Trina Gulliver’s 13 year love affair with Winmau continues!
Trina Gulliver, the greatest female darts player of all time, has signed a new contract with the world’s leading darts brand Winmau. Trina will continue to represent the Winmau brand until 2015 and both parties are delighted to reaffirm their commitment to a partnership that, for the last thirteen years, has seen Trina lift nine World Championship titles, five Winmau World Masters crowns and countless other major honours. This unparalleled list of achievements ranks Trina as one of the greatest names in the history of darts.
The last 13 years has seen Trina lead a revolution in ladies darts, and her partnership with Winmau has been an enormous plus for the ladies game. Her profile and her drive to succeed, year after year, has been a key reason for the resurgence in the women’s game. During The Golden Girl’s tenure at the top of the game, the prize money and the interest in women’s darts has increased dramatically; benefiting not just herself but the entire sport.
In Golden Girl: The Autobiography of the Greatest Ever Ladies Darts Player there are vivid tales of how Trina threw her first darts standing on a stool in her parents pub as a two year old. Her dedication to tungsten clearly started early, but it was an interest in other metals, and indeed wood, that saw Trina devote herself to a life of woodwork and joinery.
In her teens she constructed greenhouses and chairs from plywood before gaining work experience at a building firm. Trina showed the dogged determination in this role that she displays in every aspect of her life. After three years of woodwork classes she qualified as a carpenter/joiner and, in typical Trina fashion, she was fighting the odds – she became a carpenter despite being allergic to certain types of wood! Despite her love of carpentry, Trina was destined for a life of competition – she played football, sprinting, netball and javelin to county level.
Playing darts in the early days was never easy. The Golden Girl would work 12 hour shifts as a carpenter and still find time to dedicate to her darts passion. By 1988 she was one of the best ladies darts players around. She played county darts for Warwickshire and was capped by England in 1994. However, this was not a sufficient challenge for Trina; she entered the Super League darts against male opponents and won her first four matches. It wasn’t her only success against the opposite sex - she came 12th out of 20 male players in the 2001 Pentathlon. She was well on her way to conquering the game.
Since the inception of the Lakeside Women’s World Championship in 2001, Trina has reached every final; an achievement unparalleled in darts. Indeed she has only lost the final on two occasions. Trina’s achievements were recognised in 2003 when she was named as the BBC Midlands Sports Personality of the Year.
Trina said “Winmau have been the most loyal, supportive and understanding company to work with. It is true to say that, without their help over the years, I wouldn’t have achieved so much both on and off the oche. They make me feel so welcome as part of the team and the quality of their darts equipment has undoubtedly been a big boost to my career”.
Winmau has supported Trina for 13 years and she is a personal friend of all that work for the darts giant. Ian Flack, Sales and Marketing Director, said: “This new extension to our partnership with Trina will yield even more success for the greatest ever ladies darts player. Trina is an icon in the sport of darts; her phenomenal achievements are a testament to that. But there is one worrying thing for her opponents: With this new agreement and her unwavering focus, Trina Gulliver’s best days are still ahead of her!”.