Darts is a cruel game. Actually, no, it isn’t. Cruel is defined as ‘wilfully causing pain’. Darts didn’t keep Mikuru Suzuki’s darts wide of the double 11. The eye, arm and wrist of The Miracle did. Darts isn’t a cruel game, being a human creates the conditions in which cruelty can take place.

All of which is a bit silly and philosophical, or pseudo-philosophical, but Mikuru Suzuki’s loss to James Richardson encouraged such things. It all started in a fairly humdrum manner, as Richardson took the first leg with little fuss. The crowd was quiet. Suzuki was putting as many darts in the treble five as she was the treble 20. She took the second leg, 1-1. The third leg was tight, although Richardson ploughed in a maximum to leave himself on 38, the current BDO Women’s World Champion stuck on 151. Surely not? 60. Surely not?! 51. It couldn’t happen?! Tops. 151 out, an Ally Pally audience in raptures, Suzuki looking calm. The set was in her grasp.

But then those darts couldn’t find their way into the double 11. They weren’t getting any closer. They were in range, but the range wasn’t adjusting. Suzuki was able to get impressive repetition when it came to the weight of the dart, but slight redirection seemed like a much tougher task. Four darts came, four darts went, and Richardson was left with tops for the win. The crowd booed, Richardson buckled as a dart hit the wire 20, but the shock that reverberated around the crowd at such a wayward dart was quickly dulled to silence, as ‘Ruthless’ produced the dart of the night to sneak a dart where it seemingly could not be snuck. 1-0 Richardson.

And that seemed to be that. The man who famously put out Barney back in 2012 sauntered through the next set, winning it to nil, doing a fairly consistent job as Mikuru seemed to be stuck in the misery that comes with letting victory slip through your fingers. Those four missed darts hung over her like a shadow. She frequently found herself with darts in hand to win a leg, but the tip could not find colour. Following that impressive 151, Suzuki missed 11 consecutive darts at double. 2-0 Richardson, Suzuki dead and buried.

An efficient two-dart 64 saw Richardson take the first leg in the third set. Sky started previewing matches coming the following day, joking about wearing green to celebrate the mass of Irish players. Suzuki was not officially defeated, but come on, the writing was on the wall, and the writing was all too legible. The crowd turned to a murmur, Richardson hitting a 140 that Suzuki could only follow with a 45. The two traded nonsense, 45s, 44s, 40s, before Richardson took out 56 in two darts to come within a leg of the match. Put the kettle on, get the pyjamas on, it was over.

And then everything went a bit mental. Richardson, a hangdog figure that might just define the term ‘solid pro’, started the leg with a 60 and 22, Suzuki replied with a ton and a 140, before ‘Ruthless’ hit another 180. A 61 finish stopped the rot for ‘The Miracle’, although the single five that started it off didn’t inspire much confidence. But the hangdog’s eyes seemed to droop, the crowd began to stir, the transfer of dart from resting hand to throwing hand became messy. Richardson ahead 221 to 398, but then Mikuru hit a maximum. She followed it up with a straight 100. She wired tops for a 118. Richardson missed double eight for the match. Suzuki cleaned up the 20, 2 legs each. A stay of execution? Maybe, but Mikuru had won two legs in a row.

A 135. More noise from the crowd. Another 135, a bigger cheer. Russ Bray doing his bit to command the audience. A straight 100 kept her in the game. Richardson’s darts became ever more erratic, missing a bullseye for the match. The crowd started to get into things, and a second straight leg was won on double 10. 2-1 Richardson, but something was stirring.

The darts from Mikuru that were missing started hitting. The darts from Richardson that were hitting started missing. His 100s were followed by her 140s. For ‘Ruthless’, the doubles and trebles became tiny. For ‘The Miracle’? That old cricket term of ‘seeing it like a beachball’ came to mind. Richardson started playing like a man in a storm, a storm that was equal parts Mikuru, equal parts the occasion. A 106 finish, five legs in a row, Mikuru just a leg away from an even game. How did that happen? The rot seemed to have stopped, as Richardson left himself 81 after nine, only for ‘Ruthless’ to mess around on his doubles and find himself in the madhouse. He won the leg but didn’t look particularly happy about it. Richardson was still winning the match, but he had started to look as though he wanted to be anywhere else in the world. Two minutes later, we had ourselves a tied game. Yuki Yamada, masked in the crowd, going insane. One of the thousands. All of a sudden, it was Suzuki’s to lose.

The last set wasn’t a classic. Both players missed big numbers. The crowd were hounding every misstep from Richardson, wildly celebrating every inch taken by Suzuki. The first leg of the final set went the way of ‘The Miracle’, and a real piece of sporting history seemed on the cards. The second leg was scratchy once more, but Richardson’s mind was all over the place. With a dart in hand and 84 on the scoreboard, he threw for the bull, hitting 25 to leave himself 59. A successful bull would have left him double 17, the least hit double in PDC World Championship history. His two darts at tops were wayward, to be kind. Suzuki needed 26 to go 2-0 up. History.

The first dart hit the double, but the double hit was a six, not a 13. Her first attempt at double seven missed on the outside. One dart in hand, to move one from victory. Glory, within her grasp, glory, slipping away. Her last dart was on the outside of her first, the same issue as those double 11s way back when, and Richardson cleaned up double 10 for parity once more. A few moments later (and one double eight later), Richardson was a leg from victory once more. The crowd energy had lessened once more. It was too good to be true, it is always too good to be true. But no, a leg of staying straight, Richardson once again growing uncomfortable at the sight of the finish line, and a magnificent 101 from ‘The Miracle’; a deciding leg was fate. Fate, history, destiny.

Richardson starts with a 60. Suzuki a 125. Richardson another 60. Suzuki a 45. The tension. Richardson a ton. Suzuki likewise. The drama. Richardson 85, Suzuki 55. The pressure. Richardson 96, 100 left. Suzuki 24. The straw, the camel, the broken back. Richardson wires double 20 for a stunning tops tops to win the match, but unless Suzuki takes out 152, it is over. The first dart is in the 60, and the collective mind goes back to that 151. History. Fate. Destiny. But history, fate and destiny are little more than comforting words, and the second dart goes high. A treble 12 leaves Suzuki on 36, but Richardson has three at tops for the match. The first goes high, a marker, the second finds home. James Richardson has avoided becoming the answer to a pub quiz question.

But what has Mikuru Suzuki done? She has quite possibly lit a fire under the world of women’s darts that will not be put out. Overlooked in the drama was Daniela Bata-Bogdanov, the first female member of an official scoring teaming in PDC World Championships history. Bata-Bogdanov chalked off Richardson’s tops, and Suzuki accepted her defeat. She may have fallen short, but she showed that she was more than capable of performing on the biggest stage in the sport. What would have happened if one of those darts at double 11 had crept in? We’ll never know. Darts is a cruel game.

John Bills writes books about Eastern Europe, tomes covering history, travel, booze and the rest. These magical pieces of literary competency can be purchased at this link, so get yourself over there and do the right thing. Pay attention to the discounts.