Chris Dobey (born 31 May 1990) is an English professional darts player currently playing in Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) events. He is the 2023 Masters champion.
| Chris Dobey | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Personal information | |||||||||||
| Nickname | "Hollywood" | ||||||||||
| Born | 31 May 1990 Bedlington, England | ||||||||||
| Home town | Bedlington, England | ||||||||||
| Darts information | |||||||||||
| Playing darts since | 2010 | ||||||||||
| Darts | 23g Target Chris Dobey Gen 1 | ||||||||||
| Laterality | Right-handed | ||||||||||
| Walk-on music | "Let's Get Ready to Rhumble" by PJ & Duncan (Major televised events) "L'amour toujours" by Gigi D’Agostino (European Tour events and European Championship) | ||||||||||
| Organisation (see split in darts) | |||||||||||
| BDO | 2013–2015 | ||||||||||
| PDC | 2015– (Tour Card: 2015-) | ||||||||||
| Current world ranking | 15  2 (17 November 2024)[1] | ||||||||||
| WDF major events – best performances | |||||||||||
| World Masters | Last 32: 2014 | ||||||||||
| PDC premier events – best performances | |||||||||||
| World Ch'ship | Quarter-final: 2023, 2024 | ||||||||||
| World Matchplay | Quarter-final: 2023 | ||||||||||
| World Grand Prix | Semi-final: 2019 | ||||||||||
| UK Open | Last 16: 2018, 2020, 2021 | ||||||||||
| Grand Slam | Quarter-final: 2016 | ||||||||||
| European Ch'ship | Semi-final: 2022 | ||||||||||
| Premier League | 7th: 2023 | ||||||||||
| PC Finals | Semi-final: 2019 | ||||||||||
| Masters | Winner (1): 2023 | ||||||||||
| World Series Finals | Quarter-final: 2024 | ||||||||||
| Other tournament wins | |||||||||||
Players Championships
| |||||||||||
Career
editHis first major TV appearance came in the 2015 UK Open where he lost 5–1 in the first round to Nathan Aspinall.[2] At the 11th Players Championship of the year he had deciding leg victories over Jan Dekker, Kim Huybrechts and Max Hopp to reach the last 16 of a PDC event for the first time, where he was defeated 6–2 by Mark Webster.[3] Dobey qualified for the 2015 World Series of Darts Finals and lost in a last leg decider to Terry Jenkins.[4]
At the 2016 German Darts Masters, Dobey saw off Ben Davies 6–1 and then averaged 100.64 in a win over Robert Thornton and 102.25 whilst beating Dave Chisnall 6–4.[5] In his first PDC quarter-final he averaged over 100 again, but lost 6–5 to world number one Michael van Gerwen having led 5–4.[6] At the 19th Players Championship Dobey beat Stephen Bunting 6–3 to reach the semi-finals and took out a 120 finish after Adrian Lewis had missed match darts to play in his first professional final, which he lost 6–4 to Simon Whitlock.[7] He qualified for the 2016 European Championship and was eliminated 6–2 by Joe Cullen in the first round.[8] Dobey also played in the Grand Slam of Darts for the first time and wins over Lewis and Scott Mitchell saw him advance to the knockout stage, where he hit a ten dart leg to move 9–5 up on Jamie Hughes. However, Hughes closed the deficit to force a deciding leg which Dobey took to advance to his first major quarter-final, but he was outclassed by James Wade who won 16–5.[9][10]
His performances gave him a PDC Pro Tour spot in the 2017 World Championship, where he beat Justin Pipe 3–1 in the first round.[11] In the second round he lost 4–2 to Dave Chisnall.[12]
At the 2018 World Championship, Dobey drew Phil Taylor in the first round. Taylor was appearing in his final World Championship following his decision to retire after the conclusion of the event. Dobey lost 3-1. He played in the 2018 UK Open in Minehead, reaching the fifth round before losing out to Corey Cadby. He reached 2 finals on the Pro Tour in 2018, losing 6-2 to Michael van Gerwen at Players Championship 5 despite having an average of over 109, and then lost 6-2 to Krzysztof Ratajski at the penultimate Players Championship event of the year. These performances aided him in qualifying for the 2018 Players Championship Finals where he had a run to the quarter-finals, losing out 10-2 to eventual winner Daryl Gurney.
He qualified for the 2019 PDC World Darts Championship via the Pro Tour, reaching the last 16 stage with a 3-0 win over Boris Koltsov, a 3-0 win over Steve Beaton and a 4-3 win over Vincent van der Voort. He lost 4-3 to Gary Anderson, in a match which saw 28 180s thrown, 15 of them by Dobey.
