Opinion | Left Field: Putting Hong Kong on the darts map

It's rare that a night out in Wan Chai puts you on the path to playing in a World Cup. But this is what happened to Scott Mackenzie who, with Royden Lam Ting-chi, found himself in the heat of the action in the World Cup of Darts in Frankfurt, Germany, last weekend.

Few Hong Kong teams find their way to the peak of their sport, but Mackenzie and Lam not only reached it, but almost climbed to the top, bowing out in the quarter-finals to Scotland.

For those who think darts is nothing more than a recreation one indulges in during a pub crawl, then think again. Mackenzie might not be the well-honed athlete who pumps iron in the gym and sweats it out on the field, but he is no less committed, spending hours training and perfecting his aim.

He is the first to agree that at a social level the game is for pub-crawlers on a boozy night out with their mates. "Darts was born in a pub," he says. "A lot of bars have dartboards and it doesn't take up much room and it's a fun game to play with friends.

"But there is a professional side to it and it is classed as a sport. Most non-physical sports such as shooting, snooker, archery, bowling, golf and so on are already either in the Olympics or Asian Games. They all have a recreational and a professional side which requires a lot of skill. It is the same with darts."

You can't fault his reasoning, not when Mackenzie spends two to three hours a day practising. Like most Hong Kong athletes, he cannot find the time to train more - he works as an editor with a financial publication. Despite his restrictions - a professional dart player puts in close to eight hours of practice a day - Mackenzie found himself in the quarter-finals of the World Cup last week.