Leonard Gates (born November 26, 1970) is an American 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 competes in the Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) events. He is the current PDC North American champion and 2023 WSDT Champion of Champions winner. He is also a former baseball player, playing for

Abilene Prairie Dogs The Abilene Prairie Dogs were an independent professional baseball team based in Abilene, Texas. They were members of the Texas–Louisiana League from 1995 to 1999, and returned in the North American League in 2012. Team history Texas–Lou ...

Massachusetts Mad Dogs Massachusetts (Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut Massachusett_writing_systems.html" ;"title="nowiki/> məhswatʃəwiːsət.html" ;"title="Massachusett writing systems">məhswatʃəwiːsət">Massachusett writing systems">məhswatʃəwiːsət'' En ...

, Catskill Cougars and

Nashua Pride The Nashua Pride was a professional baseball team based in Nashua, New Hampshire, in the United States, not affiliated with Major League Baseball. They played home games at Holman Stadium from 1998 through 2008, when they were sold and renamed ...

Career

Gates started to play in WDF in 2007, winning numerous American darts tournaments, including exhibition ones. His first appearance in major BDO tournament was in 2017 World Masters, where he lost in the last 272 to Paul Coughlin. In 2022, Gates qualified as a seed for the

2022 WDF World Darts Championship The 2022 Lakeside WDF World Championship was the first World Championship organised by the World Darts Federation. The tournament was held at the Lakeside Country Club in Frimley Green, Surrey, which hosted the now-defunct BDO World Darts Champio ...

, but he lost in the second round to

Steve Hine Stephen "Steve" Hine (born 20 April 1969 from Coventry) is an English professional darts player who plays in World Darts Federation events. He works as a baker and consequently he is nicknamed The Muffin Man. He is well known for bringing muff ...

of England. In June, Gates took part in the

2022 US Darts Masters The 2022 bet365 US Darts Masters was the fourth staging of the tournament by the Professional Darts Corporation. It was the first event in the 2022 World Series of Darts. The tournament featured 16 players (8 PDC representatives, and 8 North Americ ...

, where he was one of the eight North American qualifiers. He defeated

Fallon Sherrock Fallon Sherrock (born 2 July 1994) is an English professional darts player who plays in World Darts Federation (WDF) and Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) events. Born in Milton Keynes, Sherrock reached the final of the 2015 BDO Women's Worl ...

6–2 in the first round before losing to Peter Wright 3–8 in the quarter-finals. At the same time, he played in the

2022 PDC North American Championship The 2022 bet365 North American Championship was the fourth edition of the tournament organized by the Professional Darts Corporation for North American players. The tournament took place at the Hulu Theater, New York City, United States on 4 Jun ...

, where he went on to defeat Jules van Dongen and David Cameron, before beating

Danny Baggish Daniel "Danny" Baggish (born 19 August 1983) is a Guamanian–born American professional darts player. He had a PDC tour card from 2021 to 2022, after being the only American player to win one at Q-School in 2021. He is a sponsored by Target ...

in the final and securing his first PDC title, which meant he qualified for the

2023 PDC World Darts Championship The 2022/23 PDC World Darts Championship (known for sponsorship reasons as the 2022/23 Cazoo World Darts Championship) is the upcoming 30th World Championship organised by the Professional Darts Corporation since it separated from the British Dar ...

and

2022 Grand Slam of Darts The 2022 Cazoo Grand Slam of Darts, was the sixteenth staging of the Grand Slam of Darts, organised by the Professional Darts Corporation. The event took place at the Aldersley Leisure Village, Aldersley, Wolverhampton, 12–20 November 2022. Ger ...

as well. In September, Gates took a part in the

2022 World Series of Darts Finals The 2022 Jack's World Series of Darts Finals was the eighth staging of the World Series of Darts Finals tournament, organised by the Professional Darts Corporation. The tournament took place at the AFAS Live, Amsterdam, Netherlands, from 16–18 S ...

, where he reached the second round, defeating

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 ...

6–4 in the first round and then, however, losing to James Wade 4–6 in the next one. Also apart from steeltip darts, Gates plays in darts tournaments of the World Soft Darts Association (WSDA) as well, being the one of the most popular soft-tip contenders. In 2023, Gates and Jules van Dongen represented the United States on the

World Cup of Darts The PDC World Cup of Darts is a team darts tournament organised by the Professional Darts Corporation, and was one of the three new tournaments introduced into the PDC calendar in 2010. It is broadcast live by Sky Sports.Steve Hine Stephen "Steve" Hine (born 20 April 1969 from Coventry) is an English professional darts player who plays in World Darts Federation events. He works as a baker and consequently he is nicknamed The Muffin Man. He is well known for bringing muff ...

0–3)

PDC

* 2023: Second round (lost to

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 ...

1–3)

WSDT

* 2023: Semi-finals (lost to

Richie Howson Richard Howson (born 19 December 1965) is an English professional darts player who plays in World Darts Federation (WDF) events. Career In 2011, he played in British Darts Organisation (BDO) tournament World Masters where he beat Scott Mitc ...

1–3)

References

External links

*
Leonard Gates player profile at Darts Orakel
* 1970 births Living people Sportspeople from Houston Baseball players from Houston American darts players Abilene Prairie Dogs players Massachusetts Mad Dogs players Catskill Cougars players Nashua Pride players {{Darts-bio-stub