Sawyer, Darts Champ, to Compete at World Masters

It started out about five centuries ago as a playful game of skill accompanied by drinks in many an English pub or tavern, and while a game of darts today is still that for many a recreational player, there are also international crowns to be won.

Tom Sawyer would call himself just an average guy, but he's also a darts champion and he has the trophies to prove it. For the third time, the Peabody native is headed across the pond to represent the United States this weekend against some of the best players in the world.

Sawyer and two other Bay State darts champions -- Tom Curtin and Bette Cunningham --  recently qualified for the Winmau 39th World Masters Darts Championship, which will be held Oct. 10-14 in Hull, England. Winmau is one of the longest-running and most prestigious professional darts tournaments.

According to the official draws for Winmau posted by the British Darts Organization, Sawyer's first opponent in the first round of play for men's singles is Andrea Contino of Italy on Oct. 11.

Sawyer, Curtin and Cunningham all come from Massachusetts' Minuteman Dart League, touted to be the world's largest steel-tip dart league, and all are sponsored by Dart World in Lynn.

Sawyer, 42, picked up the game about 20 years ago on a lark with some friends from high school. Over the past decade, he's won numerous trophies and reknown in the competitive darts world, designed his own arrows and trotted across the globe to elite competitions.

Sawyer was part of the U.S. team this summer that won the 2012 Americas Cup in Belize and has also recorded top scores for inclusion in the American Darts Organization's team it will send to the 2013 WDF World Cup in St. John's, Canada.

Friends, family and fans at home will be able to watch elite dart players from more than 60 countries compete for the coveted title of "World Master" live on ESPN. The sports network will be airing live coverage of key sessions between Oct. 12 and 14.

For more information on this weekend's tournament, visit the official website here.