August 10, 2024 • 11 mins
Some of the world's best darts players are set to come together during the upcoming Hamilton Masters.
New Zealand number one Haupai Puha joined Piney ahead of the event.
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Speaker 1 (00:06):
You're listening to the Weekend Sport podcast with Jason Vine
from News Talks.
Speaker 2 (00:11):
B Hope, I pooh, number one in Oceania is with
us and I hope I. First of all, I've got
a lot of questions for you about the year you've had,
but how much you're looking forward to coming home and
competing on home soil.
Speaker 3 (00:26):
Yeah, Hamilton has always top of the list for me,
playing in front of the home crowd. Yeah, I'm stoked.
I can't wait.
Speaker 4 (00:35):
It's been a big year for you, a landmark year
in any ways.
Speaker 2 (00:39):
We spoke to you, I think right at the start
of the year when you earned your PDC tour card.
Can you tell us what the first six months of
the year have been like for you.
Speaker 3 (00:49):
It's just yeah, it's just it's been. It's been tough
at times. It's been my family's been been here in
New Zealand's I've been over there in the deep end
by myself, so at times it is lonely, but I'm
over there. I'm a trailblazer. I'm soaking it all up.
I'm one of, you know, one of the professionals in
(01:11):
the room. So I've been working hard. I've been grinning away,
treating it as a job. Some of the results haven't
really been going my way, but I've been getting better
and better every time. I'm back home now after six months,
so yeah, it's been good to catch up with the family.
Been on a bit of a holiday the last couple
(01:32):
of weeks, and yeah, the last couple of days, I've
been back on the board two weeks off and it's
felt like it feels like I haven't founded up for
like months. So yeah, I've been doing two sessions a day,
trying to get back in the swing of things, and yeah,
and enjoying all of it.
Speaker 2 (01:51):
I guess we all just assume it's a glamorous life,
don't we. But that must have been hard a being
away from your family for six months. How you how
have you gone about dealing with that? What strategies have
you used?
Speaker 3 (02:05):
Well, we're lucky off this day and age, with technology,
we can have video calls, So video calls twice a
day in the morning, well in the morning news. The
other morning I would ring before the kids go to
school and then obviously before bedtime. So yeah, and to
be fair, it's probably I speak more to the kids
(02:26):
while I was away than when I'm actually at home.
So so yeah, that's a big yeah big, I mean
plus having devices like this at the same time. Yeah,
it's it's not just my goal, it's it's a family
go it's our golf. So I'm over there trying to
(02:49):
make a better life for us, So trying to get
off the tools, trying to get off the roofs, and yeah,
make something of it.
Speaker 2 (02:56):
Well, you're making the steps towards that made it's it's
it's awesome to see. So tell us about the tell
us about the week to week of being a you know,
being a professional on the day room, you know, do
you still do you still have to pinch me moments
or do you feel, look, I am I do belong
here now?
Speaker 3 (03:14):
To be fair, I always thought I belonged. Uh, you
mon't ask me who's my favorite player, and I still
do say Gary Anderson until he's at the hockey with
me and then you know. But yeah, when when you
walk into the room, it's hard to have the same mindset.
Like in New Zealand, I'd walk into a room and
feel like, you know, I'm I'm a good chance of winning.
(03:38):
But when you walk into the room over there and
you look to the left and there's Michael Van going,
and I look to the right and there's you know,
Littler and Humphreys and Peter Wright. You know, it's that
is a tough part. And and it's even though the
halls are packed with people, it's still you know, I'm
still over there by myself. It's relatively lonely at the
(03:59):
same time. But yeah, it's just ye're just going away
and small small steps to get better and better, and
it is working. It's we all can't be a little
at learn and when everything that we look at when
we first get there of it as much as we
want to be.
Speaker 2 (04:19):
He's just burst onto the scene, hasn't. I want to
ask you a bit about him in a second. But
something you said there about you know, looking to your
left and seeing Michael Van go and looking to your
right and seeing look Littler who it might be. But
you still feel that, you know, there's no I guess
some you know, psychological being overawed by this. You're still like, well,
I'm here too, you know, It's just me. It's me
and my three darts on the board against that bloke.
