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Blind darts team prepares for their first match

Screengrab of Richard Pryor, member of the Optimists blind darts team.

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After a few pints at their local pub, a group of blind friends in Cornwall, England, agreed to the suggestion that they should start their own blind darts team.

"While we were down the pub the other day, Joe, the landlord, mentioned that Rotary had organized for pubs to take part in the Fast Darts competition. He asked if we wanted to put in a blind darts team," said 68-year-old Richard Pryor, who lost his sight 40 years ago. “After three pints I am up for anything and we said yes.”

Dubbed the “Darting Optimists,” the team is now ready for its first match.

"No one has been injured yet, although there has been quite a bit of damage to the door and around the board. I think it’s a great idea and it’s quite exciting. We’re always up for something that’s a bit different," Pryor told the West Briton.

"Just because you can’t see it doesn’t mean it’s the end of the world. I have been blind for 40 years and I have had a superb time, I wouldn’t swap it for anything. However, on the night people might want to stand back a little bit as I don’t think we get any points for hitting the spectators.”

To help with the blind players’ aim, a piece of string will be attached to the bull’s-eye which each player can hold with one hand as they throw a dart.

According to the Mirror, the Darting Optimists will take on 14 sighted rivals in a contest to score the most points in 90 minutes.

The landlord at the the Dolphin Inn in Grampound, Cornwall, said that the door to the darts room will be closed during the competition “just in case” a dart goes rogue.

The Darting Optimists are not-so-secretly hoping for a blackout on the night of the competition — to put them on equal footing with their sighted rivals.