James Hubbard (born 24 July 1992) is a former 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.

Career

Hubbard reached the final of the

2012 PDC World Youth Championship The 2012 PDC World Youth Championship was the second edition of the PDC World Youth Championship, a tournament organised by the Professional Darts Corporation for darts players aged between 14 and 23. The knock-out stages from the last 64 to the ...

. He beat

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 ...

in the final at the

O2 Arena O2 Arena may refer to: *The O2 Arena (London) *O2 Arena (Prague) *The 3Arena The 3Arena (originally The O2) is an indoor amphitheatre located at North Wall Quay in the Dublin Docklands in Dublin, Ireland. The venue opened as The O2 on 16 Decemb ...

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

on 17 May 2012. As a result of reaching the final, he received a

PDC Pro Tour The PDC Pro Tour is a series of non-televised darts tournaments organised by the Professional Darts Corporation (PDC). They comprise Professional Dart Players Association (PDPA) Players Championships and European Tour events. Only four players ...

card for 2012. Hubbard's title also earned him an invitation to the

2011 Grand Slam of Darts The 2011 William Hill Grand Slam of Darts, was the fifth staging of the darts tournament organised by the Professional Darts Corporation. The event took place from 12–20 November 2011 at the Wolverhampton Civic Hall, Wolverhampton, England. Fo ...

. He lost against Phil Taylor, Mervyn King and

Steve Beaton Steve Beaton (born 5 April 1964) is an English professional darts player who plays in Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) events. He won the BDO World Darts Championship in 1996 and is a former World No. 1. Background Beaton was born in Co ...

in the group stage. In May 2012, Hubbard earned a place in the

German Darts Championship The German Darts Championship is a Professional Darts Corporation event that takes place in Germany as part of the PDC European Tour. Since 2013, it has been held at Halle 39 in Hildesheim, after previously being held in Berlin Berlin ( , ) ...

by defeating Andrew Gilding and Kevin Dowling in the UK qualifier. In the first round of the event in

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...

he pulled off the best result of his career to date by knocking out reigning two-time world champion

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 Vegas ...

6–4. He continued his run by defeating Peter Wright in round two, before losing to his practice partner Mervyn King 6–4 in the last 16. Hubbard also qualified for the third European Tour event, the European Darts Open in

Düsseldorf Düsseldorf ( , , ; often in English sources; Low Franconian and Ripuarian: ''Düsseldörp'' ; archaic nl, Dusseldorp ) is the capital city of North Rhine-Westphalia, the most populous state of Germany. It is the second-largest city in th ...

. He beat

Andy Hamilton Andrew Neil Hamilton (born 28 May 1954) is a British comedian, game show panellist, television director, comedy screenwriter, radio dramatist, novelist and actor. Early life and education Hamilton was born in Fulham, southwest London. He ...

in the first round, and Steve Brown in the second. After defeating Mark Walsh 6–3 in the last 16, a result which secured his qualification for the 2012 World Matchplay, Hubbard shed tears of joy on the stage. He then lost to

Richie Burnett Richard Mark "Richie" Burnett (born 7 February 1967), nicknamed Prince of Wales, is a Welsh professional darts player who plays in Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) events. He is a former World No. 1 who won the 1995 Embassy World Darts Cha ...

6–2 in the quarter-finals. Hubbard played

Wes Newton Wesley Newton (born 27 August 1977) is an English professional darts player. Darts career Newton's first PDC major was the 2003 UK Open where he lost 8–6 to Mark Thomson in the last 32. He was beaten in the semi-finals of the Eastbourne Op ...

in the first round of the World Matchplay and was beaten 10–5. In October, he saw off

Denis Ovens Denis Ovens (born 1 July 1957 in Enfield) is an English retired professional darts player. He is nicknamed ''The Heat'' and is now based in Stevenage. Ovens is widely regarded as one of the most consistent players in the circuit, though he ha ...

6–2 in the opening round of the Dutch Darts Masters, before losing 6–4 to

Andy Jenkins Andrew Jenkins (born 11 March 1971) is an English professional darts player who competes in Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) events. He was nicknamed "Rocky" due to his rough personality. Jenkins has reached high rankings in the PDC, but ha ...