Following Gary Anderson's withdrawal from the 2019 Premier League, Dobey was selected as one of nine 'contenders'. He would play a one-off match against Mensur Suljović on night one in Newcastle. Dobey started well leading 5-1 before Suljović would win 5 consecutive legs to lead 6-5. Dobey would win the final leg to draw the match 6-6.
Dobey reached his fourth PDC final at the 2019 Danish Darts Open, winning through as a non seed, but lost it 8-3 to Dave Chisnall.
After semi-finals at both the 2019 World Grand Prix and 2019 Players Championship Finals, Dobey was once again selected for the Premier League night in Newcastle, this time under the tag of 'challenger'.[13]
In 2021, Dobey won his first PDC ranking title the 18th Players Championship event in Coventry. Along the way he defeated Jeff Smith, Luke Humphries, William Borland, Jonny Clayton, Stephen Bunting, Maik Kuivenhoven & José de Sousa.[14] Dobey then went on to claim his 2nd ranking title at PC28 in Barnsley including a phenomenal Semi-final clash with Rob Cross where the pair threw a combined average of 224.68 (111.73 for Chris).[15]
On 29 January 2023, Dobey reached his first televised final at the 2023 Masters. He beat reigning Masters champion Joe Cullen, Luke Humphries, Dirk van Duijvenbode, Michael Smith before defeating Rob Cross 11–7 in the final.[16] The following day, Dobey was confirmed to be in the 2023 Premier League.[17]
On 1 September 2023, Chris Dobey announced his new equipment sponsor, Target Darts.
In April 2024, Dobey won a first Players Championship event since 2021 with victory in PC7, hitting a nine-dart finish along the way before registering a second-career highest average of 109.63 in the semi-final.[18][19]
Personal life
editDobey is a supporter of Newcastle United.[20]
World Championship results
editPDC
edit- 2017: Second round (lost to Dave Chisnall 2–4)
- 2018: First round (lost to Phil Taylor 1–3)
- 2019: Fourth round (lost to Gary Anderson 3–4)
- 2020: Fourth round (lost to Glen Durrant 3–4)
- 2021: Third round (lost to Daryl Gurney 1–4)
- 2022: Fourth round (lost to Luke Humphries 3–4)
- 2023: Quarter-finals (lost to Michael van Gerwen 0–5)
- 2024: Quarter-finals (lost to Rob Cross 4–5)
Performance timeline
edit| Tournament | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PDC World Championship | DNQ | 2R | 1R | 4R | 4R | 3R | 4R | QF | QF | |||||||||||
| UK Open | 1R | 2R | DNQ | 4R | 5R | 3R | 6R | 6R | 4R | 5R | 5R | |||||||||
| World Matchplay | DNQ | 1R | DNQ | 1R | 1R | QF | 2R | |||||||||||||
| World Grand Prix | DNQ | SF | 1R | DNQ | QF | QF | 1R | |||||||||||||
| European Championship | DNQ | 1R | DNQ | 2R | DNQ | SF | QF | 1R | ||||||||||||
| Grand Slam of Darts | DNQ | QF | DNQ | RR | DNQ | 2R | DNQ | |||||||||||||
| Players Championship Finals | DNQ | 1R | 3R | QF | SF | 1R | 1R | 2R | 2R | |||||||||||
| Non-ranking televised events | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Masters | DNQ | 2R | DNQ | W | 2R | |||||||||||||||
| Premier League Darts | DNP | C | C | DNP | 7th | DNP | ||||||||||||||
| World Series of Darts Finals | NH | 1R | DNQ | 2R | DNQ | DNP | QF | |||||||||||||
| Career statistics | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Year-end ranking | - | 107 | 47 | 38 | 36 | 22 | 22 | 30 | 22 | 17 | ||||||||||
PDC European Tour
| Season | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | GDC DNP |
GDT DNP |
GDM DNP |
DDM DNP |
IDO DNP |
EDO DNP |
EDT 1R |
EDM DNQ |
EDG DNQ | ||||
| 2016 | DDM DNQ |
GDM QF |
GDT DNQ |
EDM 2R |
ADO 2R |
EDO DNQ |
IDO 2R |
EDT DNQ |
EDG DNQ |
GDC 1R | |||
| 2017 | GDC 1R |
GDM DNQ |
GDO DNQ |
EDG 1R |
GDT DNQ |
