Mick Lacey is back and taking on Super League Darts by Simon Smith of Stuff.co.nz
Mick Lacey got the nickname ^The Lone Wolf^ as his son says he always travels by himself to tournaments.
The Lone Wolf is ready to pounce on the Super League Darts title.
The competition starting on July 10 will be the first televised domestic New Zealand darts tournament, and the final will be screened live on Sky.
Mick ^The Lone Wolf^ Lacey wasn^t in last year^s event as he had just returned to the circuit after not throwing a single dart for a decade.
The 38-year-old from Mt Wellington in Auckland says that although he used to throw amongst the top 10 in the country he gave it up to spend time with his family.
But Lacey picked up the darts again at the beginning of last year and only four weeks later made the Dart Players New Zealand Auckland open semi-finals.
"There^s a lot more opportunity now," he says. "It^s something that I have always wondered: What if I hadn^t given it away what would have happened?"
Lacey is now practicing two to four hours a night and hones his skills at West City Darts in Ranui, which on a Thursday night has one of the strongest in-house competitions in the city, he says.
He is confident he can win the invitation-only Super League Darts competition to be held at Skycity Auckland over the coming weeks.
Eight players will compete for a prize pool of close to $20,000 across four days - July 10, July 17 and July 18 with the final on August 1.
Four of the eight players are selected from Dart Players New Zealand^s order of merit, and four are wildcards.
Lacey was third on the order of merit at the time of selection and says he knows his opponents as he plays them often.
He expects Rob "The Hurricane" Szabo and Warren "Waza" Parry to be the hardest to beat as they have international experience and did well at the last world championships.
"But they are all going to be tough."
This year is a big one for darts in New Zealand with the Super League Darts competition followed by the Auckland Dart Masters, when eight of the world^s leading darts players will compete at The Trusts Arena in Henderson, in what will also be a televised event.
The qualifying tournament will be held at Swanson Memorial RSA from August 25 to 27, with the Auckland Dart Masters held the weekend immediately afterwards.
Both New Zealanders and Australians will compete at the qualifying tournament for four places in the competition.
Lacey say darts has a lot of viewers on New Zealand television so it is great that local games are starting to be broadcst.
"It^s amazing how huge it actually is, "He says.
"Every tournament from England is televised live on Sky so it has got quite a following."
Go to superleaguedarts.com for more information
http://www.stuff.co.nz/auckland/sport/69824143/mick-lacey-is-back-and-taking-on-super-league-darts