Russ Bray has left darts fans perplexed after he was spotted refereeing the Bahrain Darts Masters.
Bray, 66, announced earlier this month that he would retire from darts at the end of the PDC World Darts Championship.
But just 15 days after the end of the Alexandra Palace tournament, Bray was spotted in Bahrain, where the likes of Luke Littler and Luke Humphries were playing against some of Asia’s finest players.
And the sight of the “voice of darts” left fans scratching their heads.
On X, formerly known as Twitter, one fan said: “Russ Bray swears he’s retiring???”
A second said: “What the heck is Russ Bray refereeing at the Bahrain Darts Masters? Wasn’t he supposed to retire 🤔.”
A third said: “Russ Bray’s retirement will be short.”
Another said: “Russ Bray will be back soon.” Next This event unfolded exactly as we all expected. ”
Despite the turmoil, fans were happy to see Brey return.
One fan added: “A good reason to watch a World Series darts event is because of Russ Bray!”
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Another said: ”nice To see Russ Bray come out of retirement 🙂 Or maybe he wasn’t retired at all 🤔”
In November, Mr Bray said: “Thirty years later, I am now an old age pensioner.
“We have some talented young players coming through, so personally I think it’s time to change direction and say, ‘Let’s bring in some young players.’
“I have had a great career so far, and I look forward to continuing to work behind the scenes.”
He himself tried to quash claims of retirement on social media, replying to a fan and saying of X: “I’m not retired.
“I have withdrawn from all major tournaments, world championships, match play, Prem League, etc.”
“I still play on the Asian Tour and some of the World Series.”
Mr Bray has been a PDC advocate since 1996.
Prior to his career as an umpire, he was a county player and started as a convener when no regular umpire came to a match.
One of Bray’s side hustles is sending messages to fans in Cameo for £31 each, with thousands of pounds being spent on the iconic Dart Caller bag.