Dave Chisnall

Dave Chisnall (born 12 September 1980) is an English professional darts player who plays in Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) events. He began his career participating in the British Darts Organisation (BDO) and was the runner-up in their World Championship in 2010. He switched to the PDC a year later and has won seven Pro Tour events. Since his switch to the PDC Chisnall is probably best known for defeating Phil Taylor in the 2012 World Championship and for reaching the final of the 2013 World Grand Prix where he was beaten 6–0 by Taylor.

Career

Early career

Chisnall was brought up in St Helens and played for a local football team until he was 17 when he broke his foot. He switched to darts and first played in a friend's bedroom, throwing 100 in his first ever visit to the board.^[3] His debut in BDO events came at the 2004 Welsh Open Welsh Open, losing in the last 32 to Alan Tabern.^[4] In 2007, he won the 2007 BDO Gold Cup, beating Scotland captain Mike Veitch in the semi-finals and Welshman Matthew Quinlan in the final.^[5] Chisnall then fell two games short of qualifying for the 2008 BDO World Championship, losing to Robert Thornton.^[6] A few days later Chisnall was again beaten by Thornton in the Winmau World Masters.^[7]

In 2008, Chisnall won the Isle of Man Open, beating Ted Hankey in the quarter-finals and Gary Robson in the semis before defeating Robert Hughes in the final.^[8] After his match against Hankey, the 2000 BDO World Champion advised Chisnall to turn professional.^[3] He later went on to win the England National Championship.^[9]

Chisnall won one of five qualification spots for the 2009 BDO World Championship, beating Stewart Rattray to qualify.^[10] The next day he took part in the 2008 Winmau World Masters but lost in the first round to fellow Lakeside qualifier Daryl Gurney of Northern Ireland.^[11] In the World Championship, Chisnall gave Martin Adams a tough match, losing 3–5 in the deciding set to the number three seed.^[12]

BDO Breakthrough

In September 2009, Chisnall won back-to-back titles claiming the Welsh Masters with a 5–1 victory over Tony O'Shea,^[13] and the British Open, knocking out BDO World Champion Ted Hankey in the earlier rounds before beating Martin Atkins 2–0 in the final.^[14] These successes helped him finish top of the BDO International Grand Prix Series.^[15]

He competed in the qualifying rounds for the 2010 BDO World Championship but was beaten by Stuart Kellett.^[16] He did, however, qualify through the BDO Invitational Rankings (ironically, Kellett himself failed to qualify).

He produced an outstanding run to reach the final of the 2010 World Championship beating number four seed Darryl Fitton in the opening round and Tony West in the second round. Having been 4–1 down to defending champion and number five seed Ted Hankey, Chisnall produced a comeback to reach the semi finals 5–4.^[17] After losing the first two sets in the semi-final against top seed Tony O'Shea, he came back again to win 6–3 and reached his first World Championship final, where he was defeated 7–5 by number three seed, and Masters champion, Martin Adams.^[18]

Chisnall qualified for the 2010 Grand Slam of Darts as a result of his World Championship final, winning his first match against Simon Whitlock before subsequent defeats by Robert Thornton and Colin Osborne saw him exit the tournament.^[19] In the 2011 BDO World Darts Championship he lost 4–1 in sets in the second round to Gary Robson.^[20]

PDC career

Chisnall entered the Professional Darts Corporation Q School in January 2011. He won a PDC tour card on the first day by defeating Terry Temple 6–2 in his final match.^[21] He played in his first PDC event in Halle, Germany and hit a nine-dart finish but went on to lose to Vincent van der Voort 6–5 in the last 64.^[22] In the Derby Pro Tour events he reached the quarter-finals on both days of the weekend but was defeated by Jamie Caven 6–3 and Wes Newton 6–4 respectively.^[23][24] A month later at the second UK Open Qualifier of the year Chisnall reached his first PDC final where he was edged out 6–5 by Michael Smith in the final, but the result did ensure him spot at the UK Open.^[25] He hit his second nine-darter of the season in the seventh UK open qualifier.^[26] In the Eddie Cox memorial Players Championship in Barnsley he reached the semi-finals after defeating Dennis Ovens, Mark Walsh and John Part before a subsequent defeat to Paul Nicholson 6–5 after missing five darts for the match.^[27] The following day in the Bobby Bourn Memorial Players Championship he got to the final before being beaten by Andy Smith by 6 legs to 2. Despite the loss he had done enough to qualify for the World Matchplay in his debut season on the tour.^[28]

