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2017 PDC World Darts Championship
The 2017 William Hill World Darts Championship was the 24th World Championship organised by the Professional Darts Corporation since it separated from the British Darts Organisation. The event took place at Alexandra Palace in London from 15 December 2016 to 2 January 2017. Phil Taylor made a 28th successive appearance at a World Championship (including the BDO version), equalling the record of John Lowe. For the first time in the history of the World Darts Championship (PDC and BDO), no Englishman progressed to the semi-finals. It was also the first time since 2009 that the final was contested by the top 2 seeds. Michael van Gerwen set a new record for the highest World Darts Championship 3-dart average (114.05) in his semi-final victory over Raymond van Barneveld, breaking a 15-year record that had been held by Phil Taylor since 2002 (111.21); Van Barneveld himself set a new record for the highest losing 3-dart average (109.34) in the same tie, just 5 days after Cristo Reye ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Alexandra Palace
Alexandra Palace is a Grade II listed entertainment and sports venue in London, situated between Wood Green and Muswell Hill in the London Borough of Haringey. It is built on the site of Tottenham Wood and the later Tottenham Wood Farm. Originally built by John Johnson and Alfred Meeson, it opened in 1873 but following a fire two weeks after its opening, was rebuilt by Johnson. Intended as "The People's Palace" and often referred to as "Ally Pally", its purpose was to serve as a public centre of recreation, education and entertainment; North London's counterpart to the Crystal Palace in South London. At first a private venture, in 1900, the owners planned to sell it and Alexandra Park for development. A group of neighbouring local authorities managed to acquire it. An Act of Parliament created the Alexandra Palace and Park Trust. The Act required the trustees to maintain the building and park and make them available for the free use and recreation of the public forever. Th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cristo Reyes
Cristo Reyes Torres (born 30 July 1987) is a Spanish darts player who plays in Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) events. Career In October 2014, Reyes bested a field of 154 players to win the Iberian Qualifier for the 2015 PDC World Championship, sealing his place in the draw by whitewashing Jose Rodriguez 6–0 in the final. He entered the event in the preliminary round and comfortably beat Christian Perez 4–0. Reyes then took the first two sets against Wes Newton, before the world number 13 responded to level the tie. Both players broke each other's throw in the deciding set, with the match going in to a sudden death leg. Reyes' first dart hit the outer bull as in a sudden death leg both players throw a dart at the bull to decide who throws first. However, the referee did not realise this and Reyes was made to continue the leg until the refereeing team stepped in to restart it after both players had thrown six darts. Reyes again hit the outer bull to throw first and won ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ian White (darts Player)
Ian White (born 17 August 1970), nicknamed Diamond, is an English professional darts player currently playing in Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) events. White is the winner of 13 PDC ranking events, and has reached many quarter-finals in majors. In 2019, he reached his first major semi final. Career In 1997, White reached the final of the PDC's revived News of the World Darts Championship. He defeated Des Byrne, Gary Spedding, Peter Manley and Andy Jenkins on the way to the final, where he was defeated by Phil Taylor. White won the Antwerp Open, Denmark Open and the English National Championship in 2009. He qualified for the 2010 BDO World Darts Championship, but lost 0-3 in the first round to Stephen Bunting. Shortly afterwards, he left the BDO and joined the PDC, when fellow Stoke player Adrian Lewis offered to sponsor White and suggested he was capable of being in the world's top eight. A solid first year in the PDC saw him reach the semi-finals of a Pro Tour event i ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kim Huybrechts
Kim Huybrechts (born 16 November 1985) is a Belgian professional darts player currently playing in Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) events. He made the final of a major TV event, the 2012 Players Championship Finals, losing to Phil Taylor 13-6, as well as making the final of the 2013 PDC World Cup of Darts with his brother Ronny. He has also achieved the perfect nine-dart finish on TV, doing so in the 2014 Grand Slam of Darts against Michael van Gerwen in the quarter-finals, and has appeared in the Premier League on two occasions. Playing career Early career Huybrechts' first tournament wins came in 2007 at the Belgium Gold Cup and the Belgium National Championships. His only victory in a British Darts Organisation sanctioned event came at the 2008 Flanders Open where he defeated Geert De Vos 5–2 in the final. Huybrechts reached the last 16 of the 2009 Winmau World Masters, losing 3–1 to Steve West on his televised debut. In September 2010, he was a quarter-finalist ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Michael Smith (darts Player)
Michael Smith (born 18 September 1990) is an English professional darts player. Nicknamed "Bully Boy", he plays in Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) events, where he is the reigning World Champion and World No. 1, having won the 2023 World Championship. He was the 2013 PDC Under-21 World Champion and has since won 17 titles on the PDC Pro Tour. He won his first PDC major title at the 2022 Grand Slam of Darts, having previously been a runner-up at the World Championship (2019 and 2022), the Premier League (2018), the World Matchplay (2019), the European Championship (2022), the UK Open (2022), The Masters (2020) and the World Series Finals (2018). Early life Smith attended Saint Cuthbert's High School in St Helens. When he was 15 he fell off his bike on the way to school breaking his hip, which required him to use crutches for 16 weeks. During that period, Smith threw his first 180 whilst on crutches. After leaving school, he took a joinery course at college, but he de ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jelle Klaasen
