Loxley Darts would like to extend our thanks to Craig Galliano for representing us proudly over the past years. We wish him all the very best of luck as he moves on to the next step in his career.
The Imp – Craig Galliano
Coming into the media spotlight in recent days, Craig Galliano (along with Gibraltan counterpart Justin Hewitt) is set to take the PDC by storm as he debuts at the prestigious PDC World Cup of Darts, coming through a tough final qualifier to win and book his place in the Gibraltar team, set to play in Austria in early November.
For Craig, his start to darts came very early, first getting a dartboard at just 2 years old! “I started throwing by my front door”, he told me, eventually leading to “playing endless games against my grandad!”. Four years after receiving his first dartboard, he joined his local youth team, playing there for 4 years before taking a break from the sport. Encouraged by family, he made a return to the sport – determined to make his grandfather proud.
His proudest achievement, he says, was his aforementioned qualification into the Gibraltar team for the upcoming PDC World Cup of Darts. For Craig, representing his country is “something you dream of as a kid”, and that he is looking forward to playing on a “big stage in front of thousands”. After already representing his country multiple times at youth level, a senior competition will offer new challenges, but he knows from experience he’s more than up to it – claiming multiple titles on both the Gibraltan youth and senior circuits to establish himself as one of the country’s top talents.
In every player’s career comes one defining moment, that proves to them they have what it takes to get to the top. In Craig’s case, it was winning his first senior Gibraltar ranking competition at just 16 years old. “That gave me a boost”, he said, “to continue developing within my darts career”. This development has been shown already in his recent success in qualification for the World Cup squad, as well as, as I mentioned previously, his development within the Gibraltar darts circuit, picking up multiple senior and youth titles on his way to reaching the pinnacle of the game, both locally and internationally.
As a darts player, his goals are clearly defined, as he knows just what he needs to do to achieve them. In the short term, he wants to simply “improve every day, and every tournament I attend in the coming years”. To achieve this, he looks to take things “step by step”, “eventually setting higher goals”. For Craig, one of his main goals – featuring in the PDC World Cup with his country – has been completed, but the hard work is only just beginning! “In the long term”, he told me, “[he wants to be] playing in the Pro Tour [against] the best week in, week out”. His eventual goal, as is the case with most youth players, is to use the recent success of players such as Keane Barry and Nico Kurz in creating his own Ally-Pally story. His motto, “Dream, Believe, Achieve” displays exactly that – I for one can’t wait to hear what the future has in store for one of the hottest prospects in darts!
Thank you to Craig for the input to this profile – I wish both you and Justin all the best at the PDC World Cup of Darts! Thank you again to Loxley for the opportunity to write for their website. More player profiles on the way soon!
Author – Joe Reid