Erik Clarys (born 18 October 1968) is a Belgian former professional

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 bo ...

player who competed in events of 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 ...

(BDO) and Professional Darts Corporation (PDC). Nicknamed "The Sheriff", he was known for his unorthodox way of scoring and finishing which made him popular with fans.

BDO career

Clarys caused a major upset by winning the 1995

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 ...

. Amongst his victims were future World and Masters champions

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 ...

and

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 ...

before beating reigning Masters and World champion Richie Burnett in the final. Clarys continued to do well in tournaments, winning the Belgium National Championship four times, the Belgium Gold Cup three times, the Dortmund Open three times as well as the 1999 Swedish Open. Despite this however, he wasn't able to match these performances in other major tournaments. He played in six BDO World Championships, losing in the first round in his first four visits. He finally won a match at the Lakeside in the fifth time of asking in 2002, beating

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 ...

before losing in the second round to Raymond van Barneveld. In 2003, Clarys beat

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 ...

and

Robert Wagner Robert John Wagner Jr. (born February 10, 1930) is an American actor of stage, screen, and television. He is known for starring in the television shows '' It Takes a Thief'' (1968–1970), ''Switch'' (1975–1978), and '' Hart to Hart'' (1979� ...

en route to the quarter finals, eventually losing again to Barneveld despite hitting a 170 checkout.

PDC career

In 2004, Clarys switched to the PDC, after qualifying for their

World Championship A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game, ...

, beating

Dan Lauby Daniel Lauby (sometimes referred to as Dan Lauby Snr; born March 6, 1960) is an American professional darts player who played in the Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) events. His son Danny Lauby Jr. is also a professional darts player. Caree ...

and Mark Walsh to reach the third round, losing 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 ...

. Though Clarys was unable to win any titles, he had good showings in major tournaments including a quarter final place in the 2005 UK Open. He made another appearance in the PDC World Championship, beating Winston Cadogan in round one before losing 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 ...

. He then went on to win the WDF German Gold Cup.

Injury and retirement

In June 2006, Clarys shattered his right elbow after falling from a ladder while at work, forcing him to withdraw from the 2006 UK Open. He was ranked 26th in the PDC world rankings at the time of his accident and was in the running for qualification for the World Matchplay. After eleven operations, Clarys has now given up all hope of returning to darts as a right-handed player. He has though begun practising throwing left-handed and stated he hoped to return to the game some day. He does however remain inactive.Disappointment For Clarys
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World Championship performances

BDO

*1997: 1st round (lost to Paul Williams 2–3) *1998: 1st round (lost to

Kevin Painter Kevin Painter (born 12 July 1967) is an English retired darts player, known as "The Artist". He is arguably most famous for finishing as the runner-up to Phil Taylor in the 2004 PDC World Championship final, now widely credited as one of the ...

1–3) *1999: 1st round (lost to

Tony Littleton Tony may refer to: People and fictional characters * Tony (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters * Gregory Tony (born 1978), American law enforcement officer * Motu Tony (born 1981), New Zealand international rugby leag ...

2–3) *2001: 1st round (lost to

1–3) *2002: 2nd round (lost to Raymond van Barneveld 0–3) *2003: Quarter-finals (lost to Raymond van Barneveld 1–5)

PDC

*2004: 3rd round (lost to

2–4) *2006: 2nd round (lost to

1–4)

Career finals

BDO major finals: 1 (1 title)

References

External links

Profile and stats on Darts Database
{{DEFAULTSORT:Clarys, Erik 1968 births Belgian darts players Living people British Darts Organisation players Professional Darts Corporation former pro tour players