Peter Manley

For the Ontario politician, see Peter Manley (politician).
Peter Manley
Personal information
Full name Peter David Manley [1]
Nickname One Dart
Born 7 March 1962
Cheam, Surrey, England
Home town Carlisle, Cumbria
England
Darts information
Playing darts since 1974
Darts Unicorn Tungsten 19g
Laterality Right-handed
Walk-on music Amarillo by Tony Christie
Organisation (see split in darts)
BDO 1995–1996
PDC 1996–2012
BDO majors - best performances
World Masters Last 16: 1998
World Darts Trophy Quarter Final: 2007
Int. Darts League Last 32 Group: 2007
Zuiderduin Masters Semi Final: 2000
PDC premier events - best performances
World Ch'ship Runner Up: 1999, 2002, 2006
World Matchplay Runner Up: 1999
World Grand Prix Semi Final: 1998, 1999, 2000, 2003, 2006
Grand Slam Group Stages: 2007
Premier League Semi Final: 2005
Ch'ship League Initial groups, Semi-finals 2008
Desert Classic Winner 2003
European Ch'ship Semi Final: 2008
UK Open Semi Final: 2005
US Open/WSoD Fifth round: 2007
Players Ch'ship Finals Last 32: 2009, 2010
Other tournament wins
Canadian Open 2000
England Open 1999
French Open 1998
Ireland Open Spring Classic 2001
Irish Masters 2004
Isle Of Man Open 1998, 2004
Le Skratch Montreal Open 2000
Open Holland Masters 2007
PDC Eastbourne Open 2003
PDC Northern Ireland Open 2001
Sunparks Masters 2002
Vauxhall Autumn Open 2005

UK Open Regionals/Qualifiers

UK Open Regional (MID) 2003
UK Open Regional (NOE) 2003
UK Open Regional (SCO) 2002
UK Open Regional (WAL) 2003
Other achievements
PDC World number one, September 2000 to October 2001
Three time PDC World Championship runner-up
Updated on 23 July 2014.

Peter David Manley (born 7 March 1962 in Cheam, Surrey) is a former professional darts player who used to play in the Professional Darts Corporation.

He was named One Dart by commentator Tony Green after hitting the winning double on numerous occasions with his first dart during his first televised appearance at the 1995 Unipart European Masters, where he eventually lost in the final to Mike Gregory.

The nickname subsequently proved to be a heavy burden for Manley who despite a confident, outspoken persona only managed one major win - the 2003 Las Vegas Desert Classic - during his professional darts career.

Darting career

Manley's controversial personality rather than the quality of his darts was often the most notable part of his career and continued poor form resulted in him failing to secure a PDC tour card in 2012. Manley lost several major sponsors including darts manufacturer Unicorn as a result.

Manley is perhaps most famous for his long-running feud with Phil Taylor resulting from his refusal to shake Taylor's hand after losing 7-0 to him in the 2002 PDC World Darts Championship final. He has finished runner-up to Taylor in two other World Championships - losing 6-2 in 1999 and 7-0 in 2006.

His biggest tournament win was 2003 Las Vegas Desert Classic when he beat John Part 16-12 in the final. He is also the chairman of the Professional Dart Players Association,[2] a position he has held for six years.[3] Manley attempted getting a PDC Tour card in the Q-School in 2012, 2013 and 2014.

Crowd popularity

Manley's refusal to shake Taylor's hand after his 7-0 World Championship thrashing in 2002 led to darts fans booing him for many years. The boos became more ironic and good-natured when in 2005 Manley changed his entrance theme from Chumbawamba's Tubthumping to Tony Christie's Is This the Way to Amarillo. By the end of his career Manley was seen by darts crowds as being more of a 'pantomime villain' rather than subject to genuine animosity which had occurred previously. Manley has even gone on to say that whilst the booing and crowd reaction was hard for him and his family to take in the early days, it helped him as his career went on and ensured his popularity on the exhibition circuit.

Controversy

Despite being chairman of the Players' Union (the Professional Dart Players Association - PDPA), Manley was often the subject of controversy with fellow players. Most notably Taylor in the aforementioned incident, and also in the 2006 PDC World Championship. During that tournament Manley was accused of gamesmanship against Dennis Smith and in a later round against Taylor's protégé, Adrian Lewis. Manley muttered words to his opponent, resulting in Lewis leaving the stage in anger. Despite serving as Manley's best man at his wedding Manley also had a notable spat with former PDC Professional player Wayne Mardle. Mardle accused Manley of being a cheat in his autobiography. Manley has also had notable spats with the likes of: Roland Scholten, John Lowe, Rod Harrington, and Wynand Havenga.

Revival of career

Manley has said he will try qualifying for a tour card via the 2014 PDC Qualifying School, but if he doesn't make it in 2014, he will retire from Professional Darts. Manley has announced that he will be entering Q School in 2015 to try revive his career.

Outside of darts

Manley currently resides in Carlisle. He is married to Crissy Manley (née Howat), and has two daughters.

World Championship Results

PDC

PDC premier event finals: 5 (1 title, 4 runner-ups)

Legend
World Championship (0-3)
World Matchplay (0-1)
Other (1–0)
Outcome No. Year Championship Opponent in the final Score
Runner-up 1. 1999 World Darts Championship (1) England Phil Taylor 2-6 (s)
Runner-up 2. 1999 World Matchplay England Rod Harrington 17-19 (l)
Runner-up 3. 2002 World Darts Championship (2) England Phil Taylor 0-7 (s)
Winner 1. 2003 Las Vegas Desert Classic Canada John Part 16–12 (l)
Runner-up 4. 2006 World Darts Championship (3) England Phil Taylor 0-7 (s)

References

  1. "Darts Players Wives". 17 August 2007. Sky. Sky3. Missing or empty |title= (help)
  2. Peter Manley - Team Unicorn from Unicorn, retrieved 19 February 2009
  3. PDPA Board Members from the PDPA, retrieved 22 February 2009

External links