Martin Phillips (born 30 April 1960) is a Welsh 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 competed in the

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). He won the 2014

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 ...

championship.

Darts career

1988–1994

Phillips was born in

Dolgellau Dolgellau () is a town and community in Gwynedd, north-west Wales, lying on the River Wnion, a tributary of the River Mawddach. It was the traditional county town of the historic county of Merionethshire ( cy, Meirionnydd, Sir Feirionnydd) un ...

, and made his first televised darts appearance at the 1988 British Professional Championship reaching the last 16. In

1991 File:1991 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Boris Yeltsin, elected as Russia's first president, waves the new flag of Russia after the 1991 Soviet coup d'état attempt, orchestrated by Soviet hardliners; Mount Pinatubo erupts in the Phil ...

, he appeared at his first World Championship losing in the first round to the defending champion Phil Taylor. In

1992 File:1992 Events Collage V1.png, From left, clockwise: 1992 Los Angeles riots, Riots break out across Los Angeles, California after the Police brutality, police beating of Rodney King; El Al Flight 1862 crashes into a residential apartment buildi ...

he defeated the Dutchman

Bert Vlaardingerbroek Bert Vlaardingerbroek (born 24 March 1960) is a Dutch former professional darts player who competed in events of the British Darts Organisation (BDO), Professional Darts Corporation (PDC), and World Darts Federation (WDF). Career Vlaardingerb ...

3–0 in the first round and knocked out five-time world champion

Eric Bristow Eric John Bristow, (25 April 1957 – 5 April 2018), nicknamed "The Crafty Cockney", was an English professional darts player. He was ranked World No. 1 by the World Darts Federation a record five times, in 1980, 1981 and 1983–1985. He was ...

3–2 in the second round to reach the quarter final where he was defeated again by Taylor, who went on to clinch his second World title. He also played in 1993 and

1994 File:1994 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1994 Winter Olympics are held in Lillehammer, Norway; The Kaiser Permanente building after the 1994 Northridge earthquake; A model of the MS Estonia, which Sinking of the MS Estonia, sank in ...

, reaching the second round in both tournaments, losing both times to

Bobby George Robert Francis George (born 16 December 1945) is an English television presenter and former professional darts player. He is widely recognised as one of the game's biggest personalities, known for his flamboyant entrances in which the "King ...

. Phillips remained in the

's events during the

split in darts The split in darts refers to the acrimonious dispute between top professional darts players and the game's governing body, the British Darts Organisation (BDO), in 1993, leading to the formation of the World Darts Council (WDC). Between 1994 and ...

between 1993 and 1994 – but the first year after the split proved to be his last appearance at the Lakeside World Championship for nine years.

1994–2006

Although he failed to qualify for the World Championships for several years, he picked up two WDF Europe Cup pairs titles, in 1994 with Eric Burden and 1998 with

Sean Palfrey Sean, also spelled Seán or Séan in Irish English, is a male given name of Irish origin. It comes from the Irish versions of the Biblical Hebrew name ''Yohanan'' (), Seán (anglicized as ''Shaun/Shawn/ Shon'') and Séan (Ulster variant; angliciz ...

– plus a WDF World Cup pairs title also with Palfrey in 1997. He had limited singles success for over a decade, with only three semi-final appearances at the Isle of Man Open (1996, 1997 and 2000) He returned for the 2003 BDO World Darts Championship, but lost in the first round to John Walton and would then miss out on qualification for the event for the next three years, leaving him with just the one appearance at the Lakeside in 13 years.

2007–2011

In 2007, Phillips returned to the Lakeside but lost again in the first round, this time to Scotland's

Paul Hanvidge Paul Albert Hanvidge (born 15 June 1961) is a former Scottish professional darts player. His best achievement is reaching the quarter-finals of the Lakeside World Championship twice. Career Hanvidge was the 2005 German Open Champion and made ...