. Hubbard qualified for the

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 Dar ...

again thanks to his 2011 World Youth Championship title, but lost all of three Group C games against

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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

to finish bottom of the table. Hubbard qualified for the 2013 World Championship, his first, by finishing 34th on the 2012 ProTour Order of Merit, claiming the fourth of sixteen spots that were available to non-qualified players. He lost the opening six legs of his first round match against

to be two sets down, but with the crowd heavily favouring Hubbard, Burnett's form dropped substantially and Hubbard was able to level the match at 2–2. However, the Welshman's experience eventually told as he took the deciding set by four legs to two. Hubbard was ranked world number 52 after the event. He lost 5–3 to Andy Smith in the second 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 seedin ...

. He had a disappointing year overall as he could not win beyond the last 32 of any ranking tournament. Hubbard advanced to the third round of the

for the second time of his career in

2014 File:2014 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Stocking up supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE) for the Western African Ebola virus epidemic; Citizens examining the ruins after the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping; Bundles of wat ...

, but was thrashed 9–1 by world number one

. At the fifth Players Championship, Hubbard enjoyed notable 6–0 and 6–4 victories over

and Van Gerwen in reaching his first semi-final on the PDC tour, which he lost 6–1 to

Brendan Dolan Brendan Gabriel Dolan (born 2 August 1973) is a Northern Irish professional darts player from County Fermanagh, Northern Ireland, who plays in Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) events. He is best known for becoming the first player to hit a ...

. Hubbard won the eighth Youth Tour event of the year by beating

Reece Robinson Reece Robinson (born 13 June 1987) is a Lebanon international rugby league footballer who most recently played for the Sydney Roosters in the NRL. He previously played for the Brisbane Broncos, Canberra Raiders and Parramatta Eels in the Nat ...

4–2 in the final. Hubbard was ranked world number 74 at the start of 2015, meaning he had to enter Q School in order to win his place back on tour. However, he was unable to progress past the last 64 on any of the four days to fall short of earning a new tour card. Hubbard failed to qualify for the

, but played in all 32 of the Challenge and Development Tour tournaments, reaching one quarter-final in the final Development Tour event where he was knocked out 4–3 by

Josh Payne Joshua James Payne (born 25 November 1990) is an English footballer who plays as a midfielder. He has previously played for West Ham United, Cheltenham Town, Colchester United, Wycombe Wanderers, Doncaster Rovers, Oxford United, Aldershot Town ...

. The only European Tour event he reached was the European Darts Trophy, where he lost 6–1 to

Rowby-John Rodriguez Rowby-John Rodriguez (born 27 March 1994) is an Austrian professional darts player currently playing in events of the Professional Darts Corporation (PDC). Career In 2010, as a 16-year-old, Rodriguez won the Austrian National Championship by bea ...

in the first round. In 2016, Hubbard played in all 19 of the Development Tour events, recording two quarter-final and two semi-final finishes. He qualified for the European Darts Grand Prix but could only average 75.22 during a 6–2 first round loss to

Max Hopp Max Hopp (born 20 August 1996) is a German professional darts player who competes in Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) events. Career Hopp reached the final of the 2011 WDF World Cup boys' singles, and won the boys' singles event at the 2012 ...

Practice

Hubbard practices and travels with the 2004

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 events in tenn ...

champion Ollie Leggett, who has tipped Hubbard as a player to watch in years to come. These sentiments were echoed by

who practiced with Hubbard before the

2012 Grand Slam of Darts The 2012 William Hill Grand Slam of Darts, was the sixth staging of the tournament, organised by the Professional Darts Corporation. The event took place from 10–18 November 2012 at the Wolverhampton Civic Hall, Wolverhampton, England. Phil ...

World Championship results

PDC

* 2013: First round (lost to

2–3)

Personal life

Hubbard is the son of former PDC professional player Vic Hubbard. When not playing darts, Hubbard works as a decorator with his father.

References

External links

Management Website
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Hubbard, James 1992 births Living people English darts players People from Wymondham Professional Darts Corporation former tour card holders PDC world youth champions