Jamie Robert Caven (born 10 March 1976) is an English former 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

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) events. He has won seven events on the

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 ...

, including two in the same weekend in May 2013. Caven was also the World Youth Masters champion in 1993.

Early life

Caven has no sight in his right eye, after being stung by a bee when he was 18 months old. At the age of 17, Caven won the World Youth Masters. When he was 20, tumours were found in his pancreas resulting in its removal and his requirement to have four insulin injections a day for the rest of his life. This is where his darts nickname ''Jabba'' originated.

Career

Caven qualified for the 2008 World Championship at

Alexandra Palace Alexandra Palace is a Grade II listed entertainment and sports venue in London, situated between Wood Green and Muswell Hill in the London Borough of Haringey. It is built on the site of Tottenham Wood and the later Tottenham Wood Farm. Origi ...

, and defeated

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 3–0, before playing

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 ...

in the second round, taking the first set before losing 4–1. Caven won his first PDC title, by edging

Alan Tabern "The Saint" Alan Tabern (born 29 September 1966) is an English darts player who plays in events of the Professional Darts Corporation (PDC). Darts career A left-hander, Tabern made his PDC World Championship debut in 2006 with a surprising ...

in a final leg decider to win 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 ...

Welsh Regional in Newport in May 2009. A month later he reached his first PDC major quarter-final at the

, where he lost 10–3 to

Colin Osborne Colin Osborne (born 19 June 1975) is an English professional darts player who plays in Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) events. In 2009, he won the Championship League and reached the final of the UK Open. Darts career Osborne has won two ...

. Caven lost in the first round of the 2010 PDC World Championship to Gary Anderson 3–2. He won his first round match of the 2011 World Championship by defeating

South Africa's 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 countri ...

Devon Petersen Devon Petersen (born 4 June 1986) is a South African professional darts player and a pundit for Sky Sports. He has qualified for the PDC World Championship on seven occasions with his best result coming in 2014, 2019 and 2021 when he reached th ...

, 3–2, but was then whitewashed 4–0 by

in the last 32. Caven was seeded 18 for the 2012 World Championship but lost to

Roland Scholten Roland Scholten (born 11 January 1965) is a Dutch former professional darts player who played in events of the Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) and British Darts Organisation (BDO). Nicknamed The Tripod and The Flying Dutchman, Scholten turne ...

1–3 in the first round. Caven trailed Joe Cullen 0–4 and 1–5 in the last 16 of the

, but produced a superb comeback, concluding with a 160 finish in the deciding leg to take the match 9–8. He played

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 ...

in the quarter-finals and lost 6–10. Caven qualified from

Group 7 Group 7 may refer to: * G7, an international group of finance minister *Group 7 element, chemical element classification *Halogens (alternative name) *Group 7 Rugby League, rugby league competition in New South Wales, Australia *Group 7 (racing) G ...

of the

Championship League Championship League is a professional snooker tournament, devised by Matchroom Sport. A ranking event version of the tournament began from September 2020, played similarly to its invitational, non-ranking counterpart but with some minor changes ...

with a 6–4 victory against Paul Nicholson. He finished 2nd in the Winners Group, having won five of his seven league matches, but then lost to

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 ...

4–6 in the semi-finals, having led 4–3. After all 33 ProTour events of 2012 had been played, Caven was 31st on the Order of Merit, just inside the top 32 who qualified for the

Players Championship Finals The Players Championship Finals is a darts tournament organised by the Professional Darts Corporation. The tournament originally featured the top 32 players from the Players Championship Order of Merit, a separate ranking system that only takes int ...

. He lost to Whitlock 3–6 in the first round.