Speaker 3 (04:41):
Yeah, to be fair, when when I do play against
those types of guys. You know what you're in for,
so you know you have to play good. So those
sort of games I tend to play a bit better.
But it's the less known people, you know, like we think, oh,
I might have a chance here, and then they have
one hundred and ten, so they're they're in the same
(05:02):
boat i'm, and you know, they're thinking the same thing.
They don't know who I am, and it doesn't get
a bit.
Speaker 2 (05:09):
Luke Littler as I say, you know, I guess eighteen
months ago not many people would have heard of him,
but an incredible world championship of course, and now you know, no,
and across the world of darts and wider than that
as well. You've obviously had the chance to be in
the same space with him. Have you had much to
do with Luke Littler at all?
Speaker 3 (05:29):
Yeah, Well, so in the darling world we're all known
who luck litter is. He's still been enough to play,
you know, the amateur tournaments and stuff like that, so
it's only you had to be sixteen to be a professional,
so he's probably been good enough to be on the
pro circuit since he was thirteen. So like he's been
(05:50):
winning for a long time. It's just the fact that
he turned sixteen and become a pro and now the
world can see him. We already knew who he was.
He beat us, he beat us up online like many
a times, so we didn't think he was going to
have that much of an impact. Which is it's it's
been good. Like it's throughout the board, you know, with darts,
(06:10):
Hour's accessories, boards, just the hyper darts. He's brought a
lot of hype to our sport, which is good, and
the money has gone up everywhere. So he's been he's
been awesome. For the game.
Speaker 2 (06:22):
Playing, we can work out like you have been. Where
have you seen the big improvements in your game?
Speaker 3 (06:30):
Well, numbers don't mind the averages. You know, everything's on
Dark Connect now, so the averages pretty much even just
mindset practice, like just seeing it going like I practice
really really good, like half the time when I when
I my good game never comes out. It's just a
(06:53):
matter of time. Hopefully, hopefully it's going to be one
of the next two world series.
Speaker 2 (06:57):
So you can put it all together, you know, you
can let the numbers in practice. What what does it
take to to then convert that into into doing that
on the really big stages, just.
Speaker 3 (07:10):
Just doing it more and more, getting used to it.
They you know, the top guys in front of thousands
of people like every week. I like, lower down the ranks,
we don't get to play all the time. So they're
playing week in week out. We were practicing. You have
to qualify, so for half of the events that they're playing,
(07:33):
and we we're like trying to qualified for them. So
there is a lot of downtime for me. So not
enough downtime that I can come home, but enough to
you know, three weeks in between some events for me,
whereas they're playing like every single week, and that though
even have exhibitions with hundreds to thousands of people as well.
(07:58):
So it's just it looks so normal to them because
it is.
Speaker 2 (08:04):
Yeah, but it's a gap that you believe you can
bridge because as you say, I'm sure there's a lot
of guys sort of at your level. You talk about
the top guys and you've just outlined what their lives
are like, but there must be that level that you're
on where there are a lot of guys just you know,
just looking to make that step up.
Speaker 4 (08:18):
You believe you can you can bridge that gap.
Speaker 3 (08:21):
I've had some good games one hundred, one hundred plus
averages and winning against like some of the best players
in the world. I still think but my practice has
still been really, really good. It's still a matter of time.
But yeah, it's just I don't know, it's a weird game.
It's a game of mimeters. When the backstage sometimes I
(08:45):
feel like I can't miss, and then you get on
stage and then you can't hit anything, and then and
then vice versa, like I'll be backstage and can't have anything,
get on stage and win. You know, like it's it's
just a it's a very weird game. But they always
say the more you get comfortable about what's doing in it,
the more the results will come. Just keep running away, Blackfield,
(09:06):
just grinding away and grind away.
Speaker 2 (09:08):
Yeah, indeed, indeed, indeed he did. You're still you're still
at the same favorite doubles.
Speaker 3 (09:16):
Any doubles, A good double when when you're playing the
best in the wheel and you just hope to get
a chance of the double.
Speaker 2 (09:25):
It's a really good way of looking at it, a
really good way of looking at it. Yeah, So just
to finish back home in Hamilton, you know it's you
must love that that home crowd. I mean we obviously
watch it on television all of these big events around
the place, but you know, to get the chance to
see the likes of yourself and the other players, I
mean to pour up close. You must get a real
energy from a home crowd, do you.
