‘Pretty certain' – Darts legend, 61, tipped for instant return to the sport just months after retirement

The Sun

08-07-2025

DARTS hero Steve Beaton has tipped to come out of retirement months after laying down his arrows.
Beaton, 61, began on the professional circuit in 1991 - competing against the likes of Dennis Priestley and Bob Anderson - before calling it quits last year.
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Beaton is a former Lakeside World Champion and semi-finalist in the UK Open and World Grand Prix.
The "Bronzed Adonis" played in his 33rd consecutive PDC World Darts Championship last year, seeing off Dutchman Wessel Nijman 3-1 in the last 96.
Beaton, who holds the record for 33 World Darts Championship appearances, brought the curtain down on his three-decade-plus stint on the main tour at the end of 2024.
He currently competes on the MODUS Super Series alongside the seniors circuit - which Phil Taylor used to feature in after retirement.
But Matthew Edgar, 38, has backed Beaton to make a remarkable comeback to the PDC this year.
Edgar reckons the huge investment into the sport, combined with the expanded World Darts Championship format coming to Ally Pally later this year, will prove irresistible for the Coventry ace.
Edgar told the Love The Darts podcast: "With the increased ranking money next year, if you're going to have a bad year and miss the big events, you can get away with it.
"Because you can make it back up again in the previous year and the following year when you're not defending anything, you've got this heightened prize money, you can make the jump quite significantly.
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"You're guaranteed the UK Open so realistically you think, 'Well, if I just have an okay season I should be in three potentially big events."
Sky Sports presenter Abigail Davies then guessed that Beaton could be among those players motivated to return, to which Edgar boldly declared: "I think he does, I'm calling it now.
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"I think Steve Beaton's at Q School this year. I am pretty certain of it."
Q School is a qualifying tournament for players who compete against each other to earn a PDC Tour Card, which allows them to play on the professional circuit.
The World Championship is expanding to 128 players for the 2025/26 edition, with a total prize fund of £5 million, including £1 million for the winner.
Despite Edgar's prediction, it was only last month that Beaton revealed it was time for him to step back from such a demanding darts schedule.
He said: ""You've got to move on. I'm 61 now. I can't keep playing darts all the time.
"I do watch them and I feel for them you know, they're on the clock all the time. It's great when you're younger. But once you get older it's harder."