Darryl Fitton (born 5 May 1962) is an English 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 nicknamed The Dazzler and comes to the stage dancing to the Madness song "

One Step Beyond One Step Beyond may refer to: Music * ''One Step Beyond'' (Dungeon album) or the title song, 2004 * ''One Step Beyond'' (Jackie McLean album), 1963 * '' One Step Beyond...'', an album by Madness, or the title song (see below), 1979 * ''One Step ...

" wearing sunglasses; one of the most popular walk-ons with the audience. Before embarking on a career in darts, Fitton worked as an

undertaker A funeral director, also known as an undertaker (British English) or mortician (American English), is a professional involved in the business of funeral rites. These tasks often entail the embalming and burial or cremation of the dead, as w ...

Darts career

Fitton's first TV appearance was against

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 ...

in the 1997 PDC World Matchplay. However, he lost 8-6, and has not made another PDC appearance since. Fitton debuted in the BDO World Championship in 2003 as a qualifier, but lost 1-3 to fellow qualifier John Burton in the first round. In 2004, he returned to Lakeside, again hitting a 180 score with his very first turn. He reached the quarter-finals before being beaten by

Andy Fordham Andrew Fordham (2 February 1962 – 15 July 2021) was an English professional darts player, commonly known as The Viking. He won the 2004 BDO World Darts Championship and the 1999 Winmau World Masters. Darts career Fordham made his first ap ...

, who went on to win the title. The following year, he reached the semi-finals, this time losing out 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 ...

in a hard-fought 5-3 scoreline, as van Barneveld went on to win the title that year. After that, Darryl did not win a match at the World Championship for the next two years, losing to

Martin Adams Martin Adams (born 4 June 1956) is an English professional darts player who plays in World Darts Federation (WDF) events. Nicknamed "Wolfie", he is a three-time BDO World Champion and three-time World Masters champion. He represents Cambridges ...

and

Phill Nixon Phillip Nixon (13 March 1956 – 9 August 2013) was an English darts player from Ferryhill, County Durham. He was the runner up in the 2007 BDO World Darts Championship in his first appearance. Career Before the 2007 BDO World Darts Champio ...

in the first round of the 2006 and 2007 championships respectively. Fitton did reach the final of the

Winmau World Masters The World Masters is one of the longest-running and most prestigious of the BDO/WDF tournaments, which began in 1974. The tournament is sponsored by darts board manufacturer, Winmau. The World Masters was unusual in darts in that its sets are th ...

in 2007, leading Robert Thornton 5-2 before Thornton hit back to win 7-5. In the 2008 World Championship, Fitton got beyond the first round for the first time since 2005 when he bossed his match against

Davy Richardson David Richardson-Page (born 21 October 1962) is an English former professional darts player who played in British Darts Organisation (BDO) events. He was nicknamed Rocky and The Face. Career Richardson was well renowned for having the worst r ...

, running out a 3-1 winner with a 94.86 average. In the second round he put in one of the most dominant performances of the World Championship when he averaged over 100 in a 4-0 hammering of Gary Robson. However he lost 5-1 in the quarter-finals to number-one seed (and eventual champion) Mark Webster. Darryl is known as a consistently high scorer, he once held the record for best average in a full, televised match. His 6-0 win against Davy Richardson in the 2004

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 ...

saw him hit a three-dart average of 114.15. This was, at the time, the highest three-dart average on a televised tournament. Fitton reached the semi finals of the 2009 BDO World Championship, beating Mark Salmon in the first round and then defeated 12th seed

Simon Whitlock Simon Whitlock (born 3 March 1969) is an Australian professional darts player who plays in Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) tournaments, having also played in the British Darts Organisation (BDO) between 2004 and 2009. He uses the nickname T ...

in round two. He followed up with a 5-4 win over fourth seed

Scott Waites Scott Waites (born 17 February 1977) is an English professional darts player who plays in tournaments of the Professional Darts Corporation (PDC). He is a two-time BDO World Darts Champion having won the 2013 tournament and 2016 tournament. ...