Speaker 3 (09:45):
Yeah, it'll be good to not get booed and not
get whistled at this. I'm looking forward to that. The
European crowds are there, Yeah, they're something else.
Speaker 4 (09:58):
Is that right? They let you have it.
Speaker 3 (10:02):
Especially if you like, especially the pro tours when you're
the Euros, when you're playing in Germany against Germans, you know,
your emperor amazing.
Speaker 4 (10:13):
And just to confirm it is tough.
Speaker 3 (10:16):
When you listen back to it, you're like, oh my god,
that's really bad. But as part of the game now
you're going to have a thick, thick skin.
Speaker 2 (10:23):
Now, absolutely, And just to confirm the tour card, so
to retain that, what do you have to do to
retain your tour card?
Speaker 3 (10:31):
So if you stay in the top sixty four and
the money moneyless and money rankings and stuff like that,
you can have a tour card forever.
Speaker 4 (10:42):
And so whereabouts are you in relation to that.
Speaker 3 (10:45):
I'm right at the bottom. I'm not at the bottom.
I'm about one hundred. Ok. My, So the rankings is
a two year cycle, so I'll do two years and
then if I'm inside the sixty four then I wouldn't
actually go back. All right, that's one of the goals.
Speaker 2 (11:01):
Right, So plenty of time for that. Then you're only
watched six months and is that right? Yeah, that's great,
that's correct, brilliant.
Speaker 4 (11:06):
Well, I bet your family delighted.
Speaker 2 (11:08):
DA have you home, Hope By, So we can't wait
to see you up on the ockey at Hamilton in
a couple of weeks time.
Speaker 4 (11:14):
Thanks for taking the time for a chat.
Speaker 2 (11:17):
No, thanks for having me, Thanks for joining us, Hope,
I hope I pooh our number one darts player. Not
a couple of weeks This coming week Friday Saturday at
Globox Arena in Hamilton, the New Zealand Darts Masters Seal.
Speaker 4 (11:29):
Some tickets available I understand.
Speaker 1 (11:31):
For more from Weekend Sport with Jason Fine. Listen live
to News Talk sed B weekends from midday or follow
the podcast on iHeartRadio.
You're listening to the Weekend Sport podcast with Jason Vine
from News Talks.
Speaker 2 (00:11):
B Hope, I pooh, number one in Oceania is with
us and I hope I. First of all, I've got
a lot of questions for you about the year you've had,
but how much you're looking forward to coming home and
competing on home soil.
Speaker 3 (00:26):
Yeah, Hamilton has always top of the list for me,
playing in front of the home crowd. Yeah, I'm stoked.
I can't wait.
Speaker 4 (00:35):
It's been a big year for you, a landmark year
in any ways.
Speaker 2 (00:39):
We spoke to you, I think right at the start
of the year when you earned your PDC tour card.
Can you tell us what the first six months of
the year have been like for you.
Speaker 3 (00:49):
It's just yeah, it's just it's been. It's been tough
at times. It's been my family's been been here in
New Zealand's I've been over there in the deep end
by myself, so at times it is lonely, but I'm
over there. I'm a trailblazer. I'm soaking it all up.
I'm one of, you know, one of the professionals in
(01:11):
the room. So I've been working hard. I've been grinning away,
treating it as a job. Some of the results haven't
really been going my way, but I've been getting better
and better every time. I'm back home now after six months,
so yeah, it's been good to catch up with the family.
Been on a bit of a holiday the last couple
(01:32):
of weeks, and yeah, the last couple of days, I've
been back on the board two weeks off and it's
felt like it feels like I haven't founded up for
like months. So yeah, I've been doing two sessions a day,
trying to get back in the swing of things, and yeah,
and enjoying all of it.
Speaker 2 (01:51):
I guess we all just assume it's a glamorous life,
don't we. But that must have been hard a being
away from your family for six months. How you how
have you gone about dealing with that? What strategies have
you used?
Speaker 3 (02:05):
Well, we're lucky off this day and age, with technology,
we can have video calls, So video calls twice a
day in the morning, well in the morning news. The
other morning I would ring before the kids go to
school and then obviously before bedtime. So yeah, and to
be fair, it's probably I speak more to the kids
(02:26):
while I was away than when I'm actually at home.
