Hailing from Lithuania, Mindaugas Barauskas has played in Professional Darts Corporation events in 2020, after making great strides by qualifying for the European Darts Grand Prix on the PDC European Tour.

The European Darts Grand Prix was an important event in the career of Barauskas, who was the Nordic and Baltic qualifier. In a match which was the best of 11 legs, Barauskas produced an excellent performance and narrowly lost 6-5 to Mervyn King.

In addition to representing his country at the 2020 PDC World Cup of Darts and reaching the last 16, Barauskas enjoyed a winning 2019 by claiming the Baltic Professional Darts League. He defeated Janis Kupsis 10-7 in the final in Riga. Barauskas also made the Estonian Open quarter final in 2019 .

There are many great years ahead for the bricklayer from Prienai, and qualifying for a few more European PDC events will propel him up the rankings and we think a future place at the PDC World Darts Championship is on the cards.

At Shot, we’re delighted to add Mindaugas to our Pro Darts Player tribe, and we can’t wait to see what’s in store for him as he progresses in 2021 and beyond.

Our team is currently working closely with him on the design and prototyping of his new Pro Series dart. 

Mindaugas says "Shot Darts was on my wish list for their professional work and superior quality. I was very happy to be invited to work with them. So I believe that together we will not only create good things but also achieve great victories. Thank you to the whole Shot Darts team”.

Walk on Song: Blinding Lights - The Weeknd

When did you start playing darts? How did you get into darts?

I started playing darts with my brother in his house in the UK in the 2000's. We competed as entertainment, but there were no more serious plans then. Around 2010, the Prienai Sports Department of my hometown offered to take part in city games played by darts enthusiasts. There I learned about the competitions taking place in Lithuania. So I worked at my darts for several years and in 2014 August, I came to the Lithuanian rating competition "Peleda" for the first time. I didn’t leave the group stage in the tournament because I lacked experience, but I meet a lot of strong players. During several competitions, I met a good friend Darius Labanauskas, who invited me to his darts club in Kaunas, where he trains. He taught, gave advice, and every time we talked about darts. I was fascinated by this, which is why I started working more, and already at the end of 2015, I was 3rd in the Lithuanian darts rating. Thus, gradually more and more desire to play, to achieve victories. I started participating in international competitions. So over time, there are more and more of them with me, and in the last few years, there have been more and more PDC races, as the goal is to play among the best and to achieve great victories.

Do you have any good dart tips?

Never forget to enjoy this game! It is a huge dedication to work hard at practices to get to your dream. If you have a dream and you personally believe it, no matter how much time it takes, you will achieve it.

Career Highlights:

• PDC World Cup 2020 - Last 16
• European Darts Grand Prix 2020 
• PDC Nordic and Baltic Tour 2020