Stefan Eeckelaert (3 July 1964 – 8 January 2019) was a

Belgian Belgian may refer to: * Something of, or related to, Belgium * Belgians, people from Belgium or of Belgian descent * Languages of Belgium, languages spoken in Belgium, such as Dutch, French, and German *Ancient Belgian language, an extinct languag ...

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.

Career

Eeckelaert won the 1988 Dortmund Open, the 1990 French Open and the 1991 Antwerp Open. He made his major debut in the 1993

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 ...

, losing in the first round to

Ray Farrell Raymond "Ray" Farrell is a former Northern Irish professional darts player. Career Farrell reached the final of the 1985 Winmau World Masters, having beaten Bobby George, Jan Erik Paulsen, Steve Gittins and Tony Payne along the way before h ...

. Eeckelaert then went on to win the Belgium National Championship and the Belgium Gold Cup in 1994 and also reached the final of the Norway Open and the Belgium Open, losing to

Mike Gregory Michael Keith Gregory (20 May 1964 – 19 November 2007) was an English professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1980s and 1990s, and coached in the 1990s and 2000s. He played for Warrington from 1982 to 1994, and won 20 caps fo ...

in both finals. He returned to the World Masters the same year, but suffered a second first round exit in a defeat to Roland Scholten. Eeckelaert then made his only appearance in the

BDO World Darts Championship The WDF World Darts Championship is a world championship competition in darts, organised by the World Darts Federation. It would previously organised by the British Darts Organisation (BDO), who held it 43 times from 1978 to 2020. The champion ...

in 1995, losing in the first round 3–0 to Peter Hunt. He then played in the 1995 World Masters, beating Alan Brown in the first round before losing to Richie Burnett. He reached the quarter finals of the 1996 Norway Open before fading away from the scene. Eeckelaert died on 8 January 2019.

World Championship performances

BDO

*1995: 1st Round (lost to Peter Hunt 0–3)

External links

Profile and stats on Darts Database
Belgian darts players 1964 births 2019 deaths British Darts Organisation players Sportspeople from Antwerp {{Belgium-sport-bio-stub