‘Don’t try that at home kids’ – PDC cult hero’s miscount has commentators in disbelief
Jose de Sousa started his debut PDC European tournament as he meant to go on – with hilarious miscounts and unorthodox checkouts.
The 51-year-old has become a cult hero amongst darts fans since picking up his PDC Tour Card in 2019.
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De Sousa’s first PDC European Tour showing came at the Danish Open in 2019And in the Danish Open six years ago, he showed fans and commentators what they will be in store for in the years to follow.
De Sousa was competing in his first event on the PDC European circuit.
In doing so, he also became the first Portuguese player to feature on the circuit.
And he made an impressive start in Copenhagen – beating Scott Taylor and Darren Webster to set up a third round meeting with Daryl Gurney.
READ MORE DARTS NEWSA true maverick of the game, the Lisbon native has never been one to go for the conventional checkout when standing at the oche.
This was on show against Gurney in the fourth leg of their match – which he went on to win 6-4 in the first-to-six legs encounter.
Requiring 39 to go 3-1 up, De Sousa could have opted for the single seven, double 16 route, or single 19, double ten.
He did neither.
The tournament’s cameraman anticipated De Sousa would go for the single 19, double ten approach, with the camera locked onto the single 19 bed.
But De Sousa, who had seemingly miscounted, opted to throw single five instead.
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De Sousa opted to hit single five with his first throw, much to the surprise of the commentators
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The Portuguese star then hit double 16 – leading to hysterical laughter in the broadcast boothThe decision sparked shock from commentator Dan Dawson, who said: “Ooh, what’s he doing here? Really?”
That was no real issue, with De Sousa left with a checkout of double 17, with the cameraman zooming in to get his attempt.
However, he yet again miscounted, with the camera then panning to De Sousa hitting double 16.
It led a shocked Rob Mullarkey to state: “He’s split it again! He’s miscounted.”
Dawson instantly burst into a cackle as he failed to contain his laughter, with De Sousa finally realising he had made an error.
He looked over to the referee in bewilderment, before looking to the ground, where he could be seen shaking his head as he plotted his final throw.
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De Sousa looked over to the referee as he threatened to throw away the leg
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He looked to the floor to compose himself before his final throwStill struggling to catch his breath, Dawson then said: “He’s done this a few times this year.
“How can you be throwing 100-averages on a regular basis if you can’t count?”
De Sousa was then left to hit double one to secure the leg – which is often considered to be the most difficult to hit on the board.
But he did it at the first time of asking – prompting a muted celebration from De Sousa and more raucous laughter from Dawson and Mullarkey.
Offering words of wisdom to young fans watching on, Mullarkey then quipped: “Don’t try that at home kids, do not try that at home!
“That is absolutely astonishing! And again there’s very little sign of any emotion or reaction whatsoever from Jose de Sousa.”
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De Sousa hit double one to secure an unorthodox double-double finish
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It was a muted celebration from ‘The Special One’Before adding: “One of the moments of the weekend – one of the moments of the European Tour full stop.”
Still failing to compose himself, Dawson then simply stated: “I love it, I absolutely love it.”
De Sousa would eventually suffer a quarter-final defeat to eventual finalist Chris Dobey in the next round.
But it wouldn’t be long for him to leave Dawson crying with laughter once again.
Just three months later at the Gibraltar Open, De Sousa failed spectacularly with an exhibition 120 checkout attempt against then-world number one Michael van Gerwen.
In what become known as the ‘De Sousa way’, he attempted three double 20s instead of hitting treble 20, single 20, double 20, where he missed with his first effort before hilariously going bust.
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Though he did fare better when attempting the same checkout in a Premier League clash against Nathan Aspinall in 2021 – sending fans at the Marshall Arena in Milton Keynes into delirium with commentator Wayne Mardle left speechless.
But perhaps his most famous checkout was the one which saw him clinch his maiden PDC European Tour title at the European Darts Grand Prix in 2020.
Having been left embarrassed by his 120 checkout attempt against Van Gerwen the year prior, he this time made amends.
Read More on talkSPORTThough it was in completely accidental fashion after messing up his first two throws, before finishing on an another unorthodox double-double finish.
For the sake of darts, Jose de Sousa, please never change.
