Colin Edward Lloyd (born 7 August 1973), nicknamed Jaws, is an English former professional
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, target known as a #Dartboard, dar ...
player. He is a former world number one ranked player and has won two major television titles in the
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 ...
(PDC) – the
2004 World Grand Prix and the
2005 World Matchplay.
PDC career
1999 – 2004
,A former builder, Lloyd broke onto the scene in 1999, making his TV debut the same year, In the first round he beating
Scott Cummings 10–8, thrashing
Alan Warriner
Alan Warriner-Little (born Warriner; 24 March 1962) is an English former professional darts player. Nicknamed The Iceman, he is a former World Grand Prix champion and a former runner-up at the World Professional Darts Championship.
Darts care ...
13–2 in the second round and the quarter-finals losing to
Peter Manley
Peter David Manley (born 7 March 1962) is an English former professional darts player who played in Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) events from July 1996 until 2017. He won one major title, the Las Vegas Desert Classic, in 2003, and twi ...
16–8 of the 1999 PDC World Matchplay. His World Championship debut came in 2000 – but he lost in the first round to
Shayne Burgess
Shayne Burgess (born 1 June 1964) is an English former professional darts player who competed in Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) tournaments. He is known for his unorthodox throwing action, where he draws the point of the dart up close t ...
. After another first round loss at the 2001 World Championships, his major breakthrough was in the 2002 PDC World Championship, where he reached the semi-finals, losing to
Peter Manley
Peter David Manley (born 7 March 1962) is an English former professional darts player who played in Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) events from July 1996 until 2017. He won one major title, the Las Vegas Desert Classic, in 2003, and twi ...
6-4. He had beaten
Alex Roy
Alexander Roy (born November 23, 1971) is an American writer, podcaster, TV host and rally race driver who has set various endurance driving records, including the US " Cannonball Run" transcontinental driving record, which he and Dave Maher bro ...
, Warriner and
Richie Burnett
Richard Mark "Richie" Burnett (born 7 February 1967), nicknamed Prince of Wales, is a Welsh professional darts player who plays in Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) events. He is a former World No. 1 who won the 1995 Embassy World Darts Cha ...
to reach the semi-finals that established him as one of the top players on the PDC circuit.
2004 – 2006
His long-awaited first major title came in the 2004
World Grand Prix, where he beat Warriner in the final. His success in the non-televised PDC Pro Tour events saw his
world ranking
A ranking is a relationship between a set of items such that, for any two items, the first is either "ranked higher than", "ranked lower than" or "ranked equal to" the second.
In mathematics, this is known as a weak order or total preorder of ...
continue to rise. By April 2005 he had reached world number one – a position he held (with a brief interruption in June 2006) for almost two years. Soon after becoming World Number One he added the
2005 World Matchplay title in
Blackpool
Blackpool is a seaside resort in Lancashire, England. Located on the North West England, northwest coast of England, it is the main settlement within the Borough of Blackpool, borough also called Blackpool. The town is by the Irish Sea, betw ...
, beating
John Part
John Part (born June 29, 1966) is a Canadian former professional darts player and current commentator. Nicknamed Darth Maple, he is a three-times World Champion, having won the 1994 BDO World Darts Championship on his world championship debut, a ...
in the final, hitting 15 180s and ending the match on a maximum 170 checkout. He also reached the final of the
2005 World Grand Prix before losing 1–7 to
Phil Taylor. This good form made him second favourite in the
2006 World Championship, only behind Taylor in terms of odds. Unfortunately for Lloyd, he was knocked out in the first round by qualifier Gary Welding, having led 2–0 in the best-of-five match. He reached the final of the
International Darts League
The Topic International Darts League was a darts tournament held at the Triavium in Nijmegen, Netherlands. Raymond van Barneveld dominated the tournament, held in his home country, winning it on three of the five occasions it was held. Gary Anders ...
in the Netherlands in May 2006, losing to
Raymond van Barneveld
Raymond van Barneveld (born 20 April 1967) is a Dutch professional darts player. Nicknamed Barney, although originally known as The Man, he is one of the most successful darts players in history. Van Barneveld is a five-time World Darts Champ ...
.
2006 – 2012
A heavy 2–11 defeat to Taylor at the
2006 UK Open saw his form in televised events dip dramatically. He lost in the first round of the
2006 Las Vegas Desert Classic to
Chris Mason, to
Steve Maish
Stephen Maish (born 22 November 1963 in Southend, Essex) is a retired English professional darts player who competed in Professional Darts Corporation events. He used the nickname Mr Magic for his matches.
Career
Maish made his televised deb ...