. His form began to improve during 2007 with a tournament win at the Turunç Open in Turkey, and semi-final appearances at the Welsh Classic and Northern Ireland Open. Towards the end of 2007 he was on the receiving end of a defeat and a nine-dart finish by John Walton in their last 16 match at the 2007 Winmau World Masters. At the 2008 BDO World Championship, Phillips beat

Shaun Greatbatch Shaun Greatbatch (13 July 1969 – 5 June 2022) was an English professional darts player. He lived in Suffolk and worked in the construction industry. His nickname was Nine Dart Man, having been the first player to hit a perfect nine dart fin ...

in the last 32 but lost in the second round to reigning champion

Martin Adams Martin Adams (born 4 June 1956) is an English professional darts player who plays in World Darts Federation (WDF) events. Nicknamed "Wolfie", he is a three-time BDO World Champion and three-time World Masters champion. He represents Cambridges ...

. Another first round exit followed in the 2009 BDO World Championship, losing 3–1 to

Ross Montgomery Ross Montgomery (born 16 October 1962), nicknamed The Boss, is a Scottish professional darts player who played in World Darts Federation (WDF) tournaments and as of January 14th 2022 now plays on the Professional Darts Corporat ...

, but he picked up the 2009 Border Classic title and reached the semi-finals of the Scottish Open and Welsh Classic. In the 2010 BDO World Championship, Phillips went on to reach the semi-finals for the first time in his career beating seventh seed

Dave Prins David Michael Prins (born 16 November 1968) is an English professional darts player. Career Prins reached the last 16 of the 2009 Winmau World Masters, where he lost to Tony O'Shea in three straight sets. Prins qualified for his first BDO Wo ...

3–0 in the first round, qualifier Paul Carter 4–2 in the second round and second seed

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. ...

in the quarter-finals. Phillips had gone into a 4–0 lead before Waites brought the scores level at 4–4, before Phillips showed better consistency in the final set to reach the last four where he was beaten 6–4 by Martin Adams. In October 2010 he won the biggest title of his career so far by winning the

WDF Europe Cup The WDF Europe Cup is a darts tournament held biennially since 1978. The tournament consists of a team championship, a pairs championship and a singles championship. All events have a men's competition, and a women's competition (since 1982). Tou ...

beating 2010 World Champion

on the way to the final where he beat

Willy van de Wiel Willy van de Wiel (born 15 April 1982) is a Dutch former professional darts player. BDO career Van de Wiel won the 2008 Norway Open, beating Dave Chisnall, Stephen Bunting and John Henderson, before beating Paul Hanvidge in the final. He also ...

7–3. Two weeks later, he won seven matches to reach the semi-finals of the

Winmau World Masters The World Masters is one of the longest-running and most prestigious of the BDO/WDF tournaments, which began in 1974. The tournament is sponsored by darts board manufacturer, Winmau. The World Masters was unusual in darts in that its sets are th ...

for the first time before losing to

Stuart Kellett Stuart Kellett (born 12 August 1981) is a former English darts player. BDO career Kellett reached the last 16 of the 2007 Winmau World Masters, having beaten Andy Fordham among others on the way to the televised stages. He lost 1-3 in sets t ...

. In November 2010, Phillips made his first appearance at 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 ...

having qualified through his runs to the semi-finals at the Lakeside. In the group stages, he beat

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 ...

(who went on to become PDC World Champion just two months later) 5–2 in legs. Phillips did not qualify from the group stages after losing 1–5 to

and 4–5 to

Co Stompé Jacobus Wilhelmus "Co" Stompé (born 10 September 1962) is a Dutch former professional darts player. He was nicknamed The Matchstick because of his almost bald head and very thin appearance, making him look like a matchstick. He was also one of ...

. He made the semi-finals for the second year running at the 2011 BDO World Championship, beating

Mark Barilli Mark Barilli (born 14 November 1973) is a Scottish darts player who plays in Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) events. He is well known for his throwing style where he changes the speed of his throw from fast to slow alternatively, and also ...

3–0,

Joey ten Berge Joey ten Berge (born 18 October 1985) is a Dutch former darts player. Career BDO Ten Berge won the 2001 WDF Europe Youth Cup beating Sweden's Markus Korhonen in the final. Six years later, he captured his first professional title by capturing ...

