Oakley, from Lockington, will be vying for a chance to compete against some of the top darts players from around the country and overseas at the Moama Bowling Club, with $80,000 in prize money up for grabs.
With 16 of the 24 competitors for the men’s tournament locked in, Oakley is hoping to fill one of the eight spots open to qualifiers when he competes on Wednesday.
His sister, Jodie, will also be in action. She will be fighting it out for one of the four qualifier spots in the women’s event.
Oakley has been honing his skills for the 26ers in the local league and said the open was a huge occasion.
“This is the big one for Australia. There are heaps of mini tournaments all around the country, but everyone trains for this event,” Oakley said.
“You have the best players from around the country. You even have international players coming over too, so there will be some tough people to beat.”
After starting out playing darts five years ago, this will be the second time Oakley has attempted to qualify for the open, and he has certainly been putting in the hard work to get there.
“Over the last few months I have been playing two to three hours a night to get ready for it,” he said.
“Before that I was still playing up to an hour-and-a-half each night. I wouldn’t even want to know how many thousands of darts I have thrown in the last two years.”
He took part in the qualifiers for the most recent open in 2019, but despite not making it, Oakley said it was still a great learning experience.
“Last time I got absolutely whitewashed. But it was also a good experience to know what sort of level I would have to be at to come back and try again,” he said.
“Last time, my opponent averaged around 70 points for every three darts, so that was my goal to try and get to before I came back this year, and I have managed to achieve it.
“The qualifiers go for six rounds. If I could get through half of them, I would be rapt. I’m not 100 per cent confident that I will qualify, but I am confident I will win a few games.”
Each game consists of nine legs. Competitors aim to finish on exactly 501 points in as few throws as possible, with whoever does so first winning the leg.