(despite a ten-dart leg where he was two darts away from a
nine dart finish
A nine-dart finish, also known as a nine-darter, is a perfect leg or single game in the sport of darts. The object of the game is to score a set number of points, most commonly 501; in order to win, a player must reach the target total exactly an ...
) at the
2006 World Matchplay and to
Bob Anderson in the first round of the
World Grand Prix. He lost his world number one ranking after a second round loss to eventual world champion van Barneveld at the
2007 PDC World Championship. He had led 3–0 in
sets, failed with four match darts, and eventually lost 3–4.
Lloyd lost in the first round of the 2007
US Open to
Jim Widmayer
Jim Widmayer (born August 23, 1969) is an American professional darts player who plays in British Darts Organisation (BDO) events.
Career
Widmayer played in the inaugural World Matchplay in 1994, losing 6–8 in the first round to Keith Dell ...
before showing some improvement with a run to the semi-finals of the
2007 UK Open. But he continued to lose ranking places as his good results from the two-year ranking period were replaced with further first round losses to
Wes Newton
Wesley Newton (born 27 August 1977) is an English professional darts player.
Darts career
Newton's first PDC major was the 2003 UK Open where he lost 8–6 to Mark Thomson in the last 32. He was beaten in the semi-finals of the Eastbourne Op ...
at the
2007 Las Vegas Desert Classic
The 2007 SBets.net Las Vegas Desert Classic (also billed as Las Vegas Desert Classic VI) was the sixth time that the Professional Darts Corporation stage the prestigious darts tournament. The tournament was held at the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casi ...
and to
Mervyn King at the
2007 World Matchplay.
He went into the
2008 World Championship ranked 12th in the world, having been number one just twelve months previously. He missed a dart at bullseye to win his first round match with
Jan van der Rassel
Jan van der Rassel (born 5 January 1964) is a former Dutch professional darts player. He used the nicknames The Project and Rassel Dazzle for his matches.
Career
He began his darts career competing on the BDO circuit in 2002, and reached the q ...
and then lost 2–3 (6–4 in legs in the final set). Lloyd's poor form at the
2009 World Championship continued as he lost in straight sets to the
Netherlands
)
, anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau")
, image_map =
, map_caption =
, subdivision_type = Sovereign state
, subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands
, established_title = Before independence
, established_date = Spanish Netherl ...
'
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 ...
in the first round. After winning his first round match at the 2009 World Matchplay against
Wayne Jones, Lloyd announced that he had just recovered from
swine flu
Swine influenza is an infection caused by any of several types of swine influenza viruses. Swine influenza virus (SIV) or swine-origin influenza virus (S-OIV) refers to any strain of the influenza family of viruses that is endemic in pigs. As o ...
and had been placed in isolation for five days.
Whilst playing
Andree Welge
Andree Welge (born 6 May 1972) is a German professional darts player who competed in events of the World Darts Federation (WDF).
Career
Welge made his World Championship debut in the 2002 BDO World Darts Championship where he lost in the first ...
in the 2011
PDC World Darts Championship
The PDC World Darts Championship, known for sponsorship purposes as the Cazoo World Darts Championship, organised by the Professional Darts Corporation (PDC), is a World Professional Darts Championship held annually in the sport of darts. The PD ...
first round, Lloyd punched the dart board out of frustration from letting slip a 2–0 lead to be all square at 2–2. Despite this, he eventually won the match 3–2 with a 116 out shot, and after the match said that he regretted what he did and said it was born out of pure frustration.
2012 – 2015
He comfortably made it to the last 16 of the
2012 World Championship by beating
Darin Young Darin may refer to
Places
*Darin, Anbarabad, a village in Kerman Province, Iran
*Darin, Jebalbarez-e Jonubi, a village in Kerman Province, Iran
*Darin, Sistan and Baluchestan, a village in Sistan and Baluchestan Province, Iran
*Darin, Yazd, a villa ...
and
Scott Rand, 3–1 and 4–1 respectively. However, he struggled against world number four
Gary Anderson in the next round, losing 1–4 as his opponent averaged 100. In April, Lloyd dropped out of the world's top 16 for the first time in over a decade and will need to qualify for the upcoming major events if he does not regain his place. In his next major event, the
UK Open
The Cazoo UK Open is a ranking major darts tournament held annually at the Butlins Minehead Resort by the Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) in England. Often referred to as the "FA Cup of darts", the UK Open replicates the abolition of seedin ...
, Lloyd posted an encouraging result by defeating reigning champion
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 ...
