Andy Hamilton (darts player)
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Andy Hamilton (born March 16, 1967 in Stoke-on-Trent) is a full time professional English darts player. He is nicknamed 'The Hammer'. Andy stands 5' 11" tall and uses 23g Nickel Tungsten arrows. As of 1 January 2007, he is ranked 12th in the PDC World Rankings.[1]
Andy is sponsored by Unicorn, the same company as James Wade, Michael Barnard, Adrian Lewis and Wes Newton, known as the Contenders.
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[edit] Personal Life
Andy started playing darts at the age of 16 with his father Jim and brother Darren. By the age of 18, Hamilton was playing county level darts for Cheshire however he did not feel confident enough to pursue a career at the higher level and actually gave up playing competitive darts for 20 years.
Away from the oche he runs the Skylark pub in Stoke-on-Trent with his wife Kate and has three step-children Adam, Sarah and Vicky.
[edit] PDC World Darts Championships
Andy qualified for the 2005 PDC World Darts Championship and eventually reached the quarter-final stage. Hamilton defeated Mark Thomson 3-0 in the first round before overcoming Mick Manning by the same scoreline in the next round. In round three Andy beat Steve 'The Adonis' Beaton 4-2 and disposed of Dutchman Josephus Schenk 4-1 in the fourth round. Hamilton eventually fell to Bob Anderson in the quarter-finals, losing 5-1 to 'The Limestone Cowboy'.
The 2006 PDC World Darts Championship saw Hamilton overcome Bob Anderson in the first round 3-2 before disposing of Terry Jenkins 4-1 in round two. However, Hamilton fell to eventual winner Phil Taylor in the third round losing 4-0. Andy did manage to gain a share of the prize for highest three-dart checkout by hitting a 170 finish, a feat matched by Taylor.
Andy reached the semi-finals of the 2007 PDC World Darts Championship before bowing out 6-0 to eventual runner-up Phil 'The Power' Taylor. Hamilton's campaign began with a 4-3 victory over Mark Dudbridge before defeating Dennis Priestly 4-1 and Terry Jenkins 5-4 in the quarter-finals. Hamilton hit 46 180's during the tournament, second only to the overall winner Raymond van Barneveld.
[edit] PDC UK Open Darts
Hamilton made his UK Open debut in the 2004 UK Open Darts championship where he was eliminated in the first round, losing 5-2 to Eddie Lovely. This marked Andy's television debut.
The 2005 UK Open Darts championship saw Hamilton defeat Wes Newton 5-4 in round three and overcome Mark Robinson 8-4 in the fourth round. However, Hamilton was eliminated in the next round by Mark Walsh, losing 11-4.
Hamilton entered the 2006 UK Open Darts championships at the third round stage where he defeated Lee Topper 8-4 but he was defeated in the next round, losing 11-6 to Canadian thrower John Part.
[edit] Las Vegas Desert Classic
Hamilton made his Las Vegas debut in the 2005 Las Vegas Desert Classic where he was knocked out in the round by Darin Young, losing 2-0.
Andy fared better in the 2006 Las Vegas Desert Classic however where he reached the quarter-final stage before being eliminated by eventual runner-up Raymond van Barneveld 3-1. Hamilton had defeated Kevin Painter 6-4 in the first round and enjoyed a comprehensive 3-0 victory over Matt Clark in round two.
[edit] World Matchplay Darts
'The Hammer' made his Winter Gardens debut at the 2006 World Matchplay Darts tournament. Hamilton sprang something of a surprise in round one by hammering number 4 seed Peter Manley 10-2. Andy then overcame Adrian Lewis in the second round, the duo produced a thrilling match that eventually saw Hamilton triumph 15-13. Hamilton's fine run continued as he defeated crowd favourite Wayne Mardle 16-9 to reach his first major semi-final. However, fellow Stoke resident Phil Taylor, a seven time World Matchplay Champion, eliminated Hamilton 17-11 in the semi-final.
[edit] 2007 Season
Andy Hamilton picked up his first PDC Pro Tour title with a 3-1 win over Colin Lloyd in the StanJames.com Players Championship in Gibraltar on 21st January 2007.
The Stoke star overcame Andy Smith, Roland Scholten, Terry Jenkins and Alan Warriner-Little on his way to the final.
There, he took the first five legs without reply against the former World Number One, to put himself 2-0 up and within touching distance of the win.
Lloyd hit back to stay in the match on double four and then matched Hamilton blow for blow - the pair began with 180s - to win the deciding leg of the third set.
A third maximum of the game gave Hamilton the edge in the first leg of set four, which he won on double eight, and he then sealed the £5,000 first prize on double 16 after Lloyd missed two darts at double top.
