Nicky Virachkul

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Nicky Virachkul (June 3, 1948 - 17 April 1999) was a professional darts player who competed in the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s. He competed in the third WDF World Cup darts tournament in 1979 and won the singles title. He was born in Thailand but went to school in the United States, whom he represented internationally.

Virachkul appeared at the first Embassy World Darts Championship in 1978, losing narrowly 7-8 to eventual champion, Leighton Rees in the semi-final. In those days, there was a third place play-off in the competition and Virachkul beat Stefan Lord to finish 3rd.

He reached the quarter-finals on three further occasions - in 1981 (losing to Eric Bristow), 1982 (losing to Bobby George) and 1984 (losing to Dave Whitcombe). Despite a decent record it was still considered a surprise result when he defeated defending World Champion, Keith Deller in the first round of the 1984 World Championship, although Deller gained revenge in the first round of the following year. The 1985 event turned out to be Virachkul's last time in the final stages. After appearing in the first 8 World Championships, he never managed to qualify when the tournament moved to the Lakeside Country Club in 1986.

He enjoyed some moderate success on the darts circuit reaching the semi-finals of the Winmau World Masters in 1980 and won the 1978 Windy City Open and 1983 Dallas Open. He was inducted into the National Darts Hall of Fame in 1996 [1].