Darryl Fitton

Darryl Fitton
Darryl Fitton
Personal information
Nickname	"The Dazzler"
Born	5 May 1962 (age 62); Stockport, Cheshire, England
Home town	Stockport, Cheshire, England
Darts information
Playing darts since	1978
Darts	24 Gram Target Darryl Fitton Silica
Laterality	Right-handed
Walk-on music	"One Step Beyond" by Madness preceded opening from "Sunshine of Your Love" by Cream
Organisation (see split in darts)
BDO	2000–2020
PDC	1997
WDF	2000–
WDF major events – best performances
World Ch'ship	Semi-final: 2005, 2009, 2017
World Masters	Runner-up: 2007
World Trophy	Winner (1): 2016
Int. Darts League	Semi-final: 2004
Finder Masters	Winner (1): 2009
PDC premier events – best performances
World Matchplay	Last 32: 1997
Grand Slam	Quarter-final: 2008
WSDT major events – best performances
World Ch'ship	Quarter-final: 2023
Other tournament wins
Tournament	Years
Belgium Open; British Classic; British Open; Dutch Open; England Ch'ship; German Open; Greek Open; Isle of Man Open; Luxembourg Open; Police Masters; Polish Open; Welsh Classic	2006; 2004; 2003; 2009; 2010; 2014; 2011; 2009; 2016; 2013; 2011; 2006
Other achievements
	Hemeco Open Rosmalen 2010; Open Paradiso 2012; Open Paradiso 2012; Vonderke Masters 2008

Darryl Fitton (born 5 May 1962) is an English professional darts player. He is nicknamed The Dazzler and comes to the stage dancing to the Madness song "One Step Beyond" wearing sunglasses; one of the most popular walk-ons with the audience. Before embarking on a career in darts, Fitton worked as an undertaker.

Darts career

Fitton's first TV appearance was against Peter Manley in the 1997 PDC World Matchplay. However, he lost 8-6, and has not made another PDC appearance since.

Fitton debuted in the BDO World Championship in 2003 as a qualifier, but lost 1-3 to fellow qualifier John Burton in the first round. In 2004, he returned to Lakeside, again hitting a 180 score with his very first turn. He reached the quarter-finals before being beaten by Andy Fordham, who went on to win the title. The following year, he reached the semi-finals, this time losing out to Raymond van Barneveld in a hard-fought 5-3 scoreline, as van Barneveld went on to win the title that year. After that, Darryl did not win a match at the World Championship for the next two years, losing to Martin Adams and Phill Nixon in the first round of the 2006 and 2007 championships respectively. Fitton did reach the final of the Winmau World Masters in 2007, leading Robert Thornton 5-2 before Thornton hit back to win 7-5.

In the 2008 World Championship, Fitton got beyond the first round for the first time since 2005 when he bossed his match against Davy Richardson, running out a 3-1 winner with a 94.86 average. In the second round he put in one of the most dominant performances of the World Championship when he averaged over 100 in a 4-0 hammering of Gary Robson. However he lost 5-1 in the quarter-finals to number-one seed (and eventual champion) Mark Webster.

Darryl is known as a consistently high scorer, he once held the record for best average in a full, televised match. His 6-0 win against Davy Richardson in the 2004 International Darts League saw him hit a three-dart average of 114.15. This was, at the time, the highest three-dart average on a televised tournament.

Fitton reached the semi-finals of the 2009 BDO World Championship, beating Mark Salmon in the first round and then defeated 12th seed Simon Whitlock in round two. He followed up with a 5-4 win over fourth seed Scott Waites before bowing out to his friend Tony O'Shea in a 6-4 defeat. Fitton then claimed the 2009 Dutch Open title, beating Willy van de Wiel in the final and then the Isle of Man Open title, beating World Champion Ted Hankey in the final.

Fitton won the 2009 Zuiderduin Masters beating Martin Adams in the final 5-2. He also achieved the magic nine dart finish against Ross Montgomery and was given £4,000 which he donated to a local Charity. In the 2010 BDO World Championship, he was beaten by eventual finalist Dave Chisnall 3-1 in the first round.

Fitton also lost in the first round at Lakeside in 2011, 3-0 against second seed Stuart Kellett winning just one leg. Fitton managed to retain some form later in the year by reaching his second Zuiderduin Masters final, where he narrowly lost to Scott Waites having had two darts to win. However, Fitton would once again lose in the first round at Lakeside in 2012 losing 3-1 against fourth seed Robbie Green.

After a quiet 2012 season, Fitton entered the 2013 BDO World Darts Championship as the 16th seed. He narrowly defeated Benito van de Pas 3-2 in the first round to secure his first win at Lakeside since 2009. He then caused a big upset by defeating top seed Stephen Bunting 4-2 in the second round. In the quarter-final, Fitton was defeated 5-2 by Wesley Harms. Fitton's form improved after this but his 2014 World Championship was ended in the first round by Tony Eccles, in Eccles's last tournament before being convicted of child grooming. The following year, Fitton reached the quarter-finals again beating previous year's runner-up Alan Norris en route, before losing to Glen Durrant.

In 2015, Fitton hit a nine-dart finish in the Dutch Open final against Martin Adams, although he ended up losing the match. He also reached the final of the Jersey Open losing to Scott Mitchell.

