Emotional darts star holds up picture of late baby son after victorious return to oche
Danny Baggish paid an emotional tribute to his late son after victory on his MODUS Super Series debut.
The American tragically lost his son to cancer in 2025 at just 19 months old, and made his return to the oche on Wednesday.
Baggish had spent nearly four years away from the sport, last playing in 2022.
He made it a winning return, as ‘The Gambler’ beat Jeff Smith 4-1 at the Live Lounge to top Group A of the MODUS Super Series.
And there were moving scenes following his victory, as Baggish honoured his late son by holding a picture of him to the camera.
The 42-year-old was visibly emotional, and could be seen fighting back tears as he celebrated his successful darts comeback.
‘It meant a lot’
Speaking after the win, Baggish was emotional as he opened up on just how much the moment had meant to him.
Wiping away tears, he told MODUS: “[It meant] So much. I’m sorry.”
Baggish then revealed he had been struggling with his emotions both before the match, and during it.
Breaking down his win, he said: “It meant a lot, but I felt it when I got to three legs.
“I felt the emotions take over a little bit so I had to take a deep breath back there.
“I think last night was the first night I started thinking about back home and stuff. So for a good hour, I was a wreck last night.
“You have to keep it in, you have a job to do. You’ve got to do what you came here to do and you hold it in until there’s a time to release that.
“I have always been an emotional player, but this is different. The moment I hit that double tops, it was a lot of relief and thoughts, appreciation and love came out.”
The MODUS Super Series is held weekly in Portsmouth, and features 12 non-PDC Tour card players.
Having won his group, Baggish will now play in the competition’s final this weekend, as he looks to continue his winning return to darts.
Prior to his hiatus, the Florida native held a PDC Tour card between 2021 and 2022.
He also competed in the World Championship on three occasions, featuring in 2020, 2021 and 2023.
His best-ever run at Alexandra Palace came in 2021, where he reached the third round before being knocked out by England’s Glen Durrant.
In other darts news, there were more tears on the oche as Beau Greaves became the first woman to win a PDC ranking title on Monday.
Darts player and pundit Laura Turner tipped Greaves to make more history as the first female to win a PDC major title in the not-so-distant future.
Meanwhile, Greaves told talkSPORT she has her sights set on an extended run at a televised event as her next big objective.
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