At the UK Open he entered the competition in the third round and defeated Richard North 9–2 and Ronnie Baxter 9–7 whilst hitting an 102 average.^[29] He went on to defeat John Bowles in the fifth round 9–4, before losing to eventual runner-up Wes Newton 10–8 in the quarter-finals.^[30] Chisnall lost in the first round of the 2011 World Matchplay 10–3 against Mark Walsh, but still broke into the top 50 in the order of merit for the first time.^[31] He defeated Jelle Klaasen in the first round of the European Championship, but then lost 10–5 against Adrian Lewis in a match where both players averaged over 100.^[32] In September, Chisnall reached the final of the fourth Dutch Players Championship of the year and lost 6–4 to Richie Burnett.^[33] Chisnall was defeated 2–1 in the first round of the 2011 Grand Prix by Alan Tabern after missing 13 darts at doubles to win the match, a television record which stood until 2013.^[34]

He won his first PDC title at a Players Championship event in Crawley by defeating Justin Pipe 6–4 in the final.^[35] He then reached the quarter-finals of the Players Championship Finals after avenging his loss to Alan Tabern at the World Grand Prix, beating Co Stompe before losing 9–8 to Mark Webster in a tight game.^[36]

2012

Chisnall defeated Mark Dudbridge 3–0 to make the perfect start to his first PDC World Championship in the 2012 playing of the event.^[37] He played 15-time World Champion Phil Taylor in the second round and produced a stunning performance to win 4–1 and set up a last 16 meeting with Andy Hamilton.^[38] The only other players to have beaten Taylor in the PDC World Championship outside of the final, Wayne Mardle and Mark Webster both went on to lose their following matches, and Chisnall joined this club as he was whitewashed 4–0 by Hamilton.^[39][40][41] His exploits in 2011 and in the World Championship saw him named PDC Best Newcomer at the annual awards ceremony on 3 January.^[1]

He began the year with an exceptional start on the tour reaching the final of the second UK Open qualifier, where he lost 6–1 to Michael van Gerwen who hit a nine-dart finish during the match.^[42] He then reached the final of the fourth Players Championship after whitewashing Andy Hamilton in the quarter-finals and defeating Steve Beaton in the semi to face Phil Taylor in a repeat of their World Championship clash. He defeated him 6–5 to maintain his 100% record against Taylor and claimed his second professional PDC title.^[43] He won the next Players Championship too, defeating the likes of Raymond van Barneveld and Terry Jenkins, before sealing the title with a 6–2 win over Ian White.^[44] The very next day, Chisnall won the third title of his season at the sixth Players Championship event with a 6–4 success over Justin Pipe in the final.^[45] During the European Tour Event 1 in Austria, Chisnall scored eight maximums, and four 140's to hit a 113.09 average in a 6–3 win over Kevin Painter, before losing to James Wade in the semi-finals.^[46]

Chisnall enjoyed comfortable wins over Mark Layton, Dennis Smith, Simon Whitlock and Raymond van Barneveld to reach his first PDC major event semi-final at the UK Open.^[47][48] He faced Robert Thornton, but with the scores level at 2–2 early on Chisnall lost seven of the next eight legs and would bow out of the event with a 10–4 defeat.^[49] In the second European Tour event of the season Chisnall reached the final having earlier posted a 108.35 average in his second round match against Michael Rosenauer.^[50] He also beat Terry Jenkins, Mervyn King and Whitlock to play Taylor in the final. There Chisnall suffered his first defeat to Taylor, losing 6–2.^[51] The performance saw him break into the top 16 on the PDC Order of Merit for the first time, meaning he gained automatic qualification into the World Matchplay.^[52] He then won his fourth Players Championship of the year in Crawley with a 6–4 victory over Ronnie Baxter.^[53] Chisnall lost his second successive European Tour final at Event 3 in Düsseldorf following a 6–4 defeat to van Barneveld. His average of 82.16 in the final was the lowest of his tournament by over 10 points.^[54][55] Chisnall then suffered a 10–7 first round defeat to Baxter in the first round of the World Matchplay,^[56] and lost 3–1 in sets in the second round of the World Grand Prix to Mervyn King.^[57] Chisnall qualified from Group 6 of the Championship League and finished fourth in the Winners Group to reach the play-offs on leg difference over Justin Pipe and Baxter who, like Chisnall, had won three of their seven league games.^[58] In the semi-finals he faced Taylor and was whitewashed 6–0 with his opponent averaging 112.73.^[59] But he then beat Taylor 6–3 in the final of the 19th Players Championship, with Chisnall this time scoring the higher average of 111.80 to Taylor's 105.57.^[60] He also beat the in-form Michael van Gerwen in the semi-finals, with the title securing his place atop the ProTour Order of Merit and therefore he was the number one seed for the Players Championship Finals,^[61] where he was surprisingly whitewashed 6–0 by Wayne Jones in the first round.^[62] Chisnall was later named the Best PDC Pro Tour Player for his five tournament victories in 2012.^[2]

