Anthony "Tony" Clark is a Welsh former 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 who competed in events of 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) in the 1970s and 1980s.

Career

Clark played in the

1979 BDO World Darts Championship The 1979 Embassy World Darts Championship was the second World Professional Championships. Having been held the previous year at the Heart of the Midlands Club in Nottingham, the event moved to Jollees Cabaret Club in Stoke-on-Trent where it was ...

, beating

Bill Lennard Bill Lennard (21 June 1934 – 6 August 1996) was an English professional darts player from Manchester. Darts career Lennard played county darts for Lancashire and there are some minor county events that use his name in memorial tournaments. ...

in the first round before losing to defending champion

Leighton Rees Leighton Thomas Rees (17 January 1940 – 8 June 2003) was a Welsh professional darts player. He is best known as the first BDO World Professional Darts Champion, having won the inaugural 1978 BDO World Darts Championship and was a former Wor ...

. He then reached the quarter-finals of the 1979

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 to Canada's Allan Hogg who eventually reached the final only to lose to

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 ...

. In the

1980 BDO World Darts Championship The 1980 Embassy World Darts Championship was the third year that the British Darts Organisation had staged a world championship. Again the field was 24 players, with the top seeds receiving a bye to the last 16 stage. For the second successive ...

, he defeated Alan Glazier in the first round before losing to Bristow. Clark would reach the second round once more in the

1981 BDO World Darts Championship The 1981 Embassy World Darts Championship was the fourth year that the British Darts Organisation had staged a world championship. The field was expanded from 24 to 32 players, the format which would remain for many years. For the third successiv ...

, defeating Lennard again in the first round before losing 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 ...

. Clark disappeared from the scene until 2006 when he played in the Welsh Classic, reaching the last 32 stage. Clark then made his first televised appearance in 27 years by reaching the quarter-finals of the 2008 Welsh Open which was screened live on

Setanta Sports Setanta Sports is a sports television company based in Dublin, Ireland broadcasting throughout select Eurasian. The company was formed in 1990 to facilitate the broadcasting of Irish sporting events to international audiences. The company previo ...

. He had beaten Stuart Kellet,

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 ...

and

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 ...

in the earlier rounds before losing to Mark Webster. Clark then reached the final of the 2008 Border Classic, beating

Robbie Green Robbie Green (born 19 July 1974) is a former English professional darts player. His nickname was Kong. PDC career Green made his televised debut at the 2004 UK Open, reaching the last 64 stage. The same year he qualified for the World Matchp ...

in the semi-finals before losing 6–0 to Wayne Jones. Clark attempt to qualify for the

2008 Las Vegas Desert Classic The 2008 partypoker.com Las Vegas Desert Classic was the seventh installment of the Las Vegas Desert Classic, a darts tournament organised by the Professional Darts Corporation. It was held in the evenings (GMT, morning local time/ PST) between ...

, but lost in the first round of both qualifiers. He then tried 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 ...

but lost in the first round and also suffered a first round exit in the 2008 World Masters.

World Championship results

BDO

* 1979: 2nd round: (lost to

1–2) * 1980: 2nd round: (lost to

0–2) * 1981: 2nd round: (lost to

0–2)

External links

Profile and stats from Darts Database
Living people Welsh darts players British Darts Organisation players 1955 births {{UK-darts-bio-stub