It’s been a busy week for Target’s development team. After their academy partnership project announcement earlier in the week the English brand was swift to back up their commitment to youth players:

Target are delighted to announce Paige Pauling as the newest member of the Target Elite 1 programme. The talented player from Kent has joined the likes of Eleanor Cairns, Katie Sheldon and Ksenia Klochek on the Elite 1 roster where she will hopefully be able to take her game to the next level.

Paige picked up her first set of darts at just 11 years old, having seen her older brother and dad playing in the shed. In her first 3 years, Paige has come on leaps and bounds to get to where she is today, and hopes by working with Target and the Elite 1, that she will continue her rate of improvement.

Paige has already met Eleanor Cairns, earning the chance to play against her in a final. On this occasion it was her new teammate that picked up the victory but Paige was not deterred by this. “I like playing against the better and more experienced players, it really helps me to raise my game and make me want to be better”.

Paige has shrugged off the disappointment and is solely focused on her future within the game, she said: “Towards the end of the year, I’m looking forward to hopefully playing in the World Championships and the Viking Cup. I also have the England Grand Prix finals coming up to, so I’m looking forward to those”.

She’s got the dream match up already in mind too, when asked the question of “Who would you like to play most?” the answer was almost immediate. “Fallon Sherrock. She’s very good, I think it would be a good match and she’s done so much for the women’s game. I’d like to play her”. Paige would love nothing more than to play an inspiring figure like Fallon and take in the atmosphere of a match whilst walking in to ‘Break my stride’ by Matthew Wilder as she takes to the stage.

Speaking about Fallon and her impact on the game, Paige is very excited to be a part of the future of Women’s darts saying: “Women have a lot more opportunities now, hopefully I can also influence and inspire other girls to play”. Paige and the other girls in Elite 1 have a fantastic role model in Lorraine Winstanley, who will use her experience in facing different obstacles to help that next generation of female talent to access the top.

Managing Director James Tattersall was delighted to welcome Paige to the team, saying: “It’s amazing to see another young talent joining the Elite 1! At just 14 years old, Paige has got so much potential and hopefully we can support her on her journey which we think will be to the very top.”.

What’s next? What’s the next big goal for Paige Pauling? “The Youth Girls World Champion.” She replied.

A fantastic target to have and hopefully learning from Lorraine and playing tournaments around the UK and Europe will help her to keep making strides in her development and take her to that next level.

The Elite 1 enterprise, together with Winmau/JDC’ s Team360 and Mission Darrst Youth operation are Darts’ attempt to get ahead in the same way football and other mainstream sports have done. We wish them all the best of luck.

—–ENDS—–

Images: Target

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