4–3 and Gary Robson 5–4, then lost a repeat of the previous year's semi-final match with Martin Adams 4–6. He has appeared at 2011 Grand Slam of darts and he has had a better year then in 2010. He qualified from his group despite losing to

5–4 he claimed victories over Dutchman

and

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 ...

both 5–2, To set up a last 16 clash with fellow countryman and 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 who he lost 10–8 having led 3–0 and 8–5.

2014: Masters Champion

After losing as an unseeded player to

Wesley Harms Wesley Harms (born 11 June 1984) is a Dutch former professional darts player. Career Harms won the BDO International Open in 2011, defeating Stephen Bunting in the final. Harms qualified for the 2012 BDO World Darts Championship as the 13t ...

in the first round of the World Championship in 2012, Phillips failed to qualify for Lakeside in either 2013 or 2014. However, he bounced back spectacularly by regaining his place in the world's top 8, before winning the first major TV title in his 26-year career at the

. After reaching the semi-finals without dropping a set, Phillips survived a match dart in a deciding leg victory over

Glen Durrant Glen Durrant (born 24 November 1970), nicknamed "Duzza", is an English former professional darts player who played in Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) events. He previously won the BDO World Darts Championship three times consecutively fr ...

before beating Jamie Hughes 7–3 in the final. Phillips would become the BDO world number one in November that year. However, seeded fifth at the 2015 BDO World Championship, Phillips was defeated 3–0 by

Madars Razma Madars Razma (born 26 September 1988) is a Latvian professional darts player nicknamed Latvian Razmatazz who plays in Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) events. He won the Latvia National Championships in 2010, 2012, 2014, 2015, and 2016. Car ...

in the first round. At the 2015 Winmau World Masters, Phillips' title defence was ended at the quarter final stage by

, who avenged his semi final loss to Phillips from the previous year.

2019

As of 16 November 2019, Phillips has not participated in any darts tournament.

World Championship results

BDO

* 1991: 1st round (lost to Phil Taylor 1–3) * 1992: Quarter-finals (lost to Phil Taylor 0–4) * 1993: 2nd round (lost to

0–3) * 1994: 2nd round (lost to Bobby George 1–3) * 2003: 1st round (lost to John Walton 2–3) * 2007: 1st round (lost to

2–3) * 2008: 2nd round (lost to

0–4) * 2009: 1st round (lost to

1–3) * 2010: Semi-finals (lost to

4–6) * 2011: Semi-finals (lost to

4–6) * 2012: 1st round (lost to

1–3) * 2015: 1st round (lost to

0–3) * 2016: 2nd round (lost to

Dennis Harbour Dennis Harbour (born 28 June 1961) is a former England, English darts player. His nickname was The Harbour Master. Career Harbour played in the 1989 Winmau World Masters and lost in the first round to Dave Whitcombe. He returned to the Master ...

1-4) * 2017: 1st round (lost to

Paul Hogan Paul Hogan (born 8 October 1939) is an Australian actor and comedian. He was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay and won the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy for his performance as ...

2-3) * 2018: 2nd round (lost to

Michael Unterbuchner Michael Unterbuchner (born 23 May 1988) is a German darts player who plays in Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) events. He reached the semi-finals of the BDO World Championship on two of his three appearances. Career In 2017, Unterbuchner ...

2-4) * 2019: 1st round (lost to

Conan Whitehead Conan Whitehead (born 18 February 1986) is an English professional darts player who competes in Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) events. He is a former quarter-finalist of the BDO World Darts Championship. Career Whitehead has competed in n ...

2-3)

Career finals

BDO major finals: 2 (1 title, 1 runner-up)

WDF major finals: 2 (1 title, 1 runner-up)

Performance timeline

References

External links

Profile at Darts Database
{{DEFAULTSORT:Phillips, Martin 1960 births Living people Welsh darts players People from Dolgellau Sportspeople from Gwynedd British Darts Organisation players