before bowing out to his friend

Tony O'Shea Tony O'Shea (born 9 May 1961) is an English professional darts player. His squat figure has resulted in the nickname "Silverback". O'Shea has reached the finals of seven British Darts Organisation (BDO) major darts tournaments, but to date ...

in a 6-4 defeat. Fitton then claimed the 2009 Dutch Open title, beating

Willy van de Wiel Willy van de Wiel (born 15 April 1982) is a Dutch former professional darts player. BDO career Van de Wiel won the 2008 Norway Open, beating Dave Chisnall, Stephen Bunting and John Henderson, before beating Paul Hanvidge in the final. He also ...

in the final and then the Isle of Man Open title, beating World Champion Ted Hankey in the final. Fitton won the 2009

Zuiderduin Masters The Finder Darts Masters was a darts tournament held in Egmond aan Zee, Netherlands, sanctioned by the British Darts Organisation and the World Darts Federation, running intermittently under several different names from 1995 to 2018. The tourn ...

beating Martin Adams in the final 5-2. He also achieved the magic

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 ...

against

Ross Montgomery Ross Montgomery (born 16 October 1962), nicknamed The Boss, is a Scottish professional darts player who played in World Darts Federation (WDF) tournaments and as of January 14th 2022 now plays on the Professional Darts Corporat ...

and was given £4,000 which he donated to a local Charity. In the 2010 BDO World Championship, he was beaten by eventual finalist

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 Champions ...

3-1 in the first round. Fitton also lost in the first round at Lakeside in 2011, 3-0 against second seed

Stuart Kellett Stuart Kellett (born 12 August 1981) is a former English darts player. BDO career Kellett reached the last 16 of the 2007 Winmau World Masters, having beaten Andy Fordham among others on the way to the televised stages. He lost 1-3 in sets t ...

winning just one leg. Fitton managed to retain some form later in the year by reaching his second Zuiderduin Masters final, where he narrowly lost to Scott Waites having had two darts to win. However, Fitton would once again lose in the first round at Lakeside in 2012 losing 3-1 against fourth seed

Robbie Green Robbie Green (born 19 July 1974) is a former English professional darts player. His nickname was Kong. PDC career Green made his televised debut at the 2004 UK Open, reaching the last 64 stage. The same year he qualified for the World Matchp ...

. After a quiet 2012 season, Fitton entered the 2013 BDO World Darts Championship as the 16th seed. He narrowly defeated

Benito van de Pas Benito van de Pas (born 18 January 1993) is a Dutch professional darts player. Career BDO Van de Pas reached the semi-finals of the 2011 PDC Under-21 World Championship, losing 1-4 to Michael van Gerwen. Van de Pas won the 2011 German Open. ...

3-2 in the first round to secure his first win at Lakeside since 2009. He then caused a big upset by defeating top seed

Stephen Bunting Stephen Bunting (born 9 April 1985) is an English professional darts player who competes in events of the Professional Darts Corporation (PDC). Nicknamed The Bullet, Bunting won the 2014 BDO World Darts Championship and is a twice former Wor ...

4-2 in the second round. In the quarter-final, Fitton was defeated 5-2 by

Wesley Harms Wesley Harms (born 11 June 1984) is a Dutch former professional darts player. Career Harms won the BDO International Open in 2011, defeating Stephen Bunting in the final. Harms qualified for the 2012 BDO World Darts Championship as the 13th s ...

. Fitton's form improved after this but his 2014 World Championship was ended in the first round by

Tony Eccles Tony Eccles (born 8 January 1970) is an English former professional darts player. Nicknamed The Viper, he played in both the British Darts Organisation (BDO) and the Professional Darts Corporation (PDC). He reached the quarter-finals of the BD ...

, in Eccles's last tournament before being convicted of child grooming. The following year, Fitton reached the quarter-finals again beating previous year's runner-up Alan Norris en route, before losing to

Glen Durrant Glen Durrant (born 24 November 1970), nicknamed "Duzza", is an English former professional darts player who played in Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) events. He previously won the BDO World Darts Championship three times consecutively fr ...