2013

Chisnall lost in the last 16 of the World Championship for the second successive year in 2013. He came from a set down three times against Simon Whitlock to force a deciding set which he led 3–2, before Whitlock took out a crucial 152 finish and then won two successive legs to knock Chisnall out.^[63] He reached the final of the first UK Open Qualifier of the year, but lost 6–2 to Michael van Gerwen.^[64] At the UK Open itself he lost 9–2 to James Wade in the fourth round,^[65] and at the European Championship he was whitewashed 6–0 by Jamie Caven in the first round who averaged 106.^[66] At the World Matchplay he saw off Paul Nicholson 10–8 and gained revenge over Caven by defeating him 13–10 to reach the quarter-finals of the event for the first time. He played Michael van Gerwen and had chances to move 7–3 ahead but missed and even though he took out a finish of 144 and had an 11 dart leg he was beaten 16–11.^[67] In September, Chisnall won his first title since November last year at the German Darts Championship. He required deciding legs to advance through each of his first four matches, before beating Steve Beaton 6–4 in the semi-finals with an average of 106.30 and Peter Wright 6–2 in the final. He called the title the highlight of his career to date and moved up to a career high seventh on the Order of Merit.^[68] Chisnall faced Wright in a final for the second consecutive tournament at the seventh Players Championship of the season in Barnsley and won again, this time by a 6–5 scoreline.^[69]

At the World Grand Prix Chisnall reached his first PDC major final in the event where every leg must be started and finished by hitting a double. He beat Ian White 2–1 and Wayne Jones 3–1 in the first two rounds.^[70] In the quarter-finals Chisnall produced the match of his career to date against Michael van Gerwen. He led the Dutchman 2–0 and missed a dart to win 3–1 as the match was levelled at 2–2. However, Chisnall kept his composure to win the deciding set with a match total of ten 180s to Van Gerwen's two.^[71] Chisnall played the slow-paced Justin Pipe in the semi-finals and struggled for rhythm early on as he trailed 2–1. From there he only conceded two more legs as he won 5–2 and faced ten time winner of the event Taylor in the final.^[72] Chisnall had a disaster as he lost each of the five opening sets without winning a leg. He finally won his first leg of the match at the start of the sixth set when Taylor could not hit an opening double. The usually prolific 180 hitter Chisnall scored his first two legs later but it was not enough as Taylor won the match 6–0. Afterwards Chisnall called it the best and worst night of his career.^[73] His run did earn him a spot in the Grand Slam of Darts, but he lost all three of his games against Michael Smith, Ted Hankey and Scott Waites to finish bottom of Group H.^[74] Later in the month, Chisnall won his third title of the year at the 15th Players Championship by beating Robert Thornton 6–3.^[75]

2014

Chisnall fought back from 2–0 down in the first round of the 2014 World Championship against John Henderson to level at 2–2. However, he missed a total of four darts to win the match during the deciding set to suffer a shock defeat.^[76] Despite his early exit, Chisnall will play in his first Premier League this year as he was awarded a PDC wildcard for the event.^[77]

Personal life

He met his partner Michaela who also plays darts at the St. Anne's Open in 2008. In September 2011, she gave birth to his first daughter named Lexie Rose.^[3] He is sponsored by BR Property Services and is good friends with professional player Stephen Bunting^[78][79] Chisnall is originally from St Helens but now lives in Morecambe.^[3]

Career finals

BDO major finals: 1 (1 runner-up)

Outcome	No.	Year	Championship	Opponent in the final	Score
Runner-up	1.	2010	World Championship	Martin Adams	5–7 (s)

PDC major finals: 1 (1 runner-up)

Outcome	No.	Year	Championship	Opponent in the final	Score[N 1]
Runner-up	1.	2013	World Grand Prix	Phil Taylor	0–6 (s)

World Championship performances

BDO

• 2009: First round (lost to Martin Adams 2–3)
• 2010: Final (lost to Martin Adams 5–7)
• 2011: Second round (lost to Gary Robson 1–4)

PDC

• 2012: Third round (lost to Andy Hamilton 0–4)
• 2013: Third round (lost to Simon Whitlock 3–4)
• 2014: First round (lost to John Henderson 2–3)

References

External links

• Dave Chisnall's official website
• Profile and stats on Darts Database