9–5, but then lost to world number 48
Joe Cullen 8–9 in the last 32. Lloyd hit a
nine-dart finish
A nine-dart finish, also known as a nine-darter, is a perfect leg or single game in the sport of darts. The object of the game is to score a set number of points, most commonly 501; in order to win, a player must reach the target total exactly an ...
in the first round of the
European Tour Event 2 during a 6–5 win over
Alex Roy
Alexander Roy (born November 23, 1971) is an American writer, podcaster, TV host and rally race driver who has set various endurance driving records, including the US " Cannonball Run" transcontinental driving record, which he and Dave Maher bro ...
. In July, he won the tenth
Players Championship of the year, his first ranking title in almost 2 years. He beat
Andy Hamilton
Andrew Neil Hamilton (born 28 May 1954) is a British comedian, game show panellist, television director, comedy screenwriter, radio dramatist, novelist and actor.
Early life and education
Hamilton was born in Fulham, southwest London. He ...
6–5 in the final and briefly returned to the top 16. He was ranked 17th at the cut-off point before the
World Matchplay, but still qualified due to his position on the ProTour Order of Merit. Lloyd faced
Mark Webster in the first round and was defeated 6–10. After all 33 ProTour events of 2012 had been played, Lloyd was 16th on the Order of Merit, which qualified him for the
Players Championship Finals
The Players Championship Finals is a darts tournament organised by the Professional Darts Corporation. The tournament originally featured the top 32 players from the Players Championship Order of Merit, a separate ranking system that only takes int ...
where he was beaten by
Peter Wright 5–6 in the first round, after being 5–3 ahead.
Lloyd overcame
Darin Young Darin may refer to
Places
*Darin, Anbarabad, a village in Kerman Province, Iran
*Darin, Jebalbarez-e Jonubi, a village in Kerman Province, Iran
*Darin, Sistan and Baluchestan, a village in Sistan and Baluchestan Province, Iran
*Darin, Yazd, a villa ...
and
Mark Webster to face
Michael van Gerwen
Michael van Gerwen (; born 25 April 1989) is a Dutch professional darts player. He is currently ranked number 3 in the world, having been number 1 from 2014 to 2021. He is also a three-time PDC World Champion, having won the title in 2014, 2 ...
in the last 16 of the
2013 World Championship, and was beaten 4–1. He lost 9–8 to
Brendan Dolan
Brendan Gabriel Dolan (born 2 August 1973) is a Northern Irish professional darts player from County Fermanagh, Northern Ireland, who plays in Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) events. He is best known for becoming the first player to hit a ...
in the third round of the
UK Open
The Cazoo UK Open is a ranking major darts tournament held annually at the Butlins Minehead Resort by the Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) in England. Often referred to as the "FA Cup of darts", the UK Open replicates the abolition of seedin ...
. Lloyd lost each of the five opening legs to Van Gerwen in the first round of the
World Matchplay but made a fightback to trail just 7–6 before being eliminated 10–7. Lloyd's best result of 2013 was at the
Austrian Darts Open where he beat the likes of
Andy Hamilton
Andrew Neil Hamilton (born 28 May 1954) is a British comedian, game show panellist, television director, comedy screenwriter, radio dramatist, novelist and actor.
Early life and education
Hamilton was born in Fulham, southwest London. He ...
(6–0) and
Wes Newton
Wesley Newton (born 27 August 1977) is an English professional darts player.
Darts career
Newton's first PDC major was the 2003 UK Open where he lost 8–6 to Mark Thomson in the last 32. He was beaten in the semi-finals of the Eastbourne Op ...
(6–4) to reach the semi-finals and another meeting with Van Gerwen with Lloyd losing 6–2.
He twice came from a set down to level his first round match at 2–2 in the
2014 World Championship against
Beau Anderson
Beau Anderson (born 25 December 1982) is an Australian former professional darts player who played within the Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) from 2013 to 2017.
Personal life
Beau's brother was the late Kyle Anderson who was also a Darts ...
. Lloyd then missed 11 darts in the final set to break throw as all ten legs went with throw to send the match into a sudden-death leg which Anderson won to eliminate Lloyd. Lloyd missed out on playing in the
UK Open
The Cazoo UK Open is a ranking major darts tournament held annually at the Butlins Minehead Resort by the Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) in England. Often referred to as the "FA Cup of darts", the UK Open replicates the abolition of seedin ...
for the first time in the tournament's history this year as he only entered three of the six qualifying events and failed to advance beyond the last 64 in any of them. Lloyd also failed to qualify for both the
World Matchplay and
World Grand Prix for the first time in 2014. He could not get past the last 64 of any event he entered during the season. Lloyd failed to qualify for the
2015 World Championship as he was 35th on the Order of Merit before the event, outside of the top 32 who automatically earn their places, and was not successful via any other method of qualification; it marked the first World Championship since 1999 to not feature Lloyd, and he vowed to retire if his poor form continued into 2015, saying "I'm not going to say I'm finished yet, because I think I'm far from finished. But this is the worst year I've ever had. It's been an abysmal year. If I get six months into next year and feel I'm not competing at the level I want to, then that will be the time to take a step back". He began 2015 as the world number 41. However, his form did not improve as he could not qualify for a single major tournament and only advanced to the last 32 once in the 31 events he played in. He dropped to 121st in the world after the
2016 World Championship and announced he would not be entering Q School, although he did not rule out the possibility of attempting to return in the future.