2013

Caven let a 2–1 set lead slip in the first round of the 2013 World Championship as he lost 2–3 to qualifier John Bowles. He reached the final of the fourth UK Open Qualifier in March, but lost to Robert Thornton 4–6 having defeated Gary Anderson 6–2 in the semi-finals. Caven won his first title for over two years in May at the third Players Championship, winning seven matches on the day concluding with a 6–4 victory over Paul Nicholson in the final. His form continued into the fourth event a day later as he won it by beating

Jelle Klaasen Jelle Klaasen (born 17 October 1984), nicknamed The Cobra, is a Dutch professional darts player who plays in the Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) and World Darts Federation (WDF) events. In 2006, he became the youngest darts player to win the ...

6–4 in the final with an incredible average of 110.68. An unlucky draw at the

saw him face

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 ...

in the third round and he lost 7–9. At the European Championship, Caven beat

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 ...

6–0 and Wade 10–2 to breeze into the quarter-finals. He played

and led 9–3 only to suffer a huge comeback from the Australian as Caven lost seven legs in a row to be beaten 10–9. Caven fought back from 5–2 and 7–4 down to

in the first round of the World Matchplay to win 10–8. He almost produced another turn around in his next game against Chisnall as he led 10–7 from being 6–2 down having twice set up the possibility of a nine darter by hitting back to back maximums. However, Caven then lost six legs in a row to exit the tournament. In October, he reached the final of the 11th Players Championship but was edged out 6–5 by Robert Thornton. He lost 9–4 to

Justin Pipe Justin Pipe (born 9 November 1971) is an English former professional darts player who has played in the Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) events. He was a former top 10 player. Playing career Pipe was a boxer in his youth, and, as a staunc ...

in the second round of the

having beaten

Colin Lloyd Colin Edward Lloyd (born 7 August 1973), nicknamed Jaws, is an English retired professional darts player. He is a former world number one ranked player and has won two major television titles in the Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) – the ...

6–3 in the opener.

2014

Caven beat

3–1 in the first round of the 2014 World Championship to set up a meeting 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 ...

. Caven took the first set in a deciding leg by hitting a 136 finish with Van Barneveld waiting on 20 and then missed one dart to take a 2–0 lead, instead going on to trail 2–1. Caven won two successive sets to regain the advantage but could only win one more leg after this in a 4–3 defeat. He was the victim of a shock 5–3 defeat against Kevin Dowling in the second round of the

. In May, he advanced to the semi-finals of an event for the first time in a year at the ninth Players Championship where he lost 6–2 against Peter Wright. Caven beat

Terry Jenkins Terry Jenkins (born 26 September 1963) is an English former professional darts player who was nicknamed The Bull, having previously used the name "Tucker" for his matches. He reached number three in the world rankings and was a runner-up in nin ...

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 Wor ...

, Phil Taylor and Wright all by 6–5 scorelines at the Austrian Darts Open to reach the final. He built a 5–2 lead over

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 ...

, but went on to lose 6–5 without ever having a dart for the title. Caven was knocked out of the first round in the World Matchplay and World Grand Prix and the second round of the European Championship. He won a place in 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 Dart ...

through the qualifier but lost each of his group games to finish bottom of the table. Caven saw off Ian White 6–4 at the

and was almost the victim of a huge fightback from Robert Thornton as he forced a deciding leg after having been 9–4 behind. However, he survived one match dart to win 10–9 and reach his only major quarter-final of the year where he faced

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 ...

. Caven missed a dart for the match at the bull to complete a 167 finish to win 10–8 and was instead eliminated 10–9.

2015

Caven lost 4–3 in the second round of the 2015 World Championship to

for the second year in a row. There was never more than a set between the players, with Caven having the higher average, checkout percentage and winning more legs (15 to 14). He saw off

9–3 at the

, before losing 9–6 to

in the fourth round. His first round meeting with

at the World Matchplay went to extra legs, with Caven being edged out 13–11. He exited in the first round of the other two majors he reached in 2015 (2–0 in sets to Ian White at the World Grand Prix and 6–3 to Michael Smith at the

). At the Dutch Darts Masters, Caven eliminated John Henderson 6–0,

David Pallett David John Pallett (born 8 February 1990) is an English professional darts player playing in Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) events. Career In January 2013, Pallett entered PDC Q School and stood just one match from joining the tour in t ...