. In 2015, Fitton hit a nine-dart finish in the Dutch Open final against

, although he ended up losing the match. He also reached the final of the Jersey Open losing to Scott Mitchell. In the 2016 BDO World Darts Championship, seeded seventh, Fitton was defeated 3-2 in the first round by

Dennis Harbour Dennis Harbour (born 28 June 1961) is a former England, English darts player. His nickname was The Harbour Master. Career Harbour played in the 1989 Winmau World Masters and lost in the first round to Dave Whitcombe. He returned to the Master ...

. After that, he won the 2016

BDO World Trophy The BDO World Trophy was a major darts tournament run by the British Darts Organisation, hosted originally in February 2014 at Blackpool Tower, before it was held in May from 2016–18 in various locations. In 2019, it was held in King George's ...

by defeating Peter Machin in the final 13-9. With this win, Fitton qualified for the 2016 Grand Slam of Darts Fitton was knocked out of the

2018 BDO World Darts Championship The 2018 Lakeside World Professional Darts Championship was the 41st World Championship organised by the British Darts Organisation, and the 33rd staging at the Lakeside Country Club at Frimley Green. Glen Durrant who was the defending men's cha ...

in the second round, losing to

4–1

PDC

Fitton confirmed on his Facebook his intention to switch to 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 ...

for the 2018 season, and he entered the 2018 Q-School in an attempt to win a Tour Card.

BDO

He rejoined the

British Darts Organisation The British Darts Organisation (BDO) was a darts organisation founded on 7 January 1973 by Olly Croft. Made up of 66 member counties, it oversaw professional, semi-professional and amateur darts competitions in Britain. The BDO was a founder ...

and competed in the Dutch Open. He reached the last 16 and got beaten by

Dave Parletti Dave Parletti (born 22 April 1983) is an English professional darts player who plays in events of the World Darts Federation. Career In 2017, Parletti won the Jersey Classic. In 2018, he won the Welsh Masters and the Winmau Wolverhampton Open, ...

World Championship Results

BDO

* 2003: 1st Round (lost to John Burton 1-3) * 2004: Quarter Final (lost to

4-5) * 2005: Semi Final (lost to

3-5) * 2006: 1st Round (lost to

1-3) * 2007: 1st Round (lost to

1-3) * 2008: Quarter Final (lost to Mark Webster 1-5) * 2009: Semi Final (lost to

4-6) * 2010: 1st Round (lost to

1-3) * 2011: 1st Round (lost to

0-3) * 2012: 1st Round (lost to

1-3) * 2013: Quarter Final (lost to

2-5) * 2014: 1st Round (lost to

1-3) * 2015: Quarter Final (lost to

2-5) * 2016: 1st Round (lost to

2-3) * 2017: Semi Final (lost to

Danny Noppert Danny Noppert (born 31 December 1990) is a Dutch professional darts player who plays in Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) events. He is a former BDO World Darts Championship finalist, as well as being a Finder Darts Masters champion in 2017, ...

3-6) * 2018: 2nd Round (lost to

1-4)

WSDT

* 2022: First round (lost to

Richie Howson Richard Howson (born 19 December 1965) is an English professional darts player who plays in World Darts Federation (WDF) events. Career In 2011, he played in British Darts Organisation (BDO) tournament World Masters where he beat Scott Mitc ...

2-3)

Career statistics

(W) Won; (F) finalist; (SF) semifinalist; (QF) quarterfinalist; (#R) rounds 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1; (RR) round-robin stage; (Prel.) Preliminary round; (DNQ) Did not qualify; (DNP) Did not participate; (NH) Not held

Performance timeline

BDO major finals: 4 (2 title, 2 runners-up)

Nine-dart finishes

High averages

Darryl Fitton's televised average of 114.15 was the world record until Phil Taylor broke it at the 2008 UK Open.

References

External links

Darryl Fitton's Official Website

Profile and stats on Darts Database
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fitton, Darryl Living people 1962 births English darts players British Darts Organisation players Darts players who have thrown televised nine-dart games