Mark Walsh (born 2 February 1965) 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 who competed in

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 ...

(PDC) tournaments. He reached No. 6 in the

PDC Order of Merit The PDC Order of Merit is a world ranking system used by one of the darts organisations, the Professional Darts Corporation (PDC). Following the 2007 PDC World Darts Championship it superseded a world ranking system based on points being awarded fo ...

. Walsh reached his first major televised final in 2005, when he was beaten by Phil Taylor in 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 ...

Early career

Walsh made his televised debut at the 2002 World Matchplay but suffered a 10-0 whitewash at the hands of

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 ...

. His World Championship debut came in 2004, but he lost 0-3 to Erik Clarys in his first match. He went out to

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 ...

2-4 in 2005. He won his first match at the World Championship at his third attempt in 2006. He was seeded 12th for the event, and beat

Warren Parry Warren "Wazza" Parry (born 9 January 1964) is a New Zealand professional darts player who played in the World Darts Federation (WDF) events. Parry is widely considered the greatest New Zealand player of all time. Career Parry reached the final o ...

before losing 0-4 to Dennis Smith in the next round.

Later career

2007-2010

He had slipped to 16th in the world rankings for the 2007 World Championship, when he was surprisingly beaten by 19-year-old Dutch player

Rico Vonck Rico Vonck (born 12 March 1987) is a Dutch former darts player. Career Vonck qualified for the 2007 PDC World Darts Championship, having finished second in the Dutch Darts Federation (DDF) rankings. Michael van Gerwen had finished top of the li ...

, thus continuing his poor run at the tournament. He started the year ranked 15th in the world, but had fallen to 32 by November, which put him in danger of failing to qualify for the 2008 World Championship. However, he reached the semi-final of the Ireland Open Classic in September, and won the non-ranked Gleneagle Irish Masters in early November, thus hinting at an upturn in form. He also reached the semi-finals of the PDC German Darts Championship. In the 2008 PDC World Darts Championship, Walsh defeated

Adrian Gray Adrian Gray (born 28 February 1981) is an English darts player who plays in Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) events. Career Gray made his televised debut at the 2003 UK Open. He only began playing darts at the age of 18, and within thre ...

in the first round, setting up a second-round match with Taylor. Walsh led Taylor 1-0, 2-1 and 3-2 before Taylor won six consecutive legs to beat him 4-3. Despite losing, Walsh stated that from suffering

dartitis Dartitis () is a condition which can affect darts players, and severely damage their performance. It can be compared to 'the yips', an expression used to describe apparent loss of fine motor skills without any explanation. The term is used in refer ...

to pushing the greatest player in the world to the final set at the World Championship was a great victory in its own right. Walsh continued his good form, reaching three quarter finals including the Open Holland Masters and then reached the last 32 stage of the US Open and the UK Open. He followed up with a semi final showing in the PDPA Players Championship Las Vegas and then qualified for the 2008 Las Vegas Desert Classic the next day. He beat

Bill Davis William Grenville Davis, (July 30, 1929 – August 8, 2021) was a Canadian politician who served as the 18th premier of Ontario from 1971 to 1985. Davis was first elected as the member of provincial Parliament for Peel in the 1959 provincia ...

in the first round before losing to

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 ...

. He then reached the second round of the 2008 World Matchplay, defeating

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 ...

in the opening match of the tournament but lost to

Kevin McDine Kevin McDine (born 23 May 1985 in Wallsend) is an English professional darts player currently residing in Wallsend. Career In November 2004 he reached the last 16 of the JR & Vauxhall Holiday Park 128 Plus Classic. He improved on that perfor ...

. He reached the second round of the World Grand Prix, beating

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 first round before losing to

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 ...

. Walsh missed out on qualifying for the

2008 Grand Slam of Darts The 2008 PartyPoker.com Grand Slam of Darts was the second staging of the darts tournament, the Grand Slam of Darts organised by the Professional Darts Corporation. The event took place from 15 to 23 November 2008 at the Wolverhampton Civic Hall, ...

but bounced back to reach the semi finals of the inaugural Championship League Darts, winning group eight and then placing second in the winners group, eventually losing to Mervyn King. He then reached the quarter finals of the 2008 European Darts Championship and reached the final of the PDPA Players Championship Holland 2, losing to Wade. Walsh defeated

Jamie Caven Jamie Robert Caven (born 10 March 1976) is an English former professional darts player who plays in British Darts Organisation (BDO) events. He has won seven events on the PDC Pro Tour, including two in the same weekend in May 2013. Caven was a ...

