| Mark Hylton | |
|---|---|
| Personal information | |
| Nickname | Mile High |
| Born | 30 May 1966 England |
| Home town | Rugeley, Staffordshire England |
| Laterality | Left-handed |
| Walk-on music | Danger Zone by Kenny Loggins |
| Organisation (see split in darts) | |
| PDC | 2007, 2010 - present |
| Current world ranking | 33 |
| PDC premier events - best performances | |
| World Ch'ship | Last 16, 2011 |
| World Matchplay | 1st Round, 2011 |
| World Grand Prix | Quarter finalist 2011 |
| Grand Slam | Group Stage, 2010 |
| UK Open | Quarter finalist 2011 |
| Other tournament wins | |
| Tournament | Years |
Cotgrave Open |
2011 |
| Other achievements | |
Mark Hylton (born May 30, 1966) is an English darts player currently playing in Professional Darts Corporation events.
Hylton has played darts for over 30 years. He has played super league for many years and earned over 80 caps for Staffordshire.
In 1997, he reached the last 16 of the inaugural British Classic (losing to Phil Taylor). In 2005, he was the Staffordshire qualifier for the World Championship play-offs as well as the Winmau World Masters and the English national singles, where he reached the last 16 again.
Hylton's first televised appearance came as an amateur qualifier at the 2007 UK Open. He defeated Ray Carver on the stage in the preliminary round before losing to Mark Robinson in the first round.
He joined the PDC circuit full-time in 2010. Despite failing to qualify for that year's UK Open, he reached the final of a PDC Pro Tour event in Australia, losing to Dennis Priestley, and has regularly featured in the last 16 places. Along side his PDC efforts, Hylton has won 13 open competitions in 2010, including the Border Classic.
Hylton qualified for the 2010 Grand Slam of Darts, winning through a strong field of over 250 darters, as one of four ITV Wildcard qualifiers. He lost all three of his group games to Gary Anderson, Mark Webster, and Wayne Jones.
Hylton also qualified for his first PDC World Championship in 2011 as one of the top 16 non-seeded players from the Players Championship Order of Merit. In the first round, Hylton defeated Steve Beaton by 3 sets to 2. In the second round, he knocked out number 9 seed Colin Lloyd by 4 sets to 2. He was eliminated by Mark Webster in the third round. These strong TV performances along with Hylton's strong second half of the season also earned him the 2010 PDC Best Newcomer award.[1] 2011 has seen a strong start with Hylton taking several open titles including The Double16.com Cotgrave & Newark Opens during the 2nd of which he produced a perfect 9 dart leg, only 6 days later he produced another 9 dart finish during an Open event at The Red Lion in Erdington. A first professional appearance in The UK Open in June will be a 3rd TV Major in 8 months. He is climbing the Orders of Merit strongly looking to be well placed for the 2011/12 season.
During May & June 2011 Hylton produced another fine spell of form, he reached Pro tour Quarter and Semi finals on consecutive days in Austria and a run of five wins (over Brian Woods, Geoff Whitworth, Andy Jenkins,Andrew Gilding & Peter Wright) at The UK Open saw `Mile High' reach his first televised Quarter final at a major event, eventually losing out in a tough match again Denis Ovens.
This form continued with a semi-final Pro Tour place in Barnsley, defeating Beaton, Ovens, Baxter, Van Gerwen & Duo before losing out to lakeside runner up Dave Chisnal. This ensured his place in the 2011 World Matchplay where he faced Phil Taylor in the first round, narrowly losing by 10 legs to 8.
His rapid rise through the ranking continued with qualification for The 2011 World Grand Prix where despite suffering from the flu he again reached the Qtr final. A two sets to one win over Mark Walsh in round one followed by a second round 3-1 win over world number 5 Simon Whitlock, set up a clash with the resurgent Richie Burnett. Hylton bowed out 1-4 with Burnett going on to a 5-2 defat to Phil Taylor.
In a break from previous pattern Hylton took his form straight back to PDC Pro Tour events where he reached reached semi and qtr finals over the next two events. His wins over Wayne Jones and a 6-0 whitewash of Paul Nicholson offer signs of a new confidence.
With a place in the 2011 Players Championship Finals and 2012 Ladbrokes World Professional Championship assured only the end of season ranking remains unclear, however it is certain to be a vast improvement on the 91st place Hytlon was ranked prior to the 2011 event. He was defeated in the first round of the 2012 World Championships by Vincent van der Voort, 2-3.[2]
Hylton is also becoming a regular sight in exhibitions, his cabin crew walk on and unique throwing style have seen him in several 'Play The Professional' events as well as charitable and promotional appearances.
Hylton worked as an airline cabin manager for 14 years before taking redundancy and becoming a professional darts player in 2010. He graduated in 1987 as a BA in English Literature.