THE TALLEST man in professional darts will make his PDC TV bow on Friday – and camera operators will have to adjust their lenses.
Jimmy van Schie towers over everybody else on the oche at a height of two metres and seven centimetres – six foot and nine-and-a-half inches.
This is two inches taller than former England footballer Peter Crouch, who in comparison is a mere 6ft7in.
Dutchman Van Schie is so tall that cameras had to be tilted upwards during the preliminary rounds for the Winmau World Masters on Wednesday.
So much so that fans watching on a live stream could spot the background above the black curtains at Arena MK.
Those men and women covering the event this week, particularly on Friday evening when he faces Ross Smith in round one, will have to take action to ensure they get his face in their pictures beamed around the world.
If he wins that tie, then he could end up facing world No1 Luke Littler – who plays Belgian thrower Mike De Decker in his opener – in round two.
Van Schie only secured a two-year PDC Tour Card this month having come through Q School in Milton Keynes.
And he will make his debut in the latter stages of a PDC major in this four-day tournament, which starts on Thursday and will be screened live on ITV under a new TV line-up.
The 32-year-old from Breda beat Enfield Ritchie Edhouse 3-1, Dutchman Richard Veenstra 3-2 and then Englishman Scott Williams 3-1 to secure his spot as one of eight qualifiers in the 32-man main draw.
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Van Schie qualified for the 2025 UK Open at Butlin’s Minehead through the Challenge Tour but lost in the third round to Portugal’s Jose de Sousa.
Last year, Van Schie won the WDF World Masters – he beat Canadian Jeff Smith 7-2 in the final in Budapest – and then overcame 15-year-old Scotsman Mitchell Lawrie in the World Championship at Lakeside, for which he banked £50,000.
Other qualifiers for the World Masters include Englishmen Connor Scutt and James Hurrell, Dutchmen Wessel Nijman and Niels Zonneveld, Swede Jeffrey de Graaf, Irishman Shane McGuirk and Latvian Madars Razma.
Plenty of big names have missed out – Peter Wright, Cameron Menzies and Michael Smith all lost their opening ties in the knockout stages.
Luke Humphries, the defending champion, will open his title defence against Dave Chisnall and he will eying up the £100,000 top prize on Sunday evening.