So so yeah, that's a big yeah big, I mean
plus having devices like this at the same time. Yeah,
it's it's not just my goal, it's it's a family
go it's our golf. So I'm over there trying to
(02:49):
make a better life for us, So trying to get
off the tools, trying to get off the roofs, and yeah,
make something of it.
Speaker 2 (02:56):
Well, you're making the steps towards that made it's it's
it's awesome to see. So tell us about the tell
us about the week to week of being a you know,
being a professional on the day room, you know, do
you still do you still have to pinch me moments
or do you feel, look, I am I do belong
here now?
Speaker 3 (03:14):
To be fair, I always thought I belonged. Uh, you
mon't ask me who's my favorite player, and I still
do say Gary Anderson until he's at the hockey with
me and then you know. But yeah, when when you
walk into the room, it's hard to have the same mindset.
Like in New Zealand, I'd walk into a room and
feel like, you know, I'm I'm a good chance of winning.
(03:38):
But when you walk into the room over there and
you look to the left and there's Michael Van going,
and I look to the right and there's you know,
Littler and Humphreys and Peter Wright. You know, it's that
is a tough part. And and it's even though the
halls are packed with people, it's still you know, I'm
still over there by myself. It's relatively lonely at the
(03:59):
same time. But yeah, it's just ye're just going away
and small small steps to get better and better, and
it is working. It's we all can't be a little
at learn and when everything that we look at when
we first get there of it as much as we
want to be.
Speaker 2 (04:19):
He's just burst onto the scene, hasn't. I want to
ask you a bit about him in a second. But
something you said there about you know, looking to your
left and seeing Michael Van go and looking to your
right and seeing look Littler who it might be. But
you still feel that, you know, there's no I guess
some you know, psychological being overawed by this. You're still like, well,
I'm here too, you know, It's just me. It's me
and my three darts on the board against that bloke.
Speaker 3 (04:41):
Yeah, to be fair, when when I do play against
those types of guys. You know what you're in for,
so you know you have to play good. So those
sort of games I tend to play a bit better.
But it's the less known people, you know, like we think, oh,
I might have a chance here, and then they have
one hundred and ten, so they're they're in the same
(05:02):
boat i'm, and you know, they're thinking the same thing.
They don't know who I am, and it doesn't get
a bit.
Speaker 2 (05:09):
Luke Littler as I say, you know, I guess eighteen
months ago not many people would have heard of him,
but an incredible world championship of course, and now you know, no,
and across the world of darts and wider than that
as well. You've obviously had the chance to be in
the same space with him. Have you had much to
do with Luke Littler at all?
Speaker 3 (05:29):
Yeah, Well, so in the darling world we're all known
who luck litter is. He's still been enough to play,
you know, the amateur tournaments and stuff like that, so
it's only you had to be sixteen to be a professional,
so he's probably been good enough to be on the
pro circuit since he was thirteen. So like he's been
(05:50):
winning for a long time. It's just the fact that
he turned sixteen and become a pro and now the
world can see him. We already knew who he was.
He beat us, he beat us up online like many
a times, so we didn't think he was going to
have that much of an impact. Which is it's it's
been good. Like it's throughout the board, you know, with darts,
(06:10):
Hour's accessories, boards, just the hyper darts. He's brought a
lot of hype to our sport, which is good, and
the money has gone up everywhere. So he's been he's
been awesome. For the game.
Speaker 2 (06:22):
Playing, we can work out like you have been. Where
have you seen the big improvements in your game?
Speaker 3 (06:30):
Well, numbers don't mind the averages. You know, everything's on
Dark Connect now, so the averages pretty much even just
mindset practice, like just seeing it going like I practice
really really good, like half the time when I when
I my good game never comes out. It's just a
(06:53):
matter of time. Hopefully, hopefully it's going to be one
of the next two world series.
Speaker 2 (06:57):
So you can put it all together, you know, you
can let the numbers in practice. What what does it
take to to then convert that into into doing that
on the really big stages, just.
Speaker 3 (07:10):
Just doing it more and more, getting used to it.
