Justin Pipe

Justin Pipe (born 9 November 1971) is an English professional darts player currently playing in Professional Darts Corporation events.

Playing career

Pipe first emerged at the 2008 UK Open as a pub qualifier. He defeated Geoff Wylie and Lionel Sams before losing 3-9 to James Wade in the third round. Following his performance at the UK Open, he joined the PDC Pro Tour circuit.

He qualified for the 2010 Grand Slam of Darts as one of four ITV Wildcard qualifiers. He lost all three of his group games to James Wade, Vincent van der Voort, and Tony O'Shea.

Pipe also qualified for the 2011 PDC World Darts Championship, losing 1-3 in the first round to Mark Walsh. In June 2011, Pipe hit a nine-dart finish in a Players Championship match in Nuland against Colin Osborne.^[3]

Pipe made his World Matchplay debut in 2011. He defeated Mervyn King 10-6 in the first round.

On 2 October 2011, Pipe won his first PDC Pro Tour event in Dublin, defeating Phil Taylor 6-5 in the final.^[4] On 5 November, Pipe won his third Players Championship in just a month.

Pipe qualified for the 2011 Grand Slam of Darts. He beat Terry Jenkins 5-1 in the first match of the group stage, then missed a dart at a double to beat James Wade. In his final match against Dave Chisnall, Pipe had a shot at 17 in the deciding leg to qualify but bust with his first dart and lost the match, and was eventually eliminated as Jenkins beat Wade in the final match.

At the 2011 Players Championship Finals, Pipe was the number 1 seed as he had reached the final of six of the last ten events. He reached the second round where he missed six match darts against Mark Webster before losing 8–7.

Pipe won his first ever match at the PDC World Championship in 2012 by beating Sean Reed 3–1.^[5] In the second round he came from 2–0 down against world number 7 Wes Newton, to win 4–3 and reach the last 16, where he played Terry Jenkins.^[6] Pipe came up against an inspired opponent, who averaged 102, and lost the match 1–4.^[7]

Pipe saw his progress in 2011 rewarded at the annual PDC awards ceremony on 3 January 2012, as he picked up the PDPA Players' Player of the Year award.^[1] He then continued his fine form by winning the first Players Championship of 2012 with a 6–0 whitewash of Paul Nicholson in the Spanish Darts Trophy.^[8] He almost pulled off a remarkable double as he reached the final of the second event a day later, but was beaten by Michael Smith 3–6.^[9] In April, Pipe won the European Tour Event 1 with a 6–3 victory over James Wade in the final, having defeated Raymond van Barneveld in the semi-finals by the same scoreline with a 107 average.^[10] The victory saw him rise into the world's top 16 for the very first time, as he was ranked 15, meaning he will gain automatic qualification into the upcoming major events if he maintains his form.^[2] Pipe lost to Dave Chisnall 4–6 in the final of the sixth Players Championship event in May, having earlier beaten the likes of Kevin Painter, Simon Whitlock and Raymond van Barneveld.^[11]

In the World Matchplay Pipe beat Joe Cullen and Wes Newton, but then lost to Ronnie Baxter 11–16 in his first televised quarter-final.^[12] At the World Grand Prix, Pipe came through close matches against Whitlock and Painter, but was then beaten 1–3 by home favourite Brendan Dolan in the quarter-finals in the double to start event.^[13] Pipe qualified from Group 2 of the Championship League with a 6–5 victory against Phil Taylor.^[14] He finished 5th in the Winners Group, as he won three of his seven league matches, only missing out on the play-offs by leg difference.^[15] After all 33 ProTour events of 2012 had been played, Pipe finished fifth on the Order of Merit to qualify for the Players Championship Finals.^[16] It was there that Pipe reached his first major televised semi-final as he saw off Colin Osborne, Brendan Dolan and Mervyn King.^[17] Pipe went 0–2 down to Kim Huybrechts in the semi-final and never restored parity in the match as he lost 6–11.^[18]

Pipe was defeated in the second round of the 2013 World Championship 2–4 by Mark Walsh, after overcoming Andy Jenkins 3–0 in the first.^[19] After being a losing quarter-finalist in three events during the first half of 2013, Pipe reached the semi-finals for the first time this year at the third Players Championship, but lost 3–6 to Paul Nicholson.^[20] He suffered a surprise 2–5 defeat to Gareth Pass in the first round of the UK Open.^[21] At the World Matchplay, he beat Mark Webster 10–4 in the first round and then defeated Raymond van Barneveld 13–9 with a 170 checkout.^[22] In his second consecutive quarter-final in the event, Pipe lost 10–16 to Phil Taylor.^[23] Pipe beat Andy Smith 2–0 and Adrian Lewis 3–0 in the opening rounds of the World Grand Prix and then saw off Andy Hamilton to reach his second major semi-final in a performance Pipe claimed was the best of his career.^[24] He faced Dave Chisnall and started the better as he led 1–0 and 2–1 but could only win another two legs in the match as Chisnall's scoring power eventually told in a 5–2 defeat.^[25] Pipe won through to the semi-finals of the Players Championship Finals for the second successive year where he faced Phil Taylor. He kept pace early on but with the match on throw at 5–4, Taylor took out a 132 finish on the bull with Pipe on 38, to enter the second break 6–4 ahead, before going on to defeat Pipe 10–4.^[26]

Pipe was beaten by qualifier Devon Petersen 4–1 in the second round of the 2014 World Championship.^[27] He reached the final of the first European Tour event of the year, the German Darts Championship, and led Gary Anderson 5–3 but missed six darts for the match to lose 6–5.^[28]

Management and sponsorship

Pipe joined darts manufacturer Cosmo Darts as a sponsored player on 14 October 2011.^[29] He is self managed as of January 2013 with friends and family 'Team Pipe' behind him.^[30]

Personal life

He worked as a tree surgeon before becoming a professional darts player in 2010.^[31]

His slow throwing style is partly attributed to a serious car accident he suffered in 1993, where his right arm was paralysed for three months.^[32]

Pipe is married to his wife Claire and has two sons and a daughter. His brother, Mark, passed away suddenly in June 2013. Pipe played the following weekend in the European Championship and dedicated his first round win to him.^[33]

World Championship results

PDC

• 2011: First round (lost to Mark Walsh 1–3)
• 2012: Third round (lost to Terry Jenkins 1–4)
• 2013: Second round (lost to Mark Walsh 2–4)
• 2014: Second round (lost to Devon Petersen 1–4)

References

External links

• Player profile on Justin Pipe from Dartsdatabase
• Official Website