Bernd Hebecker (born 5 October 1955) is a

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ger ...

former professional darts player who has played in the British Darts Organisation (BDO) and

World Darts Federation The World Darts Federation (WDF) is a sport governing body and (along with the PDC) a tournament organiser for the game of darts. It was formed in 1974 by representatives of the original fourteen founding members. Membership is open to the natio ...

(WDF) events. He is the first player from

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

who qualified for the

World Darts Championship The World Professional Darts Championship is one of the most important tournaments in the darts calendar. Originally held as an annual event between 1978 and 1993, players then broke off into two separate organisations after a controversial split ...

and took medal at the

WDF Europe Cup The WDF Europe Cup is a darts tournament held biennially since 1978. The tournament consists of a team championship, a pairs championship and a singles championship. All events have a men's competition, and a women's competition (since 1982). Tou ...

Career

Hebecker is the first full-time professional darts player, who start playing darts in the

Bremen Bremen (Low German also: ''Breem'' or ''Bräm''), officially the City Municipality of Bremen (german: Stadtgemeinde Bremen, ), is the capital of the German state Free Hanseatic City of Bremen (''Freie Hansestadt Bremen''), a two-city-state consis ...

Broadway Pub in 1977 at the age of 22. The start of the first league in

and other German cities soon followed, as well as the organization of the first German Championship in the early 1980s. In the 1980s he drew attention to himself with his first national titles. He belonged to the first national

team during the 1983 WDF World Cup. He lost in the first round match to Hiroshi Watanobe by 3–4 in legs. In the pairs and team competitions the Germans did not manage to achieve satisfactory results. In total, Hebecker represented

three times during the WDF World Cup and five times during the

. After winning the German Championship in 1984, Hebecker won the

German Open German Open is a name given to many sports events established in Germany, and include: *German Open (badminton), an annual badminton tournament held since 1955. *German Open (golf), was a golf tournament on the European Tour *German Masters, a snook ...

Dortmund Open The Dortmund Open was an darts Darts or dart-throwing is a competitive sport in which two or more players bare-handedly throw small projectile point, sharp-pointed projectile, missiles known as dart (missile), darts at a round shooting target, t ...

and being a two-time Champion of the German Gold Cup. In 1984 and 1985 he also served as President of the Deutschen Dart-Verbandes, making him one of the pioneers of darts in Germany. In 1992, he won a bronze medal in singles competition at the

1992 WDF Europe Cup The 1992 WDF Europe Cup was the 8th edition of the WDF Europe Cup darts tournament, organised by the World Darts Federation. It was held in Kerava, Finland from 21 to 24 October. __TOC__ Entered teams 16 countries/associations entered a men's ...

Kerava Kerava (; sv, Kervo) is a town and municipality within the Uusimaa region of Finland. The municipalities of Vantaa, Sipoo and Tuusula are adjacent to Kerava, which is part of the Helsinki metropolitan area. The town has a population of () an ...

. On the way to his first and only medal, he defeated Leo Laurens,

Jocky Wilson John Thomas "Jocky" Wilson (22 March 1950 – 24 March 2012) was a Scottish professional darts player. After turning pro in 1979, he quickly rose to the top of the game, winning the World Professional Darts Championship in 1982, then again ...

, Øyvind Aasland and Bruno Ladovaz. He finally lost in semi-finals to John Lowe by 3–4 in legs. After good performance at the

British Open The Open Championship, often referred to as The Open or the British Open, is the oldest golf tournament in the world, and one of the most prestigious. Founded in 1860, it was originally held annually at Prestwick Golf Club in Scotland. Later th ...

, he was the first player from

to qualify for the

1993 BDO World Darts Championship The 1993 Embassy World Darts Championship was the 16th staging of the competition, and it turned out to be the last time that the sport had a unified World Championship (until 2021). In 1994 following a breakaway the PDC staged its own World Ch ...

. There he lost to Jann Hoffmann in the first round by 0–3 in sets. Between 1996 and 1999 Hebecker turned his hobby into a career and played the entire British Darts Organisation tour as a professional player. He refused to compete in

Professional Darts Corporation The Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) is a professional darts organisation in the United Kingdom, established in 1992 when a group of leading players split from the British Darts Organisation (BDO) to form what was initially called the World ...

tournaments and retired in 2000.

World Championship results

BDO

* 1993: First round (lost to Jann Hoffmann 0–3) (sets)

Performance timeline

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hebecker, Bernd 1955 births Living people German darts players