They you know, the top guys in front of thousands
of people like every week. I like, lower down the ranks,
we don't get to play all the time. So they're
playing week in week out. We were practicing. You have
to qualify, so for half of the events that they're playing,
(07:33):
and we we're like trying to qualified for them. So
there is a lot of downtime for me. So not
enough downtime that I can come home, but enough to
you know, three weeks in between some events for me,
whereas they're playing like every single week, and that though
even have exhibitions with hundreds to thousands of people as well.
(07:58):
So it's just it looks so normal to them because
it is.
Speaker 2 (08:04):
Yeah, but it's a gap that you believe you can
bridge because as you say, I'm sure there's a lot
of guys sort of at your level. You talk about
the top guys and you've just outlined what their lives
are like, but there must be that level that you're
on where there are a lot of guys just you know,
just looking to make that step up.
Speaker 4 (08:18):
You believe you can you can bridge that gap.
Speaker 3 (08:21):
I've had some good games one hundred, one hundred plus
averages and winning against like some of the best players
in the world. I still think but my practice has
still been really, really good. It's still a matter of time.
But yeah, it's just I don't know, it's a weird game.
It's a game of mimeters. When the backstage sometimes I
(08:45):
feel like I can't miss, and then you get on
stage and then you can't hit anything, and then and
then vice versa, like I'll be backstage and can't have anything,
get on stage and win. You know, like it's it's
just a it's a very weird game. But they always
say the more you get comfortable about what's doing in it,
the more the results will come. Just keep running away, Blackfield,
(09:06):
just grinding away and grind away.
Speaker 2 (09:08):
Yeah, indeed, indeed, indeed he did. You're still you're still
at the same favorite doubles.
Speaker 3 (09:16):
Any doubles, A good double when when you're playing the
best in the wheel and you just hope to get
a chance of the double.
Speaker 2 (09:25):
It's a really good way of looking at it, a
really good way of looking at it. Yeah, So just
to finish back home in Hamilton, you know it's you
must love that that home crowd. I mean we obviously
watch it on television all of these big events around
the place, but you know, to get the chance to
see the likes of yourself and the other players, I
mean to pour up close. You must get a real
energy from a home crowd, do you.
Speaker 3 (09:45):
Yeah, it'll be good to not get booed and not
get whistled at this. I'm looking forward to that. The
European crowds are there, Yeah, they're something else.
Speaker 4 (09:58):
Is that right? They let you have it.
Speaker 3 (10:02):
Especially if you like, especially the pro tours when you're
the Euros, when you're playing in Germany against Germans, you know,
your emperor amazing.
Speaker 4 (10:13):
And just to confirm it is tough.
Speaker 3 (10:16):
When you listen back to it, you're like, oh my god,
that's really bad. But as part of the game now
you're going to have a thick, thick skin.
Speaker 2 (10:23):
Now, absolutely, And just to confirm the tour card, so
to retain that, what do you have to do to
retain your tour card?
Speaker 3 (10:31):
So if you stay in the top sixty four and
the money moneyless and money rankings and stuff like that,
you can have a tour card forever.
Speaker 4 (10:42):
And so whereabouts are you in relation to that.
Speaker 3 (10:45):
I'm right at the bottom. I'm not at the bottom.
I'm about one hundred. Ok. My, So the rankings is
a two year cycle, so I'll do two years and
then if I'm inside the sixty four then I wouldn't
actually go back. All right, that's one of the goals.
Speaker 2 (11:01):
Right, So plenty of time for that. Then you're only
watched six months and is that right? Yeah, that's great,
that's correct, brilliant.
Speaker 4 (11:06):
Well, I bet your family delighted.
Speaker 2 (11:08):
DA have you home, Hope By, So we can't wait
to see you up on the ockey at Hamilton in
a couple of weeks time.
Speaker 4 (11:14):
Thanks for taking the time for a chat.
Speaker 2 (11:17):
No, thanks for having me, Thanks for joining us, Hope,
I hope I pooh our number one darts player. Not
a couple of weeks This coming week Friday Saturday at
Globox Arena in Hamilton, the New Zealand Darts Masters Seal.
Speaker 4 (11:29):
Some tickets available I understand.
Speaker 1 (11:31):
For more from Weekend Sport with Jason Fine. Listen live
to News Talk sed B weekends from midday or follow
the podcast on iHeartRadio.
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