For more than forty years, Deta Hedman, known as the “Caribbean Queen”, has been one of darts’ most enduring figures: admired, feared, sometimes underestimated, but always present. When she finally became the World Darts Federation (WDF) Women’s World Champion at 66, her reaction said everything about the long journey that brought her to that moment.
The dart hit the double, the crowd erupted, and Hedman broke down. “I didn’t realise it was going to be such an emotional moment,” she said afterwards, wiping away tears she had spent decades holding back. Hedman’s triumph at the 2025 World Championship in Lakeside was not a story of a veteran’s last flourish; it was the culmination of a life carved out through self-belief and an unshakeable refusal to give up.
From St. Thomas to Essex
Born in St. Thomas and raised in Castleton, St. Mary, Hedman spent her early years in a modest rural household without running water or electricity. When she migrated to Essex in 1973 at the age of 13 to join her parents, she had never heard of darts. The sport, which is deeply rooted in British pub culture and now attracts millions of viewers through major televised tournaments, was entirely new to her.
It was her brothers, already playing in local leagues, who introduced her to the game. Hedman began practising casually before developing a serious interest, setting small targets for herself as she improved. “I just progressed each level to see where I could go,” she has said. That steady, incremental approach would ultimately shape the rest of her career.
Breaking Barriers and Beating the Boys
Her rise unfolded in an era when women were rarely given a platform in the sport, yet Hedman pushed through every barrier with unassuming authority. She became one of the few women to beat a man on live television, a landmark moment that electrified the UK Open and signalled her place among the very best. Commentators called her “class” and “the best lady player of the last 15 years,” but she never carried herself as a star.
She balanced matches with shifts at Royal Mail, trained around work hours, and devoted spare time to charity, helping raise over £200,000 through Hearts of Darts for children with disabilities. Her service to both sport and community would eventually earn her an OBE , the first darts player ever to receive one, an honour she described as “unbelievable” and “surreal.”
50 Years in the Making
Hedman has won almost everything the sport has to offer, yet for all her achievements one gap lingered: the world title. Although widely regarded as the greatest female player in the sport’s history, she had never won the world crown. Three times she reached the Lakeside final and three times she left empty-handed. Each loss added weight to the idea that the title might never come. Even when she reached another final in 2025, she admitted wondering whether this would be the occasion she slipped again.
The early stages of the match did little to reassure her; she lost the first set, nerves tightening her shoulders. But then came the turning moment — a 112 checkout delivered under suffocating pressure. “Thank God for that,” she said later. From there, her composure returned, her rhythm settled, and Hedman held her nerve. When the final dart fell, years of restraint finally cracked. She became the oldest world champion in WDF history.
A Leader Carrying the Weight of Women’s Darts
Behind the composure, Hedman is a deeply principled figure. As the Athletes Commissioner for the World Darts Federation, she has spent years carrying the concerns of women in the sport, sometimes to the point of emotional exhaustion.
She has spoken candidly about the weight of responsibility, about breaking down in tears at tournaments where women approached her for help. It is a side of her story rarely seen but central to who she is: an advocate, a protector, someone who understands that her role extends beyond the oche.
A Lifetime of Hard Work, Service and Unfinished Dreams
Her world title, then, was more than a personal victory. It was the release of a lifetime’s worth of near-misses, early morning shifts, charity work, quiet leadership, and the constant balancing act of being both an athlete and a working woman. It was a triumph shaped as much by St. Mary and Essex as by tournament halls across Europe. It was the reward for four decades of persistence in a sport that did not always make space for women like her.
And so, when she cried on Rietbergen’s shoulder, it was not only joy. It was relief. Recognition. Closure. The long-awaited moment when every part of her story finally aligned.
The Crowning Chapter of a Singular Career
After forty years, Deta Hedman is not simply a world champion. She is proof that determination can outlast doubt, that legacy is built slowly, and that sometimes the most powerful victories are the ones that arrive in their own time.
She once wondered whether she would ever say the words. Now she can: She is a world champion.
