Darren Webster

Darren Webster
Personal information
Nickname Demolition Man
Born (1968-06-10) 10 June 1968
Norwich, England
Home town Norwich
England
Darts information
Playing darts since 2002
Darts 16g Gram Cosmo's
Walk-on music Dancing in the Dark by Bruce Springsteen
Organisation (see split in darts)
PDC 2002–
Current world ranking 32
PDC premier events - best performances
World Ch'ship Quarter Final: 2007
World Matchplay Quarter Final: 2017
World Grand Prix Last 32: 2014, 2017
Grand Slam Group Stage: 2014, 2016
Desert Classic Last 32: 2004, 2005
UK Open Last 16: 2007, 2016
Players Ch'ship Finals Semi Final: 2016
Other tournament wins
Eastbourne Open 2011
England Classic Early Bird 2011
Gleneagle Irish Masters 2013
Open Oust Nederland 2005
Southend Open 2012

Players Championships

Players Championship (BAR) 2017

Darren Webster (born 10 June 1968 in Norwich) is an English darts player nicknamed Demolition Man. He is a full-time professional who used to work in property maintenance.

Career

Webster won the 2005 Open Oust Nederland, beating Co Stompé in the final.[1]

Originally nicknamed The Sniper, Webster reached the quarter-finals of the 2007 PDC World Darts Championship, where he beat former champion Bob Anderson, Adrian Gray and South African Wynand Havenga. He was beaten 5–1 by Phil Taylor.[2]

Webster reached the last 16 at the 2007 UK Open. He beat Andy Hamilton and James Wade, before losing to Alan Green.[3]

In December 2013, Webster lost to James Wade in the first round of the 2014 World Championship, despite leading 2 sets to 1 (first to 3). He missed six darts to win the match, to which Wade responded in three straight legs, thus winning the match.[4] He played in the World Matchplay for the first time since 2005 and was beaten 10–4 by Taylor in the first round.[5] Webster's resurgence of form also saw him play in his first World Grand Prix and Grand Slam of Darts, but he lost in the opening round of the former and was defeated in all three of his group games in the latter.[6][7] A final appearance in a major event of the year came at the Players Championship Finals where he missed two match darts in the deciding leg of the first round against Robert Thornton to lose 6–5.[8]

Webster atoned for his misses against Wade a year earlier when he faced Simon Whitlock in the 2015 edition of the World Championship. From 1–1 in sets he only allowed the world number seven one more leg as he beat him 3–1.[9] He won a trio of sets in deciding legs to lead Dean Winstanley 3–2 in the second round. However, Webster lost two sets in a row to be beaten 4–3.[10] Webster twice reached the quarter-final stage of Players Championship events in 2015.[11]

Webster saw off John Henderson 3–1 in the opening round of the 2016 World Championship, but Michael van Gerwen averaged 109.23 in their second round clash as Webster could only win one leg in a 4–0 defeat.[12][13] A 9–8 win over Ricky Evans saw him reach the fifth round of the UK Open for the second time in his career and he lost 9–5 to Peter Wright.[14] Webster's first semi-final in over two and a half years came at the ninth Players Championship and he was beaten 6–1 by Benito van de Pas.[15] Another came at the 17th event, but he was whitewashed 6–0 by Van Gerwen.[16] Webster was already eliminated from the Grand Slam of Darts before his third group game with Phil Taylor after losing his opening two matches, but nevertheless thrashed the 16-time world champion 5–0. Webster stated that the result would give him a confidence boost for the remainder of the year.[17] He was right, because at the Players Championship Finals he saw off Jonny Clayton and Simon Whitlock both 6–3, Alan Norris 10–5 and Christian Kist 10–6 to reach the semi-finals of a PDC major for the first time. Webster stormed in to a 6–0 lead over Van Gerwen, but missed a dart to be 7–2 ahead as Van Gerwen closed to 6–6. Webster did take a one leg lead on two further occasions, but would ultimately be defeated 11–8.[18]

