Darts champion Deta Hedman ‘blubbered like a child’ after win

Darts world champion Deta Hedman said she was “blubbering like a child” after winning the sport’s top prize.

The 66-year-old from Witham, Essex, defeated top seed Lerena Rietbergen 4-1 to claim the 2025 WDF Women’s World Championship title on Sunday.

It marked the first time Hedman, nicknamed the “Caribbean Queen”, had been crowned world champion during a career spanning five decades.

She said: “To have won it, I can’t really describe it. I think everyone just saw how [emotional] I looked. It will sink in in a few days’ time. I will let all the excitement settle down first.”

Hedman had lost in three finals before arriving for her 15th tournament at Lakeside in November.

Rietbergen took the first set, but Hedman bounced back to secure victory, finally securing the title that had long eluded her.

“When [the dart] went in I just thought, ‘Thank God, finally I’ve done it’,” she told Ian Puckey on BBC Essex Sport Extra.

“Most people saw I started blubbering like a child. It was just the relief.

“I didn’t think it was ever going to come.”

It topped off a remarkable year for the arrow expert, who was born in Jamaica but moved to England aged 13.

Hedman found out in June that she would be appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) for her services to darts and charity.

“I can’t put into words right now how I feel,” she added.

The world champion stressed she was “grateful and privileged” to still be at the oche doing what she loved.

“Things are written, and if it’s meant to be, it’s meant to be. It’s funny how everything has just fallen into place,” she said.