'Cool Hand' to 'Panda Man': the power or pitfalls of a nickname

Some monikers area perfect fit for the audience and reflect a darts player's style; others are just too hot for television

- Jonathan Liew

It’s September 2017, and a humble Challenge Tour quarterfinal at the Robin Park Leisure Centre in Wigan is about to change the course of darting history.

Luke Humphries and Martin Lukeman are two promising young throwers making their way on the Professional Darts Corporation’s second-tier tour, dreaming of the big time. But there’s one problem.

Humphries has styled himself “Cool Hand”, based on the 1967 Paul Newman film that to date he has still never watched. Lukeman, meanwhile, has decided to call himself “Cool Man”: less catchy, doesn’t really scan, but still just about works. And though the pair are firm friends, when the draw in Wigan pits them against each other, they decide that this best-of-nine match will settle matters once and for all. Winner gets the nickname. Loser has to think of something else. How different might the

undulating paths of these two men have been had Lukeman and not Humphries won that match? Of course, Lukeman has had a perfectly fine career: finalist in the Grand Slam last season, a couple of promising runs in the other majors. But the man they now call “Smash” has also struggled for consistency at the highest level. He goes on a hot streak and then fades for months. What he so sorely lacks - in those big pressure moments - is a little coolness.