Adam Paxton has revealed he received serious death threats following his appearance at Players Championship 28. The 26-year-old Englishman was sent multiple personal messages after his defeat to Krzysztof Ratajski, targeting not only him but also his family.
Paxton, the world number 98, was in action this week at the Players Championship events in Leicester. After a difficult spell, ‘Pacman’ claimed two ProTour wins. At Players Championship 28 he fell in the second round, where Ratajski proved far too strong with a 6-0 whitewash.
A day later, Paxton made it clear on Facebook that the result had been completely overshadowed by the messages he received after the match. “Kind of a weird feeling waking up today after not having much sleep,” Paxton wrote. “Had a good few days on the Pro Tour this week picking up two wins after a period of struggle. But it has all been clouded over by messages I received after my game with Krzysztof Ratajski yesterday… actual death threats.”
According to Paxton, criticism and abuse on social media are nothing new. He says he can handle that. The line is crossed, however, when his safety and that of his family are at stake. “I can take trolls calling me s**t, how did I get a card, players down their local would beat me etc etc… because the reality is I’m better than 99% of them and I can laugh them off,” he continued. “But to receive actual death threats against me and my family is next level.”
Paxton chiefly cannot understand what anyone thinks they achieve with such messages. “Why do people think it’s alright to actually do that? What do they feel that achieves?” He also rejects the idea that such threats being unlikely to be carried out is any excuse. “People will say they’re idle threats, they won’t act on it or whatever… but you never know how crazy people are these days. And does that make it alright? Should I just accept that’s part of being a professional player?”
Paxton believes the sender appeared to be someone who had lost money on a wager. The Englishman has now contacted the relevant parties and plans to take further action. “I have been in contact with the relevant people and will be reporting the person to whomever necessary,” he said. Paxton also decided to go public to highlight what professional players deal with behind the scenes. He underlined how much players invest to compete at the highest level. “Us players sacrifice a lot of time, effort, money (I’m self funded!), family time, and so much more to be the best we can and to promote the sport so many of you all follow. Just to receive death threats because somebody has clearly lost a bet. It does make you wonder if it would be easier focusing on my career outside of darts and just throwing down the pub with my mates.”
