Dartchery is a sport that can be best described as a combination of darts and archery. In dartchery athletes use bows and arrows typically used for archery, but the target used is a dartboard. The sport was part of the Summer Paralympics until 1980 after which it was discontinued.
Matches can be played as singles or in teams. In a match, teams alternate to shoot the target from a 20 yard mark. Each player or team gets to shoot three arrows during each turn. Points are awarded for each shot depending on where it falls within the target circle.
The game play and scoring is similar to that of darts, where players start from 301 points and reduce their points with each shot. The objective is to end the game with an exact zero score. If the score falls below zero in a turn, the score is reverted back and the player has to continue taking turns until perfect zero is achieved. The player to first reach zero is declared as the winner of the match.
There are currently no notable major tournaments for dartchery. Most competitions conducted are at a local level, mostly as part of fund-raising events.
Similar Sports
- Darts — a throwing game in which small missiles are thrown at a target, called a dartboard.
- Target Archery — a popular Archery competition where competitors shoot at stationary circular targets from different distances.
- Target Golf — players hit a golf ball at a large net, scoring points based on where the ball lands.