Zoran Lerchbacher (born 30 May 1972) is an

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

n 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 from Graz,

currently playing in the Professional Darts Corporation.

Career

Lerchbacher qualified for the

2014 PDC World Darts Championship The 2014 Ladbrokes World Darts Championship was the 21st World Championship organised by the Professional Darts Corporation since it separated from the British Darts Organisation. The event took place at the Alexandra Palace, London between 13 De ...

and won 4–1 in the preliminary round against Ben Ward. He then went out in a 3–0 loss to

Michael van Gerwen Michael van Gerwen (; born 25 April 1989) is a Dutch professional darts player. He is currently ranked number 3 in the world, having been number 1 from 2014 to 2021. He is also a three-time PDC World Champion, having won the title in 2014, 2 ...

. Lerchbacher was able to score a slightly higher average than Van Gerwen, but was only able to win one leg in the match. He entered Q School to try and win a tour card to compete on the PDC tour and lost in the final round of the fourth day 5–1 to

Joe Murnan Joe Murnan (born 28 September 1983) is an English darts player who plays in Professional Darts Corporation events. Career Murnan reached the last 40 of the 2010 Winmau World Masters, losing 3–0 to Filipino Ronald L. Briones. Murnan quali ...

. Nevertheless, Lerchbacher had done enough to finish tied second on the Q School Order of Merit to seal his place on the PDC for 2014 and 2015. He had a disappointing first year on tour as his deepest runs were three last 64 defeats. In 2015 Lerchbacher, attempted to qualify for six European Tour events and was successful at the final attempt in the European Darts Matchplay, but lost 6–1 to Darren Johnson. After his tour card expired Lerchbacher again entered Q School, but one last 32 exit over the four days was not enough to stay on tour. Lerchbacher qualified for three European Tour events in 2016, losing 6–5 from 3–0 up in the first round of the Dutch Darts Masters to James Richardson. At the Austrian Darts Open he beat

Jeffrey de Zwaan Jeffrey de Zwaan (born 26 March 1996) is a Dutch professional darts player who plays in events of the Professional Darts Corporation (PDC). Career De Zwaan progressed through to the last 16 of the 2014 World Masters, where he lost 3–0 to Gle ...

6–4, before being whitewashed 6–0 in the second round by

Jelle Klaasen Jelle Klaasen (born 17 October 1984), nicknamed The Cobra, is a Dutch professional darts player who plays in the Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) and World Darts Federation (WDF) events. In 2006, he became the youngest darts player to win ...

. Lerchbacher advanced to the same stage of the European Darts Trophy by seeing off

6–2 and lost 6–5 to

Terry Jenkins Terry Jenkins (born 26 September 1963) is an English former professional darts player who was nicknamed The Bull, having previously used the name "Tucker" for his matches. He reached number three in the world rankings and was a runner-up in nin ...

. A 10–1 thrashing of Dietmar Burger in the final of the East European Qualifier saw Lerchbacher play in the 2017 World Championship. He saw off

Simon Stevenson Simon Stevenson (born 18 February 1972) is an English darts player, who currently competes in Professional Darts Corporation events. Career Stevenson first rose to prominence after winning the Rileys Plymouth qualifier for the 2014 UK Open. He d ...

2–1 in the preliminary round and then lost 3–0 to Robert Thornton in the first round. His best professional run came at the 16th Players Championship on the

2017 PDC Pro Tour The 2017 PDC Pro Tour is a current series of non-televised darts tournaments organised by the Professional Darts Corporation (PDC). Players Championships, UK Open Qualifiers and European Tour events are the events that make up the Pro Tour. This ye ...

: Six (four of them 6–5) wins en route saw him reaching his first PDC final. Players Lerchbacher beat included Mark Webster, Robert Thornton and

Steve Beaton Steve Beaton (born 5 April 1964) is an English professional darts player who plays in Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) events. He won the BDO World Darts Championship in 1996 and is a former World No. 1. Background Beaton was born in Co ...

, before he fell to Joe Cullen 6–4 in the final. At the 2018 World Championship he reached the second round after beating Mervyn King 3–2 in sets. Lerchbacher fell off the Pro Tour at the end of 2019, and after a year without a Tour Card in 2020, he was successful at European Q School in February 2021 to turn professional again.

World Championship results

PDC

* 2014: First round (lost to

0–3) * 2017: First round (lost to Robert Thornton 0–3) * 2018: Second round (lost to

Keegan Brown Keegan Brown (born 5 November 1992) is an English professional darts player who plays in Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) events. He won the 2014 PDC World Youth Championship. Career Early career Brown began playing darts at the age of ni ...

2–4) * 2020: Second round (lost to

Krzysztof Ratajski Krzysztof Ratajski (Polish pronunciation: ; born 1 January 1977) is a Polish professional darts player who plays in Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) events. His biggest achievement to date was winning the 2017 World Masters. Ratajski also pl ...

1–3)

Performance timeline

BDO PDC

References

External links

*
Profile on Dartn.de
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lerchbacher, Zoran 1972 births Professional Darts Corporation former tour card holders Austrian darts players Living people Sportspeople from Graz PDC World Cup of Darts Austrian team