Anthony Ridler (21 January 1954 – 16 January 2015) was a Welsh 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 1970s and 1980s. However, he made comebacks in 1997 and also in 2006.

Achievements

Ridler was born in

Newport Newport most commonly refers to: *Newport, Wales *Newport, Rhode Island, US Newport or New Port may also refer to: Places Asia *Newport City, Metro Manila, a Philippine district in Pasay Europe Ireland *Newport, County Mayo, a town on the ...

Monmouthshire Monmouthshire ( cy, Sir Fynwy) is a county in the south-east of Wales. The name derives from the historic county of the same name; the modern county covers the eastern three-fifths of the historic county. The largest town is Abergavenny, with ...

. He was one of the Welsh players who showed promise during the 1970s by winning the 1973 CIU ( Club and Institute Union) Individual and the 1977 Warwickshire Open. He reached the semi-finals of the 1977

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 ...

and was runner-up in the 1979 British Gold Cup (to

John Lowe John Lowe may refer to: Sports * John Lowe (darts player) (born 1945), English darts player. * John Lowe (footballer) (1912–1995), Scottish football player * John Lowe (rugby league), English rugby league footballer * John Lowe (cricketer) (1 ...

) and British Open pairs in 1980. However, as darts began to become more popular during the 1980s, Ridler faded from the scene and wasn't able to make an impact on the game. He only made one appearance at the World Championship in the 1983 event and won his first round match against the Dane, Finn Jensen but was defeated in the second round by

Dave Whitcombe David Whitcombe (born 27 June 1954) is an English former professional darts player who won several major tournaments and reached two World Championship Finals between 1980 and 1992. Biography Whitcombe was twice a winner of the Winmau World M ...

. Ridler's first comeback in 1997 saw him reaching the last 32 of the revived

News of the World Darts Championship The News of the World Championship was one of the first major organised darts competitions, which began in 1927. It became England's first national darts competition from 1947, as the years went by it gradually became international essentially ...

and also reaching the last 16 of the World Matchplay Last 40 to Gerome Vardaro 1-6 wins to Last 32 to

Gerald Verrier Gerald Verrier (born December 5, 1958) is an American former professional darts player who played in events of the Professional Darts Corporation (PDC). Career Verrier was brought in to make up the numbers in the inaugural 1994 WDC World Darts ...

5-8 and lost to Last 16

Peter Evison Peter Kenneth Evison (born 27 May 1964) is an English former professional darts player who competed in Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) and British Darts Organisation (BDO) events. Nicknamed The Fen Tiger, his greatest achievements were th ...

by 5-8. The last event in which he featured in the later stages was at a PDC

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 ...

regional qualifier in 2006 when he lost in the early stages to

Andy Hamilton Andrew Neil Hamilton (born 28 May 1954) is a British comedian, game show panellist, television director, comedy screenwriter, radio dramatist, novelist and actor. Early life and education Hamilton was born in Fulham, southwest London. He ...

. Ridler played with an unusual throwing action which saw him throw his darts almost from the tip of his nose. Ridler's son, Tony had a darts career from 2004 to 2006, which saw him winning the category 1 WDF-run Welsh Open. Ridler died of kidney cancer at the age of 59 on 16 January 2014.

World Championship results

BDO

* 1983: Last 16 (lost to

2–3)

References

External links

Anthony Ridler's Darts Database

Tony Ridler's Darts Database
Welsh darts players 1954 births 2015 deaths British Darts Organisation players Professional Darts Corporation associate players {{wales-bio-stub