3-2 in the first round of the 2009 PDC World Championship, narrowly missing out on a nine dart finish on the way. In the second round he lost 4-2 to King. On 17 January, Walsh hit 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 an ...

in the Eddie Cox Memorial Players Championship in Gibraltar against Caven to win the deciding leg of their first round match. Having rolled over for four Players Championships, Walsh won £1,600 for the nine-darter. Walsh won his first PDC title in two years, when he won the Coventry Players Championship on 28 March 2009 beating Taylor 6-4 in the final. He added another title with his second career UK Open Regional in

Derby Derby ( ) is a city and unitary authority area in Derbyshire, England. It lies on the banks of the River Derwent in the south of Derbyshire, which is in the East Midlands Region. It was traditionally the county town of Derbyshire. Derby gai ...

, by winning the

East Midlands The East Midlands is one of nine official regions of England at the first level of ITL for statistical purposes. It comprises the eastern half of the area traditionally known as the Midlands. It consists of Leicestershire, Derbyshire, Li ...

region 6-5 over

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 ...

2010 – present

Walsh was 12th seed for the 2010 World Championship, however he didn't get past the first round after losing 3-2 to former

World Champion 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, ...

Mark Webster. Walsh qualified for 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 ...

as the highest ranked player from the PDC Order of Merit not already invited. He progressed through Group A with victories over

Tony O'Shea Tony O'Shea (born 9 May 1961) is an English professional darts player. His squat figure has resulted in the nickname "Silverback". O'Shea has reached the finals of seven British Darts Organisation (BDO) major darts tournaments, but to date h ...

and

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 ...

but finished second after losing to

Scott Waites Scott Waites (born 17 February 1977) is an English professional darts player who plays in tournaments of the Professional Darts Corporation (PDC). He is a two-time BDO World Darts Champion having won the 2013 tournament and 2016 tournament. ...

. He then defeated Group B winner

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 ...

10-9 and former World Champion

Ted Hankey Edward Hankey (born 20 February 1968) is an English former professional darts player and convicted sex offender. Nicknamed "The Count", he won the BDO World Darts Championship in 2000, was runner-up in 2001, and won the title for a second time ...

16-14 before losing out 11-16 to Gary Anderson. At the 2012 World Championship he came from a set down to defeat

Warren French Warren French (born 26 March 1963) is a former New Zealand professional darts player. He lives in Ashburton and uses the nickname Frog for his matches. Career French reached the final of the 2006 New Zealand Open, losing to former world cham ...

, 3–1 in the first round. Walsh played

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 Last 32 and came back from 1–3 to level the match at 3–3. He couldn't keep his momentum going, however, as he lost the deciding set by 3 legs to 0 to exit the tournament 3–4. At the World Matchplay, Walsh beat

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 ...

10–8 in the first round, before being comprehensively beaten 4–13 by

in the last 16. Despite winning the first set in his first round match against Robert Thornton at the World Grand Prix, he only took one more leg and lost 1–2. Walsh qualified from

Group 8 Group 8 may refer to: * Group 8 element, a series of elements in the Periodic Table * Group 8 Rugby League, a rugby league competition * Group 8 (Sweden), a feminist movement in Sweden * Group VIII, former nomenclature for the noble gas The n ...

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 6–5 victory against

. However, he finished bottom of the eight man Winners Group, winning just one of his seven matches. Walsh was whitewashed 0–5 in his opening Group H game of 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 ...

, but came back to defeat both Wayne Jones and

Christian Kist Christian Kist (born 21 April 1986) is a Dutch professional darts player. In 2012, he won the BDO World Darts Championship, defeating Tony O'Shea in the final. Since 2014, he has competed in the Professional Darts Corporation (PDC). Career BDO K ...

