José Antonio Justicia Perales (born 6 January 1989) is a Spanish
darts
Darts is a competitive sport in which two or more players bare-handedly throw small projectile point, sharp-pointed projectile, projectiles known as dart (missile), darts at a round shooting target, target known as a #Dartboard, dartboard.
Point ...
player.
Career
Justicia started his career in 2009 and participated in PDPA Players Championship events in Gibraltar and Nuland. At the end of the year, he attempted to qualify through PDC World Spain Qualifying Event for
2010 PDC World Darts Championship, but lost in the quarterfinal phase to Francisco Ruiz. Next years he participated mainly in soft-tip darts and became a European champion in Soft Tip Bullshooter European Championship 2012. He appeared in several other PDPA Players Championship events in 2011 and 2012, in Germany, Netherlands and Spain.
Between 2012 and 2018 Justicia played soft-tip darts, reaching quarterfinal of Soft Tip Dartslive Las Vegas in 2016.
In January 2018 he tried to win the Tour card in PDC and reached the final of the tournament on Day 3, where he lost to
Tytus Kanik. After reaching the last 16 on the final day, Justicia gained his Tour card via PDC Q-School Order of Merit. During one of the UK Open Qualifier tournaments, Justicia was pushed by
Adrian Lewis
Adrian Lewis (born 21 January 1985) is an English professional darts player who formerly competed in Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) events. Nicknamed "Jackpot", he is a two-time PDC World Champion, having won the title in 2011 and 2012. ...
and players had to be separated by stewards. On 2 February 2018 the Darts Regulation Authority ("DRA") released a statement that Lewis would be suspended with immediate effect pending an appeal following an incident with Justicia in the first UK Open qualifier. On 8 February 2018, Lewis was given a three-month ban suspended for six months after Lewis admitted he broke DRA rules.
In March, he played his first major tournament, the
2018 UK Open, where he lost 2–6 in the second round against
Joe Cullen. In April, Justicia qualified for his first European Tour event, playing PDC German Open. Later on during the year, he also qualified for the
2018 International Darts Open. He was unable to qualify for the
2019 PDC World Darts Championship via PDC Pro Tour Order of Merit, and he was eliminated in the quarterfinal of PDC World South West European Qualifying Event.
Justicia played on
2019 UK Open and won his first major tournament match, when he won 6–2 over
Kevin Thoburn. In the last 96 he lost in the deciding leg 5–6 to
Ricky Evans. In April, he reached quarterfinal of PDPA Players Championship Barnsley, marking his career best at that time. In June, he qualified for PDC Danish Open, where he got eliminated in the first round.
After winning the South West Europe Qualifier, Justicia secured his debut at
2020 PDC World Darts Championship
The 2020 PDC World Darts Championship (known for sponsorship reasons as the 2020 William Hill World Darts Championship) was the 27th PDC World Darts Championship, World Championship organised by the Professional Darts Corporation since it Spli ...
. He played
Arron Monk in the first round and won 3–0. In the second round, Justicia faced the 17th seed,
Stephen Bunting
Stephen Bunting (born 9 April 1985) is an English professional darts player who competes in Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) events, where he is currently ranked world number four. Nicknamed "the Bullet", Bunting formerly competed in Brit ...
, to whom he lost 2–3 on sets. After the tournament, Justicia placed 82nd in PDC Order of Merit and lost his Tour card.
In January 2020, Justicia entered PDC Q-School, trying to regain his Tour card. Despite reaching the quarterfinal on Day 4, he was unable to get the card. He switched to the PDC Challenge Tour and was also participating in online darts.
In 2021, he failed to get the Tour card in PDC EU Q-school and continued on PDC Challenge Tour. Justicia won the 7th tournament of the year, in
Niedernhausen
Niedernhausen im Taunus is a municipality in the Rheingau-Taunus-Kreis in the ''Regierungsbezirk'' of Darmstadt in Hesse, Germany, with almost 15,000 inhabitants.
Geography
Location
Niedernhausen lies in the Rhein-Taunus Nature Park in the west o ...
, and won his first title on this circuit. In September, he represented Spain in the
2021 PDC World Cup of Darts alongside
Jesús Noguera, where they lost in a deciding leg against the
South Africa
South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...
n team of
Devon Petersen and Carl Gabriel.
In January 2022, Justicia entered EU Q-school and on Day 1 in the final he whitewashed
Mario Vandenbogaerde 6–0 to secure his PDC Tour Card and ensured his return to the professional circuit.
He reached the third round of the
2022 UK Open, where he lost in a deciding leg to
Adam Gawlas, despite hitting a
nine-dart finish
A nine-dart finish, also known as a nine-darter, is a perfect leg or single game in the sport of darts. The object of the game is to score a set number of points, most commonly 501; in order to win, a player must reach the target total exactly a ...
during the match.
World Championship results
PDC
* 2020: Second round (lost to
Stephen Bunting
Stephen Bunting (born 9 April 1985) is an English professional darts player who competes in Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) events, where he is currently ranked world number four. Nicknamed "the Bullet", Bunting formerly competed in Brit ...
2–3)
* 2023: First round (lost to
Josh Rock 1–3)
Performance timeline
PDC
PDC European Tour
References
External links
*
José Justicia player profile at Mastercaller
{{DEFAULTSORT:Justicia, José
Spanish darts players
Living people
1989 births
Professional Darts Corporation former tour card holders
PDC World Cup of Darts Spanish team