EDM 1R |
ADO 3R |
EDO DNQ |
DDM DNQ |
GDG DNQ |
IDO DNQ |
EDT 2R | |
| 2018 | EDO 3R |
GDG 2R |
GDO DNQ |
ADO DNQ |
EDG DNQ |
DDM DNQ |
GDT 3R |
DDO 1R |
EDM 2R |
GDC DNQ |
DDC DNQ |
IDO DNQ |
EDT DNQ |
| 2019 | EDO DNQ |
GDC DNQ |
GDG 1R |
GDO 2R |
ADO 2R |
EDG 2R |
DDM DNQ |
DDO F |
CDO 3R |
ADC 1R |
EDM DNQ |
IDO DNQ |
GDT 2R |
| 2020 | BDC DNQ |
GDC 2R |
EDG 1R |
IDO DNQ | |||||||||
| 2021 | HDT DNQ |
GDT DNQ | |||||||||||
| 2022 | IDO DNQ |
GDC 2R |
GDG 2R |
ADO DNQ |
EDO DNQ |
CDO DNQ |
EDG DNQ |
DDC 3R |
EDM 2R |
HDT 2R |
GDO DNQ |
BDO 1R |
GDT 2R |
| 2023 | BSD DNP |
EDO 2R |
IDO DNQ |
GDG 3R |
ADO 2R |
DDC DNQ |
BDO 2R |
CDO DNQ |
EDG 2R |
EDM DNP |
GDO DNQ |
HDT DNQ |
GDC 2R |
| 2024 | BDO 2R |
GDG 3R |
IDO SF |
EDG 2R |
ADO 2R |
BSD 1R |
DDC 3R |
EDO 3R |
GDC 3R |
FDT SF |
HDT 2R |
SDT 2R |
CDO 2R |
| Performance Table Legend | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| W | Won the tournament | F | Finalist | SF | Semifinalist | QF | Quarterfinalist | #R RR Prel. |
Lost in # round Round-robin Preliminary round |
DQ | Disqualified |
| DNQ | Did not qualify | DNP | Did not participate | WD | Withdrew | NH | Tournament not held | NYF | Not yet founded | ||
PDC career finals
editPDC major finals: 1 (1 title)
edit| Legend |
|---|
| The Masters (1–0) |
| Outcome | No. | Year | Championship | Opponent in the final | Score[N 1] |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Winner | 1. | 2023 | The Masters |  Rob Cross
|
11–7 (l) |
Notes
edit- ^ (l) = score in legs, (s) = score in sets.
References
edit- ^ "PDC Order of Merit". PDPA. 17 November 2024. Retrieved 17 November 2024.
- ^ "Coral UK Open - Friday Afternoon". PDC. Archived from the original on 8 March 2015. Retrieved 30 December 2016.
- ^ "Jubilant Chisnall claims victory in Barnsley". PDC. Retrieved 30 December 2016.
- ^ "2015 World Series Of Darts Finals Results". Darts Database. Retrieved 30 December 2016.
- ^ "Richardson Shocks Lewis In Munich". PDC. Archived from the original on 13 November 2016. Retrieved 30 December 2016.
- ^ "Van Gerwen Retains German Masters Title". PDC. Archived from the original on 5 February 2017. Retrieved 30 December 2016.
- ^ "Nine-Dart Whitlock Enjoys Further Success". PDC. Retrieved 30 December 2016.
- ^ "2016 European Championship Results". Darts Database. Retrieved 30 December 2016.
- ^ "SINGHA Beer Grand Slam - Thursday". PDC. Archived from the original on 2 February 2017. Retrieved 30 December 2016.
- ^ "SINGHA Beer Grand Slam - Saturday". PDC. Archived from the original on 20 December 2016. Retrieved 30 December 2016.
- ^ "William Hill World Championship Day Four". PDC. Archived from the original on 22 December 2016. Retrieved 30 December 2016.
- ^ "2017 PDC World Championship Results". PDC. Retrieved 30 December 2016.
- ^ "Challengers confirmed for 2020 Unibet Premier League". PDC. Retrieved 8 January 2020.
- ^ "Gutsy Dobey claims maiden ranking title at PC18". PDC. Retrieved 6 July 2021.
- ^ "DartConnect Match Recap". DartConnect. Retrieved 2 November 2021.
- ^ "Dobey defeats Cross to clinch first televised title at Cazoo Masters". www.pdc.tv. 29 January 2023. Retrieved 29 January 2023.
- ^ "Dobey to star in 2023 Cazoo Premier League as duo return". www.pdc.tv. 30 January 2023. Retrieved 30 January 2023.
- ^ "Chris Dobey wins Players Championship 7 on day of nine-dart finishes in Leicester". Sky Sports. 8 April 2024. Retrieved 8 April 2024.
- ^ "Delight for Dobey with PC7 success in Leicester". www.pdc.tv. 8 April 2024. Retrieved 9 April 2024.
- ^ "Darts star Chris Dobey on a whirlwind 2021 and his love for - Newcastle United". www.newcastleunited.com. Retrieved 22 July 2024.