Damon Heta (born 10 August 1987) is an Australian 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 who plays 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 ...

(PDC) events. He won the Brisbane Darts Masters in 2019 and also, in pair with

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 ...

, World Cup of Darts in

2022 File:2022 collage V1.png, Clockwise, from top left: Road junction at Yamato-Saidaiji Station several hours after the assassination of Shinzo Abe; 2022 Sri Lankan protests, Anti-government protest in Sri Lanka in front of the Presidential Secretari ...

. His nickname is "The Heat", a play on letters within his surname. After World Cup win, his teammate

regarded him as best player on the world.

Career

A roofer by trade, Heta has mainly played on the Dartplayers Australia (DPA) Tour. His first big exposure was qualifying for the

2014 Sydney Darts Masters The 2014 Sydney Darts Masters was the second staging of a tournament by the Professional Darts Corporation, as a fourth and final entry in the 2014 World Series of Darts. The tournament took place at Hordern Pavilion, Sydney, Australia, between 28� ...

, where he was whitewashed 6–0 in the first round by

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 ...

. Heta qualified for the 2016 Auckland Darts Masters where he lost in the first round 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 ...

6–3. He qualified for the 2018 Melbourne Darts Masters, where he defeated his good friend Kyle Anderson 6–5 in the first round, before losing 10–7 to Gary Anderson in the quarter-finals. Gary would then defeat Heta 6–5 in the first round of the

2018 Brisbane Darts Masters The 2018 Brisbane Darts Masters was the inaugural staging of the tournament by the Professional Darts Corporation, as a sixth and final entry in the 2018 World Series of Darts. The tournament featured 16 players (eight PDC players facing eight ...

a week later. Amongst his titles achieved Down Under are the 2011 Pacific Masters, the 2014 DPA Australian Singles, the 2015 West Coast Classic, and the 2016 DPA Australian Open. On 3 August 2019, Damon won the first ever DFA Australian Open Darts, beating top BDO players such as Jim Williams 8–1 in the semi-final and former World Champion Scott Mitchell 10–9 in the final to take the $15,000 first prize. Heta qualified for all three PDC World Series events in Australia and New Zealand in 2019. At the 2019 Brisbane Darts Masters Heta reached his first PDC final by beating former major winners

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 ...

, Gary Anderson and

, before defeating former World Champion Rob Cross 8–7 in the final to win his first World Series title. Damon become the first ever non tour card holder to win a world series event and the first to win a world series event on home soil. He became the first non-tour card holder to win a PDC televised event since

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. ...

in 2010. Heta beat

once again in the first round of the 2019 Melbourne Darts Masters, but lost 8–3 to Rob Cross in the quarter-finals. He lost 6–1 to Peter Wright in the first round of the

2019 New Zealand Darts Masters The 2019 New Zealand Darts Masters, presented by Burger King & TAB was the inaugural staging of the tournament by the Professional Darts Corporation, and was the fifth entry in the 2019 World Series of Darts. The tournament featured 16 players (ei ...

. On 19 January 2020, Heta won a two-year PDC Tour Card by finishing fourth on the UK Q School Order of Merit. He will play on the ProTour in 2020 and 2021. He won his first PDC ranking event at the PDC Autumn Series in

Niedernhausen Niedernhausen im Taunus is a municipality in the Rheingau-Taunus-Kreis in the ''Regierungsbezirk'' of Darmstadt in Hesse, Germany, with almost 15,000 inhabitants. Geography Location Niedernhausen lies in the Rhein-Taunus Nature Park in the west o ...

, beating Joe Cullen 8–4 in the final. Heta, in conjunction with

, beat Wales in the 2022 PDC World Cup of Darts on 19 June 2022 to claim the title for Australia for the first time, after Whitlock and Paul Nicholson lost in the grand final in 2012 to England. Heta won the 2022 Gibraltar Darts Trophy on the

PDC European Tour The PDC European Tour is a series of darts tournaments held across Europe organized by the Professional Darts Corporation. Starting in 2012 with five events, the number of events has steadily risen with eight held in 2013 and 2014, nine in 2015, te ...

in October 2022, where along the way, he defeated

in the semi-final and Peter Wright in the final.

World Championship results

PDC

* 2020: Second round (lost 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 ...

0–3) * 2021: First round (lost to

Danny Baggish Daniel "Danny" Baggish (born 19 August 1983) is a Guamanian–born American professional darts player. He had a PDC tour card from 2021 to 2022, after being the only American player to win one at Q-School in 2021. He is a sponsored by Target ...

2–3) * 2022: Third round (lost to Peter Wright 2–4) * 2023: Third round (lost to Joe Cullen 0–4)

Career finals

PDC world series finals: 1 (1 title)

PDC team finals: 1 (1 title)

Performance timeline

PDC ''PDC European Tour'' (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; (EX) Excluded; (WD) Withdrew

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Heta, Damon 1987 births Living people Australian darts players Professional Darts Corporation current tour card holders Sportspeople from Perth, Western Australia Sportspeople from London World Series of Darts winners PDC ranking title winners PDC World Cup of Darts Australian championship team