Webster survived seven match darts from Stephen Bunting in the first round of the 2017 World Championship to progress with a 3–2 win. Webster had finishes of 157, 147 and 140 during the match.[19] He described his second round 4–0 victory over Simon Whitlock as the moment of his career as Webster averaged 104.64 and closed the match with a 140 finish.[20] He missed two darts to take the opening set in the third round against Van Gerwen and went 3–0 behind. He pulled a set back, but would be ousted 4–1.[21]

Webster hit his first career 9 dart finish on 11 February 2017 in the 5th UK Open qualifier during a 6-5 win over Benito van de Pas. In July, he won his first players Championship title, defeating Daryl Gurney 6–1 in the final in Barnsley.

World Championship results

PDC

Performance timeline

Tournament 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017
PDC World Championship Did not play 1R QF DNQ DNQ DNQ DNQ DNQ 1R 1R 2R 2R 3R
World Matchplay Did not play 1R DNQ DNQ DNQ DNQ DNQ DNQ DNQ DNQ 1R DNQ DNQ QF
World Grand Prix Did not play 1R DNQ DNQ
UK Open 2R 3R 5R 2R 6R 2R DNQ 2R DNQ 4R DNQ 3R 2R 5R 3R
Las Vegas Desert Classic DNP 1R 1R DNQ DNQ DNQ DNQ Not held
Grand Slam of Darts Not held DNQ DNQ DNQ DNQ DNQ DNQ DNQ RR DNQ RR
Players Championship Finals Not held DNQ DNQ DNQ DNQ DNQ 1R DNQ SF
Performance Table Legend
DNP Did not play at the event DNQ Did not qualify for the event NYF Not yet founded L# lost in the early rounds of the tournament
(WR = Wildcard round, RR = Round robin)
QF lost in the quarter-finals SF lost in the semi-finals RU lost in the final W won the tournament

References

  1. ↑ "2005 Open Oust Nederland Results". Darts Database. Retrieved 20 December 2013.
  2. ↑ "2007 PDC World Championship Results". Darts Database. Retrieved 20 December 2013.
  3. ↑ "2007 UK Open Results". Darts Database. Retrieved 20 December 2013.
  4. ↑ "Ladbrokes World Championship Day Seven". PDC. 19 December 2013.
  5. ↑ "2014 World Matchplay Results". Darts Database. Retrieved 7 December 2014.
  6. ↑ "2014 World Grand Prix Results". Darts Database. Retrieved 7 December 2014.
  7. ↑ "2014 Grand Slam Of Darts Results". Darts Database. Retrieved 7 December 2014.
  8. ↑ "Cash Converters PCF Day One". PDC. Retrieved 7 December 2014.
  9. ↑ "William Hill World Championship Day Three". PDC. Retrieved 20 December 2014.
  10. ↑ "William Hill World Championship Day Eight". PDC. Retrieved 28 December 2014.
  11. ↑ "Darren Webster 2015". Darts Database. Archived from the original on 8 December 2015. Retrieved 5 December 2015.
  12. ↑ "William Hill World Championship Day Two". PDC. Retrieved 29 December 2015.
  13. ↑ "William Hill World Championship Day Nine". PDC. Retrieved 29 December 2015.
  14. ↑ "2016 Coral UK Open Fifth Round". PDC. Retrieved 9 December 2016.
  15. ↑ "Brilliant Benito Claims Second Triumph". PDC. Retrieved 9 December 2016.
  16. ↑ "Invincible Run Continues For MvG". PDC. Retrieved 9 December 2016.
  17. ↑ "SINGHA Beer Grand Slam Day Three". PDC. Retrieved 9 December 2016.
  18. ↑ "Norwich’s Darren Webster gives world number one Michael van Gerwen an almighty scare". Eastern Daily Press. Retrieved 9 December 2016.
  19. ↑ "William Hill World Championship Day Three". PDC. Retrieved 17 December 2016.
  20. ↑ "William Hill World Championship Day Nine". PDC. Retrieved 23 December 2016.
  21. ↑ "William Hill World Championship Day 12". PDC. Retrieved 29 December 2016.
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