Darren Michael Webster (born 10 June 1968) is an English

darts Darts or dart-throwing is a competitive sport in which two or more players bare-handedly throw small sharp-pointed missiles known as darts at a round target known as a dartboard. Points can be scored by hitting specific marked areas of the ...

player nicknamed Demolition Man.

Career

Webster won the 2005 Open Oust Nederland, beating Co Stompé in the final. Originally nicknamed The Sniper, Webster reached the quarter-finals of the

2007 PDC World Darts Championship The 2007 Ladbrokes.com World Darts Championship was the 14th World Championship organised by the Professional Darts Corporation since it separated from the British Darts Organisation. The tournament took place between 18 December 2006 – 1 Janu ...

, where he beat former champion Bob Anderson,

Adrian Gray Adrian Gray (born 28 February 1981) is an English darts player who plays in Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) events. Career Gray made his televised debut at the 2003 UK Open. He only began playing darts at the age of 18, and within t ...

and

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring coun ...

n Wynand Havenga, before being beaten 5–1 by Phil Taylor. Webster reached the last 16 at the 2007 UK Open. He beat Andy Hamilton and

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 t ...

, before losing to Alan Green. In December 2013, Webster lost to

in the first round of the 2014 World Championship, despite leading 2 sets to 1 (first to 3). He missed six darts to win the match, to which Wade responded in three straight legs, thus winning the match. He played in the World Matchplay for the first time since 2005 and was beaten 10–4 by Taylor in the first round. Webster's resurgence of form also saw him play in his first World Grand Prix and

Grand Slam of Darts The Grand Slam of Darts is a darts tournament organised by the Professional Darts Corporation and is known as the Cazoo Grand Slam of Darts for sponsorship purposes. The PDC also invited the best performing players from its rival, the British Da ...

, but he lost in the opening round of the former and was defeated in all three of his group games in the latter. A final appearance in a major event of the year came at the Players Championship Finals where he missed two match darts in the deciding leg of the first round against Robert Thornton to lose 6–5. Webster atoned for his misses against Wade a year earlier when he faced

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 the

2015 File:2015 Events Collage new.png, From top left, clockwise: Civil service in remembrance of November 2015 Paris attacks; Germanwings Flight 9525 was purposely crashed into the French Alps; the rubble of residences in Kathmandu following the April ...

edition of the World Championship. From 1–1 in sets he only allowed the world number seven one more leg as he beat him 3–1. He won a trio of sets in deciding legs to lead

Dean Winstanley Dean Winstanley (born 10 February 1981) is an English professional darts player. He first took up darts as a two-year-old, stopped playing at the age of 12, and then started playing again when he was 22. He turned professional in 2008 and won ...

3–2 in the second round. However, Webster lost two sets in a row to be beaten 4–3. Webster twice reached the quarter-final stage of Players Championship events in 2015. Webster saw off John Henderson 3–1 in the opening round of the 2016 World Championship, but

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, 20 ...

averaged 109.23 in their second round clash as Webster could only win one leg in a 4–0 defeat. A 9–8 win over Ricky Evans saw him reach the fifth 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 see ...

for the second time in his career and he lost 9–5 to Peter Wright. Webster's first semi-final in over two and a half years came at the ninth Players Championship and he was beaten 6–1 by

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 ...

. Another came at the 17th event, but he was whitewashed 6–0 by Van Gerwen. Webster was already eliminated from the

before his third group game with Phil Taylor after losing his opening two matches, but nevertheless thrashed the 16-time world champion 5–0. Webster stated that the result would give him a confidence boost for the remainder of the year. He was right, because at the Players Championship Finals he saw off Jonny Clayton and

both 6–3, Alan Norris 10–5 and Christian Kist 10–6 to reach the semi-finals of a PDC major for the first time. Webster stormed in to a 6–0 lead over Van Gerwen, but missed a dart to be 7–2 ahead as Van Gerwen closed to 6–6. Webster did take a one leg lead on two further occasions, but would ultimately be defeated 11–8. Webster survived seven match darts from

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 W ...

in the first round of the 2017 World Championship to progress with a 3–2 win. Webster had finishes of 157, 147 and 140 during the match. He described his second round 4–0 victory over

as the moment of his career as Webster averaged 104.64 and closed the match with a 140 finish. He missed two darts to take the opening set in the third round against Van Gerwen and went 3–0 behind. He pulled a set back, but would be ousted 4–1. Webster hit his first career nine-dart finish on 11 February 2017 in the 5th UK Open qualifier during a 6-5 win over

. In July, he won his first players Championship title, defeating

Daryl Gurney Daryl Gurney (born 22 March 1986) is a Northern Irish professional darts player who plays in Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) events. Gurney is a winner of two majors, having won the World Grand Prix in 2017 in his native Ireland, and the ...

6–1 in the final in

Barnsley Barnsley () is a market town in South Yorkshire, England. As the main settlement of the Metropolitan Borough of Barnsley and the fourth largest settlement in South Yorkshire. In Barnsley, the population was 96,888 while the wider Borough has ...

. In the 2019 World Championship he suffered a surprise defeat and whitewash to

Vincent van der Voort Vincent van der Voort (born 18 December 1975) is a Dutch professional darts player on the PDC circuit. As of the 2012 PDC World Darts Championship, his nickname is the "Dutch Destroyer", although he used to go by "Grease Lightning". He is bes ...

losing 3-0 in the Second Round. Webster lost his tour card following the 2022 PDC World Darts Championship but regained it on the second day of the 2022 Q-School Final stage.

World Championship results

PDC

*2006: First round (lost to Erwin Extercatte 2–3) *2007: Quarter-finals (lost to Phil Taylor 1–5) *2013: First round (lost to Mark Walsh 1–3) *2014: First round (lost to

2–3) *2015: Second round (lost to

3–4) *2016: Second round (lost to

0–4) *2017: Third round (lost to

1–4) *2018: Quarter-finals (lost to

Jamie Lewis Jamie Lewis (born 8 November 1991) is a Welsh professional darts player who currently plays in Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) and World Darts Federation (WDF) events. His biggest achievement to date was reaching the semi-finals of the 20 ...

0–5) *2019: Second round (lost to

0–3) *2020: Third round (lost to

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 Vega ...

3–4)

Performance timeline

References

External links

Darren Webster's Official Website
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Webster, Darren 1968 births Living people Sportspeople from Norwich English darts players Professional Darts Corporation current tour card holders PDC ranking title winners