Anthony "Tony" Holyoake (born 28 January 1946 in

Derby Derby ( ) is a city and unitary authority area in Derbyshire, England. It lies on the banks of the River Derwent in the south of Derbyshire, which is in the East Midlands Region. It was traditionally the county town of Derbyshire. Derby gai ...

) is a former

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

–

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

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 1980s and 1990s.

Darts career

Holyoake played in the

1983 BDO World Darts Championship The 1983 Embassy World Darts Championship was staged at Jollees Cabaret Club in Stoke-on-Trent from 1–8 January 1983. The tournament saw one of the World Darts Championship's biggest upsets, when Keith Deller defeated Eric Bristow, by 6 sets ...

, losing in the first round 2–1 to

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

's Dave Lee. Holyoake is also a former Canadian National Champion, winning the title in 1992. He has represented Canada on numerous occasions: Three World Cup Teams, two Pacific Cup Teams, all of the Canada v USA international matches except 1, 1980 Unipart World Team Darts Matchplay with

Allan Hogg Allan Hogg (born November 1, 1939) is an English-born Canadian former professional darts player who competed in the 1970s and 1980s. He was nicknamed Big Al. Career After winning the 1978 Canadian National Championship who will beat Hillyard Ro ...

and Tony Foley to

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

, and most recently the 1996 PDC World Pairs Championship with

Gary Mawson Gary Mawson (born May 17, 1963) is a Canadian-born American professional darts player. He currently resides in Fort Myers, Florida, United States. Mawson played darts for the USA in 2004 and the years immediately following, having previously pl ...

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

. Eight times National Royal Canadian Singles Champion. Calgary Super Singles Champion.national darts Mixed doubles Champion Twice. Pacific Cup open singles Champion. Number 7 televised National Singles Champion. Holyoake won the 1988 Royal Hawaiian Open darts tournament champion he beating by

Tony Payne Thomas Anthony Payne (born April 10, 1955) is an American former professional darts player. He is also well known for publishing an article in the ''Bulls Eye News'' magazine famously titled "Thermonuclear Cricket". Career Payne played in s ...

in semi-finalist and

Terry O'Dea Terence "Terry" O'Dea (3 May 1945 – 18 May 2021) was an Australian professional darts player who competed in the 1970s and 1980s. Darts career O'Dea rejoined of the BDO in March 1978. O'Dea played in ten successive BDO World Darts Champions ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

in the final. Holyoake won the 1989 WDF World Cup Team championship (with

Albert Anstey Albert Peter Anstey (born 10 May 1966) is a Canadian former professional darts player who has played in the British Darts Organisation (BDO) events. Career Anstey won the Canada National Championship in 1989, beating Bob Sinnaeve in the final. ...

, Rick Bisaro and

Bob Sinnaeve Robert "Bob" Sinnaeve (born October 10, 1949) is a Canadian former professional darts player. Early career Sinnaeve took up darts in 1973 as an alternative to bowling, as he felt the darts circuit would give him more time to spend with his wife ...

) beating Team Australia (

Frank Palko Frank or Franks may refer to: People * Frank (given name) * Frank (surname) * Franks (surname) * Franks, a medieval Germanic people * Frank, a term in the Muslim world for all western Europeans, particularly during the Crusades - see Farang Curre ...

Russell Stewart Russell "Rusty" Stewart (born 9 October 1960 in Melbourne) is an Australian former professional darts player. He used the nickname Rusty for his matches. Playing career Stewart was one of the most successful Australian darts players of the 1 ...

Keith Sullivan Keith Sullivan is an Australian former professional darts player. Career Sullivan played in three BDO World Darts Championships. In 1991, he defeated future world champion Raymond van Barneveld in the first round, but lost to Alan Warriner in ...

and

Wayne Weening Wayne Dirk Weening (born 15 March 1965) is an Australian former professional darts player who competed in the 1980s and 90s. Career Weening made his debut in 1989 BDO World Darts Championship reaching the last 16 by beating Cliff Lazarenko b ...

) 9–7. Holyoake quit the PDC in 1997.

Personal life

Holyoake married female professional darts player

Gayl King Gayl King (born 29 December 1963) is a Canadian former professional darts player. She was the first woman to be invited by the darts organization Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) to complete in the PDC World Darts Championship in the 2001 PDC ...

. The couple has resided in

Calgary Calgary ( ) is the largest city in the western Canadian province of Alberta and the largest metro area of the three Prairie Provinces. As of 2021, the city proper had a population of 1,306,784 and a metropolitan population of 1,481,806, makin ...

Alberta Alberta ( ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is part of Western Canada and is one of the three prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to the west, Saskatchewan to the east, the Northwest Ter ...

since October 2022.

World Championship Results

BDO

* 1983: Last 32 (lost to Dave Lee 1–2) (sets)

External links

Profile and stats on Darts Database
Canadian darts players Living people British Darts Organisation players 1946 births Sportspeople from Derby {{canada-sport-bio-stub