March 2020 was an uncertain time for everyone as the world grappled with effects of the pandemic.
As normal life shut down, Martin Lukeman was among the many who saw their livelihood taken away from them. That livelihood at the time wasn’t darts. In fact, it would be almost a year before he secured a PDC Tour card. Lukeman was a banksman, worked on building sites. As a self-employed agency worker, he was one the first to be let go and was in receipt of government grants over the next few months.
An able darts player, he reached the last 16 of the UK Open in 2017 and went close to securing his Tour Card on several occasions. So with work scarce and time on his hands, he dedicated as much time as possible to the practice board and online tournaments.
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“All the building sites shut down and by the time they started up again it was only minimum people [allowed onsite]. I was trying to find work all year, it was a bit of mayhem really,” he told Daily Star Sport ahead of his World Matchplay debut in Blackpool, where he will meet major winner James Wade in the first round.
“There was no work out there and I was getting the government grants to see me through the year. I basically just hit the practice board hard, there was nothing else to do.
“You were only allowed out for an hour a day so I was coming back and just playing darts in my room. I got my camera set up and started playing competitions every day. I was playing really well and one of my friends said to me, ‘I’ll put you through Q School’ and I grabbed my card [in January 2021].
“I’ve still got all my [banksman] qualifications so if it [darts] all went t*** up, I’d probably go back to it. But I don’t want to go back to building sites, I want to do this. I’m going to work hard at it.”
It is unlikely he will need to go back to building sites any time soon given his excellent form this year. Lukeman, nicknamed ‘Smash’, has enjoyed some stellar results on the European Tour and in Players Championship events.
He reached the final of the German Grand Prix, where he was only beaten by arguably the game’s outstanding player of the year so far, Luke Humphries, a friend of Lukeman and many people’s tip for glory at the Matchplay.
“I’ve had semi-finals, quarter-finals, last-16s. I’ll nick one of these soon, I’m sure I will,” he said as he reflected on his year so far. “Luke’s a good friend of mine. He’s a brilliant player, he’s absolutely awesome at the moment. I will get him soon though, he’s costing me a lot of money!”
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Lukeman’s quarter of the draw is full of brilliant players, with Michael van Gerwen meeting Adrian Lewis, Joe Cullen taking on Damon Heta and Humphries facing a tough opener against Nathan Aspinall.
“In the Matchplay, you’re playing the best players in the world from day dot,” said Lukeman, a 500/1 outsider with some bookmakers to win the tournament. “In European Tour events, you might get some easier matches early on but in the Matchplay you’ve got to hit it straight off. Every single one of them are top quality players who can all win it.”
But far from feeling nervous about the biggest moment of his career so far, Lukeman is relishing the occasion.
“I haven’t played in any big tournaments, apart from on the Euro Tour,” he said. “This all a new experience for me when it comes to English crowds. I’ll take it on the chin and just play my game. I’m not nervous, I’m pumped up, I just want to play.”
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