Niels de Ruiter (born January 21, 1983 in

Lelystad Lelystad () is a municipality and a city in the centre of the Netherlands, and it is the capital of the province of Flevoland. The city, built on reclaimed land, was founded in 1967 and was named after Cornelis Lely, who engineered the Afsluitdi ...

Flevoland Flevoland () is the twelfth and youngest province of the Netherlands, established in 1986, when the southern and eastern Flevopolders, together with the Noordoostpolder, were merged into one provincial entity. It is in the centre of the countr ...

) is a former

Dutch Dutch commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands * Dutch people () * Dutch language () Dutch may also refer to: Places * Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States * Pennsylvania Dutch Country People E ...

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 and former chairman of the Dutch Darts Federation.

Career

On the darts circuit his nickname is The Excellent Dude, which is a reference from the film ''

Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure ''Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure'' is a 1989 American science fiction film, science fiction comedy film directed by Stephen Herek and written by Chris Matheson (screenwriter), Chris Matheson and Ed Solomon. The first installment of the Bill & T ...

''. He is also known for using

Metallica Metallica is an American heavy metal band. The band was formed in 1981 in Los Angeles by vocalist/guitarist James Hetfield and drummer Lars Ulrich, and has been based in San Francisco for most of its career. The band's fast tempos, instrume ...

's '

Enter Sandman "Enter Sandman" is a song by American heavy metal band Metallica. It is the opening track and lead single from their self-titled fifth album, released in 1991. The music was written by Kirk Hammett, James Hetfield and Lars Ulrich. Vocalist a ...

' as his walk-on music, which he plays air guitar as he enters the stage. He began playing darts in 1999, but it wasn't until 2005 de Ruiter became popular in the BDO circuit when he reached the semi-finals of the Welsh Open and the Welsh Classic. De Ruiter made his World Championship debut in the 2006 Lakeside World Championship, but lost in the first round to

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 fini ...

. De Ruiter was runner-up to Welshman Mark Webster in the 2006 WDF Europe Cup. In the 2007 World Championships, held at the

Lakeside Lakeside or Lake Side may refer to: Places Australia * Lakeside College, Pakenham, Victoria * Lakeside Joondalup Shopping City, Joondalup, Western Australia * Lakeside, near Reservoir, Victoria * Lakeside International Raceway, Pine Rivers, Quee ...

, De Ruiter made an excellent run by reaching the semi-finals, narrowly losing 6-4 in sets to the late

Phill Nixon Phillip Nixon (13 March 1956 – 9 August 2013) was an English darts player from Ferryhill, County Durham. He was the runner up in the 2007 BDO World Darts Championship in his first appearance. Career Before the 2007 BDO World Darts Champio ...

who would later finish runner-up to eventual 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 Cambridgesh ...

. In the 2008 World Championships, De Ruiter was eliminated in the first round, losing to Englishman

Glenn Moody Glenn Moody (born 19 June 1964 in Middlesbrough) is a former English professional darts player. Career Glenn had tried to qualify for the Lakeside nine times before finding success in the 2008 BDO World Darts Championship. He has been descr ...

. De Ruiter played very few tournaments during early stages of 2008 due to

vertigo Vertigo is a condition where a person has the sensation of movement or of surrounding objects moving when they are not. Often it feels like a spinning or swaying movement. This may be associated with nausea, vomiting, sweating, or difficulties w ...

and quit darts for three months until he came back to the game. He recovered and returned to the sport during the latter stages of the year to participate in 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, ...

. De Ruiter was drawn in a tough group consisting of

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 ...

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 ...

and

Denis Ovens Denis Ovens (born 1 July 1957 in Enfield) is an English retired professional darts player. He is nicknamed ''The Heat'' and is now based in Stevenage. Ovens is widely regarded as one of the most consistent players in the circuit, though he ha ...

. He only won a single leg during the three group matches and suffered two whitewash losses to Lewis and Ovens. De Ruiter then failed to qualify for the

2009 BDO World Darts Championship The 2009 Lakeside World Professional Darts Championship was the 32nd World Championship organised by the British Darts Organisation. Mark Webster was the defending men's champion having won the title for the first time in the 2008 final against ...

and also for the last 16 stage of the World Masters. In 2012, De Ruiter returned to the Lakeside having failed to qualify, but having overseen a record eight Dutch players reaching the televised stages. Due to his fluent English, De Ruiter became a translator for one of these players,

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 ...

. Kist made an exceptional run by winning the tournament. De Ruiter has failed to qualify for any major tournaments since.

World Championship Results

BDO

* 2006: 1st Round (lost to

2-3) * 2007: Semi-Finals (lost to

4-6) * 2008: 1st Round (lost to

1-3)

Career finals

WDF major finals: 1 (1 runner-up)

Performance timeline

External links

Official web siteProfile and stats on Darts Database
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ruiter, Niels De 1983 births Living people People from Lelystad Dutch sports announcers Dutch darts players British Darts Organisation players Sportspeople from Flevoland