Wayne Mardle didn’t work for Sky at the World Darts Championship (Image: Getty)
returned to punditry duty for during Thursday night’s action in Belfast.
The much-loved star sat out the recent World Championship .
Mardle, whose return wasn’t announced by Sky Sports ahead of time, took to the microphone alongside Rod Studd for opening match of the 2025 campaign against .
The 51-year-old has been part of Sky Sports’ coverage for close to two decades, appearing on all of the broadcaster’s major darts broadcasts, including the and World Championship.
Mardle’s absence was sorely felt during the World Championship over the Christmas period, with darts fans having become accustomed to hearing the former player’s musings.
Hawaii 501, which is what Mardle went by during his playing career, was responsible for one of dart’s most iconic commentary lines when he reacted with “I can’t speak, I can’t speak” after Michael Smith hit a nine-darter in the 2023 World Championship final.
Speaking at the time, , saying: “If you are a regular viewer of Sky Sports Darts, you will notice that Wayne is not here with us this evening.
Wayne Mardle returned to the microphone for Thursday’s Premier League opener (Image: Getty)
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“Wayne is the heart and soul of everything we do here at Sky Sports Darts. But the heart of his world, his wonderful wife Donna, sadly passed away earlier this week after a short illness.”
“We will be remembering Donna throughout this tournament. Wayne, you are in our thoughts, you are in our hearts, we love you very much. And we will see you very soon.”
Mardle didn’t reference the passing of his wife during his return to commentary, instead saying: “Good evening – evening all, didn’t take him long [in response to Van Gerwen’s 180-hitting start]!”
It came on a pulsating opening night of action in Belfast, with Van Gerwen dumping out Littler during the teen’s first match as the defending champion.
In the night’s opening match, Chris Dobey and Gerwyn Price needed 10 of the allotted 11 legs to separate them, with the former edging proceedings 6-4.
It was a similar situation during Stephen Bunting’s clash against Rob Cross – the latter triumphing 6-4 as well.