Francisca ("Francis") Hoenselaar (born 15 January 1965 in

Rotterdam Rotterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Rotte'') is the second largest city and municipality in the Netherlands. It is in the province of South Holland, part of the North Sea mouth of the Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt delta, via the ''"Ne ...

South Holland South Holland ( nl, Zuid-Holland ) is a province of the Netherlands with a population of over 3.7 million as of October 2021 and a population density of about , making it the country's most populous province and one of the world's most densely ...

) is a retired Dutch 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 boa ...

player from 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 Neth ...

. She was nicknamed ''The Dutch Crown''. A leading player in the women's game, Hoenselaar was the 2009

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 ...

Women's World Darts Champion, having defeated

Trina Gulliver Catrina Elizabeth Gulliver (born 30 November 1969) is an English professional darts player. She is the 10-time Women's World Professional Darts Champion of the British Darts Organisation (BDO). Her nickname is Golden Girl and in 2003, she was n ...

in the final. Prior to this, she had been runner-up no fewer than five times - each time losing to Gulliver.

Achievements

A Netherlands native, Hoenselaar has won the Dutch title fifteen times. She first represented the Netherlands at the

WDF World Cup The WDF World Cup is a major darts tournament organized by the World Darts Federation and has been held biennially since 1977. The tournament has featured men's events since the beginning, while women's events were added in 1983 and youth events i ...

in 1991. She won the Europe Cup women's singles in 1996, 2004 and 2010, and the World Cup women's singles in

2001 The September 11 attacks against the United States by Al-Qaeda, which killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror, were a defining event of 2001. The United States led a multi-national coalition in an invasion of Afghanist ...

. She aimed to retire from the Dutch team after the 2011 World Cup. Gulliver has long been her main rival, and got the better of her in five World Championship finals (2002, 2004, 2005, 2006 and 2007). Indeed, Gulliver was unbeaten at the Women's World Championship until 2008. Hoenselaar entered the 2008 World Championship as the number one seed, but lost in the first round to qualifier

Stephanie Smee Stephanie is a female name that comes from the Greek name Στέφανος (Stephanos) meaning "crown". The male form is Stephen. Forms of Stephanie in other languages include the German "Stefanie", the Italian, Czech, Polish, and Russian " St ...

. Hoenselaar won the

World Masters The World Masters, known for sponsorship reasons as the Mita/Sky World Masters, was a snooker tournament held between 13 and 26 January 1991. Conceived by promoter Barry Hearn, the tournament had a similar format to the Grand Slam (tennis), Gran ...

in 1999, and again in 2006. She defeated

Anastasia Dobromyslova Anastasia Petrovna Dobromyslova-Martin (russian: Анастаси́я Петро́вна Добромы́слова; born 26 September 1984) is a professional darts player. She is a three-time Women's World Professional Darts Champion of the B ...

to win her third World Masters title in 2008, in what was Dobromyslova's final tournament before her defection 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 ...

. In

2009 File:2009 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The vertical stabilizer of Air France Flight 447 is pulled out from the Atlantic Ocean; Barack Obama becomes the first African American to become President of the United States; Protests ...

, Hoenselaar finally won the Women's World Championship, beating Gulliver in the final to record her first World Championship title, and a winner's cheque of £6,000. This earned her a spot at the

2009 Grand Slam of Darts The 2009 PartyPoker.com Grand Slam of Darts was the third staging of the darts tournament, the Grand Slam of Darts organised by the Professional Darts Corporation. The event took place from 14 to 22 November 2009 at the Wolverhampton Civic Hall, ...

, and was drawn in

Group D Group D may refer to: * FIA Group D - International Formula racing cars: ** Formula Two ** Formula Three ** Formula 3000 * One of six or eight groups of four teams competing at the FIFA World Cup ** 2022 FIFA World Cup Group D ** 2018 FIFA World ...

with

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 ...

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 ...

and

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 ...

. Hoenselaar won four legs over her three matches, as she bowed out in the group stages. Hoenselaar was unseeded for the 2010 Women's World Championship and was drawn against Gulliver once more in the first round. Gulliver won by 2 sets to 0, and she went on to win her eighth world title. Hoenselaar failed to qualify for the 2011 and 2012 Women's World Championships. In August 2014, despite not playing in any tournament since the 2012 Women's Isle Of Man Open for which she won. Hoenselaar announced her retirement from the game due to persistent injuries.

World Championship results

BDO

* 2001: Semi Finals (lost to

Mandy Solomons Mandy or Mandie may refer to: People * Mandy (name), a female given name and nickname * Iván Mándy (1918-1995), Hungarian writer * Mark Mandy (born 1972), Irish retired high jumper * Philip Mandie (born 1942), a former judge on the Supreme ...

1-2) * 2002: Runner Up (lost to

1-2) * 2003: Semi Finals (lost to

Anne Kirk Anne Kirk (born 6 April 1951) is a Scottish former professional darts player. She was nicknamed "Captain Kirk". Career Kirk won the 2001 Women's World Masters, beating American Marilyn Popp in the final. She then reached the semi final of th ...

0-2) * 2004: Runner Up (lost to Trina Gulliver 0–2) * 2005: Runner Up (lost to Trina Gulliver 0–2) * 2006: Runner Up (lost to Trina Gulliver 0–2) * 2007: Runner Up (lost to Trina Gulliver 1–2) * 2008: Quarter Finals (lost to

0–2) * 2009: Winner (beat Trina Gulliver 2-1) * 2010: Quarter Finals (lost to Trina Gulliver 0–2)

References

External links

Personal Website

Interview with Francisca Hoenselaar

Profile and Stats on Darts Database
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hoenselaar, Francis 1965 births Living people Dutch darts players Sportspeople from Rotterdam BDO women's world darts champions Professional Darts Corporation women's players