WALKER: FROM BOREDOM TO WORLD NO.1
17/02/2026 By Aaron Nijjar
JENSON WALKER admits he started playing darts “through pure boredom” after rising to world No.1 in the WDF rankings.
The 19-year-old reached the semi-final at the WDF World Championships in 2025 and backed it up by winning the Romanian Classic.
The Coventry thrower has beaten Luke Littler THREE times and first began playing in youth tournaments after the Covid pandemic.
Walker also represented England alongside Littler during the early stages of his career.
He told the BBC: “At Christmas we would always watch the world championships on TV and we’d get the dartboard out of the loft and have a play.
“One year it stayed up after Christmas and then the Covid pandemic hit so, through pure boredom, I started chucking and it spiralled from there.
“About a year on I started to realise I was decent at darts and when we came out of the first wave of lockdowns I entered a youth tournament.
“I was a steady player and as I hadn’t played the game properly before I didn’t feel any pressure.
“Luke and I started at a very similar time. We’ve competed for the England team together and have had numerous battles – he’s winning 5-3 currently and I’ll take that at the moment!”
Walker is currently studying accountancy on Coventry University’s sports scholarship programme and is prioritising his degree alongside chucking arrows.
He added: “It felt the right time to start my studies alongside my darts.
“The finances that were up for grabs last year in the sport meant I couldn’t risk not putting all my effort into that, so I delayed starting in September and began in January.
“I’m ready for this now and it feels right.”
Image by Chris Sargeant.
