Nathan Aspinall (born 15 July 1991) is an 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 currently playing 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) events. He won the 2019 UK Open with a 170 checkout in the final leg against former World Champion Rob Cross.

Career

Aspinall began playing in PDC Development and Challenge Tour events in 2012. His first semi-final in those came in 2013, where he lost 4–2 to

Max Hopp Max Hopp (born 20 August 1996) is a German professional darts player who competes in Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) events. Career Hopp reached the final of the 2011 WDF World Cup boys' singles, and won the boys' singles event at the 2012 ...

. He won a two-year PDC Tour Card in 2015 through the Q School Order of Merit and qualified for 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 ...

, where he beat

Chris Dobey Chris Dobey (born 31 May 1990) is an English professional darts player currently playing in Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) events. Career His first major TV appearance came in the 2015 UK Open where he lost 5–1 in the first round to N ...

5–1 and James Richardson 9–4, before losing 4–9 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 ...

in the fourth round. Aspinall's first European Tour appearance was at the Dutch Darts Masters and he squeezed past Jamie Robinson 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 6–5. In the third round

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 ...

eliminated him 6–4. Aspinall won the seventh Development Tour event of 2015 with a 4–2 victory over

Benito van de Pas Benito van de Pas (born 18 January 1993) is a Dutch professional darts player. Career BDO Van de Pas reached the semi-finals of the 2011 PDC Under-21 World Championship, losing 1-4 to Michael van Gerwen. Van de Pas won the 2011 German Open. ...

. He also lost in the final of two other events during the year. Aspinall made his first televised appearance in the final of the 2015 PDC World Youth Championship, where he played the German

. After 10 legs of holding throw, the final deciding leg was thrown by Aspinall, and despite having match darts, it was Hopp who won 6–5.

2016

Aspinall was beaten 6–5 by

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 the second round of the

2016 UK Open The 2016 Coral UK Open was a darts tournament staged by the Professional Darts Corporation. It was the fourteenth year of the tournament where, following numerous regional qualifying heats throughout Britain, players competing in a single eliminat ...

. At the sixth Players Championship he reached his first quarter-final on the main tour and narrowly lost 6–5 against

. Aspinall qualified for his first

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 could not get a win out of his group fixtures 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 ...

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 ...

and

Danny Noppert Danny Noppert (born 31 December 1990) is a Dutch professional darts player who plays in Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) events. He is a former BDO World Darts Championship finalist, as well as being a Finder Darts Masters champion in 2017, ...

to finish bottom of his group.

2018

Aspinall won his first ranking PDC title in September 2018, beating

Ryan Searle Ryan Searle (born 22 June 1989, Brisbane, Australia) is an Australian professional baseball pitcher who is a free agent. He is a regular on the Australia national baseball team, the "Southern Thunder". He has been both a starter and a relief p ...

6–4 in the final of the 18th Players Championship of the year, in

Barnsley Barnsley () is a market town in South Yorkshire, England. As the main settlement of the Metropolitan Borough of Barnsley and the fourth largest settlement in South Yorkshire. In Barnsley, the population was 96,888 while the wider Borough has ...

. This victory helped him qualify for his first world championship.

2019

At the 2019 PDC World Darts Championship. At the championship, Aspinall, a 500/1 outsider before the tournament, defeated world number six

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 ...

, Kyle Anderson,

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 ...

and

Brendan Dolan Brendan Gabriel Dolan (born 2 August 1973) is a Northern Irish professional darts player from County Fermanagh, Northern Ireland, who plays in Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) events. He is best known for becoming the first player to hit a ...

on his way to the semi-finals, where he lost 6–3 to Michael Smith. Following Gary Anderson's withdrawal from the 2019 Premier League, Aspinall was selected as one of nine 'contenders' to replace him. He would play a one-off match against Michael Smith on night six in

Nottingham Nottingham ( , East Midlands English, locally ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city and Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area in Nottinghamshire, East Midlands, England. It is located north-west of London, south-east ...

. Aspinall won his first PDC major at the 2019 UK Open, defeating Toni Alcinas,

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 ...

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 ...

Steve Lennon Stephen Brendan Lennon (born 25 November 1993) is an Irish professional darts player who plays in events of the Professional Darts Corporation (PDC). Career Lennon played county darts for Kilkenny and Kildare. Lennon has played professional dar ...

, Ross Smith and

to reach the final, where he defeated Rob Cross 11–5 to take the title, securing the final leg with a 170 checkout. The win took Aspinall into the top 16 of 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 ...

for the first time in his career. Aspinall won the 2019 US Darts Masters, the first event on the

2019 World Series of Darts The 2019 World Series of Darts was a series of televised darts tournaments organised by the Professional Darts Corporation. In 2019, there were 5 World Series events and one finals event, which has this year been moved from Vienna, Austria to Amste ...

. It was Aspinall's first World Series event, and the only one he was selected to compete in during the 2019 edition. Aspinall averaged 107 in defeating Michael Smith 8-4 in the final. In the previous rounds, he beat Shawn Brenneman, Rob Cross, and Peter Wright. Aspinall won £20,000, and the win was only his second televised tournament win, after the 2019 UK Open. He played in the 2019 World Matchplay for the first time, losing to Mervyn King 10-5 despite averaging 103, and he was also seeded, made him the first player to make his World Matchplay debut as a seed since

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 ...

in 2010.

2020

At the 2020 PDC World Darts Championship Aspinall once again reached the semi finals, beating Gary Anderson en route. He eventually fell to defending champion

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 ...

2021

At the 2021 PDC World Darts Championship Aspinall lost 4–2 in the third round to

2022

At the

2022 PDC World Darts Championship The 2022 PDC World Darts Championship (officially referred to as the 2021/22 William Hill World Darts Championship) was the 29th World Championship organised by the Professional Darts Corporation since it separated from the British Darts Org ...

, Aspinall was whitewashed 4–0 in the third round by

Callan Rydz Callan Rydz ( born 3 July 1998, from Newcastle upon Tyne) is a professional England, English darts player who plays in the Professional Darts Corporation events. Darts career At 2018 PDC Q-School he tried to win a tour card, however he missed o ...

. At the World Grand Prix, Aspinall reached the final before losing 5–3 to

. He also reached the final of the

, before losing 16–5 to Michael Smith.

2023

At 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 ...

, Aspinall opened his campaign with a 3–1 second round win over

Boris Krčmar Boris Krčmar (born 13 September 1979) is a Croatian professional steel-tip and soft-tip darts player who currently plays in the Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) events. He dominated soft-tip darts for over decade and won more than 400 profe ...

World Championship results

PDC

* 2019: Semi-finals (lost to Michael Smith 3–6) * 2020: Semi-finals (lost to

3–6) * 2021: Third round (lost to

2–4) * 2022: Third round (lost to

0–4) * 2023: ''Ongoing''

Career finals

PDC major finals: 4 (1 titles, 3 runners-up)

PDC World Series finals: 1 (1 title)

Performance timeline

''PDC European Tour''

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Aspinall, Nathan 1991 births Living people English darts players Professional Darts Corporation current tour card holders World Series of Darts winners UK Open champions Sportspeople from Stockport