6–5 and

Kim Huybrechts Kim Huybrechts (born 16 November 1985) is a Belgian professional darts player currently playing in Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) events. He made the final of a major TV event, the 2012 Players Championship Finals, losing to Phil Taylor 13 ...

6–2 to play in his only semi-final this year, but he lost 6–4 to

2016

Caven did not drop a set against

Rob Szabo Robert "Rob" Szabo (born 29 October 1965 from Wellington) is a former professional darts player from New Zealand. Career Szabo claimed the 2010 New Zealand National Championship by beating Koha Kokiri 4–0 in the final. He qualified for the ...

and Ricky Evans to reach the third round of the

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, ...

for the first time in his ninth appearance in the event. However, he was defeated 4–1 by

. He lost 9–6 against

in the fourth round of the

. A 6–4 win over

saw Caven play in his first final in nearly two years at the eighth Players Championship, but he was comfortably beaten 6–1 by

Gerwyn Price Gerwyn Stephen Price (born 7 March 1985) is a Welsh professional darts player and former professional rugby union and rugby league player. Nicknamed "The Iceman", he competes in events of the Professional Darts Corporation (PDC), where he is cu ...

. After missing darts at doubles in the second leg of his first round match with

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 ...

at the World Matchplay, Caven did not get any more double chances as he was whitewashed 10–0. He averaged 79.98 to Van Gerwen's 105.85. He also had first round exits at the World Grand Prix, European Championship and

2017

Caven entered the 2017 World Championship on a run of eight successive losses in all events. He was beaten 3–1 by

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 ...

in the first round, losing the final six legs of the match.

2018

Caven failed to qualify for the 2018 World Championship for the first time in 10 years. He qualified for the 2018 European Darts Grand Prix, eventually losing to

Mensur Suljović Mensur Suljović (Serbian Cyrillic: Менсур Суљовић; born 5 March 1972) is an Austrian professional darts player. He plays in Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) events, having previously played in the British Darts Organisation (BD ...

in the second round.

2019

Caven once against failed to qualify for the 2019 World Championship he announced that in January he would be heading to Q-School in an attempt to regain his PDC Tour Card. Caven failed to regain his tour card and as a result has started playing in Challenge Tour events. On 16 February Caven entered the BDO Scottish Open where he battled against near 1000 other players reaching the semi-finals. He gained 25 points on his BDO ranking. Caven also played in the 2019 Slovak Darts Open and Masters where he did not enjoy the success he had seen in Scotland but managed to pick up more ranking points. Later Caven played in the 3-day Isle of Man Darts Classic where he reached the last 64 in the Open and the last 32 in the Masters.

2020 – PDC

It was announced that he will be competing for a tour card at the 2020 Q School to join 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 ...

World Championship results

PDC

* 2008: Second round (lost to

1–4) * 2009: First round (lost to Mark Walsh 2–3) * 2010: First round (lost to Gary Anderson 2–3) * 2011: Second round (lost to

0–4) * 2012: First round (lost to

1–3) * 2013: First round (lost to John Bowles 2–3) * 2014: Second round (lost to

3–4) * 2015: Second round (lost to

3–4) * 2016: Third round (lost to

1–4) *2017: First round (lost to

1–3)

Performance timeline

Career finals

PDC European tour finals: (1 runner-up)

References

External links

Jamie Caven's official websiteJamie Caven's profile and stats on Darts Database2010 Interview with Jamie Caven a Darts, Beers & Cheers!
{{DEFAULTSORT:Caven, Jamie 1976 births English darts players Living people Sportspeople from Leicester Professional Darts Corporation former tour card holders British Darts Organisation players PDC ranking title winners