Mervyn King (darts)
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| Mervyn King | ||
|---|---|---|
| Personal information | ||
| Full name | Mervyn King | |
| Nickname | The King | |
| Date of birth | March 15, 1966 | |
| Place of birth | Ipswich,  |
|
| Darts information | ||
| Playing darts since | 1979 | |
| Darts | 24g Datadart Mervyn King Golden | |
| Walk-on music | King of Kings by Motörhead | |
| Organisation (see split in darts) | ||
| BDO | 1995 to 2007 | |
| PDC | February 2007 to present | |
| Current World Ranking | 23 | |
| BDO Grand Slam Events - Best Performances | ||
| World Ch'ship | Finalist 2002 and 2004 | |
| World Masters | Winner 2004 | |
| World Darts Trophy | Finalist 2003 and 2005 | |
| Int. Darts League | Winner 2005 | |
| PDC Majors - Best Performances | ||
| World Ch'ship | 2nd Round 2008 | |
| World Matchplay | QF 2007 | |
| World Grand Prix | Last 16 2007 | |
| UK Open | Last 16 2007 | |
| Desert Classic | Last 16 2007 | |
| Other Televised PDC events - Best Performances | ||
| US Open | QF 2007 | |
| Other Tournament Wins | ||
| Tournament | Years | |
| Dutch Open Dutch Grand Masters |
1997 2005 |
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Mervyn King (born March 15, 1966) is a professional darts player, who made his name in the British Darts Organisation but now plays for the rival Professional Darts Corporation. His nickname is The King and his walk on music is King of Kings by Motörhead, originally written for professional wrestler Triple H.
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[edit] World Championship performances
He made his debut in the World Professional Darts Championship in 1997, where he hit 30 180s for the whole tournament, a new record at that time. He went on to reach the semi-finals, where he lost 5-3 to Les Wallace, who won the title that year. In 1998 he went out in the second round to Ted Hankey. His only ever first round defeat came in 1999 when he lost to Andy Fordham. In 2000, he lost to Co Stompe in the last eight and he lost to the eventual champion John Walton in 2001 at the second round stage.
His most sustained run of World Championship form came between 2002 and 2004. He reached the final twice, losing 4-6 in 2002 to Australian Tony David and 3-6 to Andy Fordham in 2004. A semi-final loss in 2003 to Raymond van Barneveld was sandwiched in between.
In 2005 he lost in the second round to Andre Brantjes 3-2, and in 2006 he lost in the second round to yet another Dutchman, Jelle Klaasen, who ended up the eventual winner. His 2007 campaign ended at the semi-final stage with a defeat to Martin Adams. It was the seventh time he had been beaten by the eventual champion.
[edit] Career success
King has won several Open titles since he came onto the darts scene in 1995. However, he did have to wait until 2004 before he claimed his first Grand Slam when he won the Winmau World Masters in Bridlington, defeating Tony O'Shea 6-5 having trailed 5-3.
His two other major victories to date have both taken place in Holland. The first of these was the International Darts League, where he once again defeated Tony O'Shea in the final, this time by 13-11 in legs. The next was the Dutch Grand Masters, which took place in Holland on December 11th, 2005. He defeated Martin Adams 5-4 in an exciting final.
[edit] Controversy
King has been the subject of controversy during his career. In 2003 following his semi-final defeat to van Barneveld, he subsequently blamed the air conditioning for blowing his darts off course. The following year in his 1st round against Rick Hofstra, when tied at 1-1 in sets, King complained that the length of the oche was not right; the players were forced to leave the stage whilst officials measured, King was correct. The players returned with the majority of the crowd against King, though he went on to win the match 3-1.
In the 2007 BDO World Championships King played Mike Veitch in the second round, King winning 4-2 in sets. After King had thrown the winning dart, Veitch refused to shake King's hand saying he'd been put off by King shouting whilst collecting his darts from the board.
His switch to the PDC caused controversy during and after the 2007 World Championship. Throughout the event there was much speculation about King and his fellow stablemate players (Michael van Gerwen, Jelle Klaasen and Vincent van der Voort) that they would be switching to play for the Professional Darts Corporation. King was angry that the rumours had surfaced, having stated that he would stay with the BDO for a long time to come. He even threatened to quit the tournament as the speculation reached fever pitch. [1][2]. On the day of the BDO final, the Dutch players confirmed they would be leaving but King didn't confirm his switch until February 6, 2007. Having reached the semi-final of the 2007 BDO event, King had signed a contract confirming he would play at the 2008 tournament. This opened the prospect of the BDO taking legal action against him and Jelle Klaasen, who had signed a similar three year contract as a winner of the competition in 2006.
[edit] PDC career
He made his PDC debut at a non-televised event, the Southern Regional Final of the UK Open on March 3-4, 2007. King reached the last eight before losing to Wayne Mardle. King has subsequently reached the quarter-finals of two other Regional Finals of the UK Open, assuring himself a place at the Reebok Stadium for the UK Open itself where he reached the last 16, losing narrowly 10-11 to Colin Osborne. He also qualified for the 2007 World Matchplay Darts losing to winner James Wade 16-11 in the quarter-final. His debut in the PDC World Championship ended in a second-round defeat to Roland Scholten.
After the Best Newcomer Award at a PDC Awards Dinner King said that his only regret was he hadn't come to the PDC 5 years earlier.
Having made steady progress up the world rankings, he won his first PDC Pro Tour title at the Scottish Players Championship in Glasgow in April 2008.