5–4. However, his heavy defeat and narrow wins meant that he failed to qualify for the knockout stage on leg difference. After all 33 ProTour events of 2012 had been played, Walsh was 23rd on the Order of Merit, 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 was beaten 1–6 by Thornton in the first round. Walsh reached the last 16 of the 2013 World Championship with wins over

Darren Webster Darren Michael Webster (born 10 June 1968) is an English darts player nicknamed Demolition Man. Career Webster won the 2005 Open Oust Nederland, beating Co Stompé in the final. Originally nicknamed The Sniper, Webster reached the quarter-fina ...

and

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 ...

, but then lost to

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 ...

1–4, having missed three darts to only trail 2–3. He lost 4–5 to Lee Palfreyman in the second round of the

. He failed to qualify for the World Matchplay for the first time in his career and the World Grand Prix for the first time since 2007 due to falling out of the top 16 on the Order of Merit and not winning enough games through the PDC Pro Tour. In October, Walsh reached the quarter-finals of a Pro Tour event for the first time in a year at the 11th Players Championship as he beat the likes of

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 ...

and Newton, before his run was ended with a 6–4 defeat against Robert Thornton. He lost 5–0 to Robert Thornton and 5–1 to

at the

, before a consolation 5–2 victory over

but Walsh was already resigned to finishing bottom of the group. At the 2014 World Championship Walsh missed five darts to extend his first round match against

Jarkko Komula Jarkko Komula (born 13 March 1976) is a Finnish former professional darts player who played in Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) events. He is nicknamed Smiley because he rarely smiles. Darts career BDO Komula reached the final of the 2001 ...

into a final set as he lost 3–1. He dropped to world number 31 after the event concluded and was defeated 9–5 by Mark Webster in the third round of the

. Walsh failed to advance beyond the last 32 of any event after this. He fell to world number 41 ahead of the 2015 World Championship, outside of the top 32 who automatically qualify and could not claim a place via any other route to break a streak of 11 consecutive appearances in the event. 2015 also marked the first

not to feature Walsh (he had played in each one since its inception in 2003) after he failed to win enough matches to qualify. He did qualify for four European Tour events with two first round and two second round exits adding a total of £5,000 to his ranking. Walsh was 65th on the Order of Merit after the 2016 World Championship, just outside the top 64 who remain on tour and so entered Q School. Despite losing in the final round to Vincent Kamphuis on the last day, Walsh had done more than enough to win his place back right away as he topped the Q School Order of Merit. At the 10th Players Championship in July, Walsh reached his first quarter-final in over two years, but lost 6–1 to

Andrew Gilding Andrew Gilding (born 7 December 1970) is an English professional darts player who plays in events of the Professional Darts Corporation (PDC). He made his television debut in 2011. Gilding's best result at a PDC major event was reaching the sem ...

. This helped him qualify for the

Finals Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: *Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which decides a winner for an event ** Another term for playoffs, describing a sequence of cont ...

and, in what was his PDC major event since February 2014, he was edged out 6–5 by Josh Payne in the opening round.

Successes

He has won six non-televised PDC titles: the Welsh Regional final of the UK Open in September 2005, the Gleneagle Irish Masters in November 2007,Walsh wins Irish Masters
planetdarts.tv the Coventry Players Championship and the UK Open East Midlands Regional plus two more Players Championships in Barnsley beating Jamie Caven and in Germany beating Andy Hamilton 6–5.

2020

As of the 18th January he has not participated in any darts event.

World Championship results

PDC

* 2004: Second round (lost to Erik Clarys 0–3) (sets) * 2005: Third round (lost to

2–4) * 2006: Second round (lost to Dennis Smith 0–4) * 2007: First round (lost to

0–3) * 2008: Second round (lost to Phil Taylor 3–4) * 2009: Second round (lost to Mervyn King 2–4) * 2010: First round (lost to Mark Webster 2–3) * 2011: Third round (lost to

0–4) * 2012: Second round (lost to

3–4) * 2013: Third round (lost to

1–4) * 2014: First round (lost to

1–3)

Career finals

PDC major finals: 1 (1 runner-up)

Performance timeline

References

External links

Mark Walsh's official websiteMark Walsh's profile and stats on Darts Database
{{DEFAULTSORT:Walsh, Mark 1965 births Living people English darts players Professional Darts Corporation former tour card holders People from Kings Langley Darts players with dartitis PDC ranking title winners