Premier League performances
Lloyd qualified for the first three
Premier League
The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Foo ...
tournaments between 2005 and 2007 – the tournament was restricted to the top six ranked players in the PDC and one wildcard in 2005 and 2006, while in 2007, it was restricted to the top six ranked players in the PDC and two wildcards. In 2005, he finished second after the league stage but lost to Taylor in the final. In 2006, Lloyd went out to eventual winner Taylor in the semi-finals, then finished 5th in the league stage in 2007. Due to his slip in rankings, he failed to get invited to the Premier League since then.
World Championship results
PDC
* 2000: First round (lost to
Shayne Burgess
Shayne Burgess (born 1 June 1964) is an English former professional darts player who competed in Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) tournaments. He is known for his unorthodox throwing action, where he draws the point of the dart up close t ...
0–3) (sets)
* 2001: First round (lost to
John Part
John Part (born June 29, 1966) is a Canadian former professional darts player and current commentator. Nicknamed Darth Maple, he is a three-times World Champion, having won the 1994 BDO World Darts Championship on his world championship debut, a ...
0–3)
* 2002: Semi-finals (lost to
Peter Manley
Peter David Manley (born 7 March 1962) is an English former professional darts player who played in Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) events from July 1996 until 2017. He won one major title, the Las Vegas Desert Classic, in 2003, and twi ...
4–6)
* 2003: Third round (lost to
Chris Mason 1–5)
* 2004: Fourth round (lost to
Wayne Mardle
Wayne Elliot Mardle (born 10 May 1973) is an English former professional darts player who played in events of the Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) and British Darts Organisation (BDO). He was runner-up in three PDC majors, losing to Phil ...
3–4)
* 2005: Quarter-finals (lost to
Wayne Mardle
Wayne Elliot Mardle (born 10 May 1973) is an English former professional darts player who played in events of the Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) and British Darts Organisation (BDO). He was runner-up in three PDC majors, losing to Phil ...
4–5)
* 2006: First round (lost to Gary Welding 2–3)
* 2007: Second round (lost to
Raymond van Barneveld
Raymond van Barneveld (born 20 April 1967) is a Dutch professional darts player. Nicknamed Barney, although originally known as The Man, he is one of the most successful darts players in history. Van Barneveld is a five-time World Darts Champ ...
3–4)
* 2008: First round (lost to
Jan van der Rassel
Jan van der Rassel (born 5 January 1964) is a former Dutch professional darts player. He used the nicknames The Project and Rassel Dazzle for his matches.
Career
He began his darts career competing on the BDO circuit in 2002, and reached the q ...
2–3)
* 2009: First round (lost to
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 ...
0–3)
* 2010: Third round (lost to
Ronnie Baxter
Ronnie Baxter (born 5 February 1961) is an English former professional darts player who competed in Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) events. He used the nickname "The Rocket" for his matches. Baxter was known for his fast robotic throwing a ...
1–4)
* 2011: Second round (lost to
Mark Hylton 2–4)
* 2012: Third round (lost to
Gary Anderson 1–4)
* 2013: Third round (lost to
Michael van Gerwen
Michael van Gerwen (; born 25 April 1989) is a Dutch professional darts player. He is currently ranked number 3 in the world, having been number 1 from 2014 to 2021. He is also a three-time PDC World Champion, having won the title in 2014, 2 ...
1–4)
* 2014: First round (lost to
Beau Anderson
Beau Anderson (born 25 December 1982) is an Australian former professional darts player who played within the Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) from 2013 to 2017.
Personal life
Beau's brother was the late Kyle Anderson who was also a Darts ...
2–3)
Career finals
PDC major finals: 5 (2 titles, 3 runners-up)
BDO major final: 1 (1 runner-up)
Performance timeline
References
External links
Colin Lloyd's Official Website*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lloyd, Colin
English darts players
1973 births
Living people
Professional Darts Corporation former tour card holders
World Matchplay (darts) champions
World Grand Prix (darts) champions
Sportspeople from Stockport
Sportspeople from Chelmsford