better than I do. Better darts than most of the guys I know.”