In the 2016 BDO World Darts Championship, seeded seventh, Fitton was defeated 3-2 in the first round by Dennis Harbour.

After that, he won the 2016 BDO World Trophy by defeating Peter Machin in the final 13-9. With this win, Fitton qualified for the 2016 Grand Slam of Darts

Fitton was knocked out of the 2018 BDO World Darts Championship in the second round, losing to Glen Durrant 4–1

PDC

Fitton confirmed on his Facebook his intention to switch to the Professional Darts Corporation for the 2018 season, and he entered the 2018 Q-School in an attempt to win a Tour Card.^[1]

BDO

He rejoined the British Darts Organisation and competed in the Dutch Open. He reached the last 16 and got beaten by Dave Parletti.

World Championship Results

BDO

2003: First round (lost to John Burton 1–3)
2004: Quarter-finals (lost to Andy Fordham 4–5)
2005: Semi-finals (lost to Raymond van Barneveld 3–5)
2006: First round (lost to Martin Adams 1–3)
2007: First round (lost to Phill Nixon 1–3)
2008: Quarter-finals (lost to Mark Webster 1–5)
2009: Semi-finals (lost to Tony O'Shea 4–6)
2010: First round (lost to Dave Chisnall 1–3)
2011: First round (lost to Stuart Kellett 0–3)
2012: First round (lost to Robbie Green 1–3)
2013: Quarter-finals (lost to Wesley Harms 2–5)
2014: First round (lost to Tony Eccles 1–3)
2015: Quarter-finals (lost to Glen Durrant 2–5)
2016: First round (lost to Dennis Harbour 2–3)
2017: Semi-finals (lost to Danny Noppert 3–6)
2018: Second round (lost to Glen Durrant 1–4)

WSDT

2022: First round (lost to Richie Howson 2–3)
2023: Quarter-finals (lost to Leonard Gates 1–3)

Career statistics

**Key**
W	F	SF	QF	#R	RR	Prel.	DNQ	DNP	NH

(W) Won; (F) finalist; (SF) semifinalist; (QF) quarterfinalist; (#R) rounds 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1; (RR) round-robin stage; (Prel.) Preliminary round; (DNQ) Did not qualify; (DNP) Did not participate; (NH) Not held

Performance timeline

Tournament	1997	1998	2000	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006	2007	2008	2009	2010	2011	2012	2013	2014	2015	2016	2017	2018	2019
BDO World Championship	DNP					1R	QF	SF	1R	1R	QF	SF	1R	1R	1R	QF	1R	QF	1R	SF	2R	DNP
BDO World Trophy	Not held																2R	2R	W	1R	DNQ
International Darts League	Not held					RR	SF	QF	RR	QF	Not held
World Darts Trophy	Not held				DNP	2R	2R	QF	2R	1R	Not held
World Masters	DNP		4R	DNP	2R	3R	1R	QF	QF	F	6R	6R	5R	2R	4R	SF	5R	6R	QF	5R	DNP
Zuiderduin Masters	Not held		DNP			RR	RR	QF	NH	SF	QF	W	RR	F	RR	RR	QF	QF	DNP			NH
World Matchplay	1R	DNP
Grand Slam of Darts	Not held									DNQ	QF	RR	RR	DNQ					2R	DNQ

BDO major finals: 4 (2 title, 2 runners-up)

Legend
Winmau World Masters (0–1)
Zuiderduin Masters (1–1)
BDO World Trophy (1–0)

Outcome	No.	Year	Championship	Opponent in the final	Score^{[note 1]}
Runner-up	1.	2007	Winmau World Masters	Robert Thornton	5-7 (s)
Winner	1.	2009	Zuiderduin Masters	Martin Adams	4-2 (s)
Runner-up	2.	2011	Zuiderduin Masters	Scott Waites	4-5 (s)
Winner	1.	2016	BDO World Trophy	Peter Machin	13-9 (l)

^ (l) = score in legs, (s) = score in sets.

Nine-dart finishes

Darryl Fitton televised nine-dart finishes
Date	Opponent	Tournament	Method	Prize
13 December 2009	Ross Montgomery	Zuiderduin Masters	2 x T20, T19; 3 x T20; 2 x T20, D12
2 February 2015	Martin Adams	Dutch Open	3 x T20; 3 x T20; T20, T19, D12

High averages

Darryl Fitton's televised average of 114.15 was the world record until Phil Taylor broke it at the 2008 UK Open.

Darryl Fitton televised high averages
Average	Date	Opponent	Tournament	Stage	Score
114.15	May 2004	Davy Richardson	2004 International Darts League	Last 32 group	6-0 (l)

References

^ "Fitton confirms Q-School debut: 'Decided to stop playing BDO'". Darts News. Retrieved 17 January 2018.

External links

Records
Preceded by Phil Taylor	World record highest televised average 9 May 2005 – 7 June 2008	Succeeded by Phil Taylor

[score-2] (l) = score in legs, (s) = score in sets.

[1] "Fitton confirms Q-School debut: 'Decided to stop playing BDO'". Darts News. Retrieved 17 January 2018.

[1]

[note 1]