Jelle Klaasen (born 17 October 1984), nicknamed The Cobra, is a Dutch professional darts player who plays in the Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) and World Darts Federation (WDF) events. In 2006, he became the youngest darts player to win the World Darts Championship, aged 21 at the time. He also is a Dutch Open champion. Since November 2022, he has been the leader of the World Darts Federation men's ranking. Beginnings of his career His first attempt at the international stage was a 2005 Winmau World Masters ended with a 2–3 defeat to Irishman Steve McDonald. On 15 January 2006, Klaasen became the youngest World Darts Champion, aged 21 years 90 days, when he defeated fellow Dutchman Raymond van Barneveld in the final of the 2006 BDO World Championship by 7 sets to 5. He also beat Shaun Greatbatch and world number one Mervyn King on his way to the final. Before the championship, he was said to be a 100–1 outsider to win the title as he did not even have a BDO Ranking ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Robert Thornton (darts Player)
Robert "Bob" Thornton (born 17 July 1967) is a Scottish professional darts player, who is the current World Seniors champion. Thornton is a three-time major winner between the BDO and PDC, having won the World Masters in 2007, UK Open in 2012, and World Grand Prix in 2015. He is also a former finalist at the Players Championship Finals in 2009 and Grand Slam of Darts in 2013. In addition, Thornton has reached three World Championship quarter-finals across both organisations and was a participant in the Premier League in 2013, 2014 and 2016. BDO career Thornton returned to playing darts in 2002, having given up the game for two decades to raise his children. He qualified for the BDO World Championship for the first time in 2005. He beat Martin Atkins and Tony West before losing to Darryl Fitton in the quarter-finals. He then failed to qualify for the 2006 and 2007 events. Thornton's first professional title came in the Central Scotland Open in April 2007, beating Mike Veitc ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mensur Suljović
Mensur Suljović (Serbian Cyrillic: Менсур Суљовић; born 5 March 1972) is an Austrian professional darts player. He plays in Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) events, having previously played in the British Darts Organisation (BDO). Nicknamed The Gentle, Suljović is noted for his unorthodox throwing action and favouring double 14 as his finishing double where possible. Suljović is the number one Austrian player in the PDC and reached his first major final in 2016 at the European Championship. He went one step further in winning his first major TV title at the 2017 Champions League of Darts, defeating two-times world champion Gary Anderson on two occasions. Personal life Suljović has been living in Vienna since 1993. He escaped from war-torn Serbia to live in Austria together with his older brothers. They owned a coffee shop where he started playing darts. He is married to Enisa with two children and owns his own pub called The Gentle in Vienna. Despite the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dave Chisnall
Dave Chisnall (born 12 September 1980) is an English professional darts player who plays in Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) events. He began his career in the British Darts Organisation (BDO) and was the runner-up in their World Championship in 2010. He switched to the PDC a year later where he has since reached six major TV finals and won 17 PDC ranking events. Since his switch to the PDC, Chisnall has been a staple in the top 20 of the rankings, appearing in the Premier League five times, and representing England at the PDC World Cup on three occasions. Career Early career Chisnall was brought up in St Helens and played for a local football team until he was 17 when he broke his foot. He switched to darts and first played in a friend's bedroom, throwing 180 on his first ever visit to the board. His nickname ("Chizzy") actually originates from his work as a carpenter rather than his surname. His debut in BDO events came at the 2004 Welsh Open, losing in the last 32 to A ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
James Wade
James Martin Wade (born 6 April 1983) is an English professional darts player, currently playing in the Professional Darts Corporation (PDC). He became the youngest player to win a major PDC title, when he won the 2007 World Matchplay at the age of 24. This record has since been broken by Michael van Gerwen. Wade has won eleven PDC majors, third in the all-time list behind Phil Taylor and Michael van Gerwen. He is widely considered one of the best left handed darts players of all time. Wade has also won the World Grand Prix in 2007 and 2010, the UK Open in 2008, 2011 and 2021, the Premier League in 2009, the Championship League in 2010, the Masters in 2014, the European Championship and the World Series of Darts Finals in 2018. Wade has had a career-high ranking of second in the PDC Order of Merit. He has yet to win the PDC World Darts Championship, reaching the semi finals four times, which is being his best result. Wade started his career in the British Darts ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Adrian Lewis
Adrian Lewis (born 21 January 1985) is an English professional darts player currently playing in the PDC. He is a two-time PDC World Darts Champion, winning in 2011 and 2012. He is nicknamed Jackpot, as he won a jackpot gambling in Las Vegas in 2005, but he was unable to collect the money as he was 20 years old, below the US legal gambling age of 21. During the early part of his career until 2007, Lewis was a protégé of 16-time world champion Phil Taylor, with whom he practised in their home city Stoke-on-Trent. He made his television debut in 2004, aged 19 at the UK Open. In addition to his two world championships, Lewis has won two other PDC majors: the 2013 European Championship and the 2014 UK Open. He is also a four-time winner of the PDC World Cup of Darts, partnering Phil Taylor. In February 2018, Lewis was suspended by the PDC after an altercation following his win over José Justicia at the 2018 UK Open Qualifier 1. Six days later Lewis issued a statement apol ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Peter Wright (darts Player)
Peter Wright (born 10 March 1970) is a Scottish professional darts player who plays in the Professional Darts Corporation (PDC), where he is currently ranked No. 2 in the world. Nicknamed "Snakebite", he is regarded as one of the greatest players of all time and is a two-time world champion, having won the PDC World Darts Championship in 2020 and 2022. He is also a World Matchplay champion. When he was 24, Wright qualified for the first round of the 1995 BDO World Darts Championship, but then stopped playing darts professionally, working instead as a builder and tyre fitter while competing in local darts leagues. He resumed his professional darts career in his late 30s, playing his first full schedule of PDC events in 2008. He qualified for his first PDC World Darts Championship in 2010, entered the top 16 for the first time in 2013, and reached his first world final in 2014, where he was runner-up to Michael van Gerwen. He won his first major PDC title at the 2017 UK Open; as ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
