Tony West (darts player)

Tony West (born 7 July 1972) is an English former professional darts player.

Tony West
Personal information
NicknameThe Tornado
Triple T
Born (1972-07-07) 7 July 1972
Waltham Abbey, Essex, England
Home townWaltham Abbey, Essex, England
Darts information
Playing darts since1990
Darts23 Gram B&W Tony West
LateralityRight-handed
Walk-on music"Song 2" by Blur
Organisation (see split in darts)
BDO2002–2012
PDC2012–2016
BDO majors – best performances
World Ch'shipLast 16: 2004, 2005, 2010
World MastersWinner (1) 2003
World Darts TrophyQuarter Final: 2003
Finder MastersQuarter Final: 2004
PDC premier events – best performances
UK OpenLast 128: 2013
Other tournament wins
Antwerp Open 2011
Belgium Open 2003, 2007
Luxembourg Open 2010
Swiss Open 2004
Welsh Masters 2010
Other achievements
Granite City Open 2006
Jackpot 7 Dutch darts competition 2010
Open Kennemerland 2012
Open Marienheem 2010
Wilke Open 2010

Darts career

Winmau World Masters

West's biggest successes have come at the Winmau World Masters. He reached the final in 2002 but was beaten by 7-4 by Mark Dudbridge.[1] In 2003, he made the semi-finals where he played Ted Hankey. Hankey went 5-4 in front in their best of 11 match, and started celebrating after making a high outshot to win the set. However, this proved premature as West recovered to win the match 6-5.[2] In the final, West played Raymond van Barneveld, who had won the year's three preceding Grand Slam events and was looking to complete his set.[3] It looked likely as van Barneveld took an early lead, but West improved his form and took it to a deciding set. At 5-4 to West in the set they were within one leg of playing a sudden-death leg, but West managed to break van Barneveld's throw and win the title.[3]

BDO World Championship

West reached the last 16 of the 2004 BDO World Championship, where he lost to eventual champion Andy Fordham.[4][5]

Since 2004, West's form has slumped somewhat and he failed to qualify for the 2007, 2008 and 2009 World Championships. He did however qualify for the 2010 tournament, reaching the second round[6] before losing to Dave Chisnall.[7] In 2011 he lost in the first round to champion Martin Adams,[8] while the following year he lost at the same stage to Belgian Geert De Vos.[9]

Other events

West has won one Open event, the Portland Open in 2004, and one pairs Open event, also at the Portland Open in 2006.

PDC career

In January 2012, he entered the Professional Darts Corporation Pro Tour 'Q School' qualifying tournament, one of several BDO players to do so, including his brother Steve and Dean Winstanley.[10] On the first day of 'Q School', West beat Keegan Brown 6–4 to gain a 2012 PDC ProTour Card, gaining him automatic access to all UK Open qualifiers, Players Championship and European Tour events.[11] In his first 19 events on the PDC tour West's best finishes were two last 32 exits in Pro Tour events.[12] In August, he beat Daniel Day and Jim Walker in the UK Qualifier for the European Tour Event 4,[13] and in the first round in Stuttgart, West enjoyed a 6–5 victory over world number 11 Justin Pipe in the first round.[14] He played fellow qualifier Terry Temple in round two and won 6–4,[15] before claiming the biggest win of his PDC career to date when he defeated Terry Jenkins 6–4 to advance to his first ever PDC quarter-final.[16][12] He played reigning two-time world champion Adrian Lewis and lost 3–6.[17] West also qualified for the fifth European Tour Event of the year, the Dutch Darts Masters, and was narrowly beaten 5–6 by Brendan Dolan in the first round.[18] He finished 52nd on the 2012 ProTour Order of Merit, just £400 short of claiming one of the sixteen spots awarded to the highest non-qualified players for the 2013 World Championship.[19][20]

West lost 5–3 to Jake Pennington in the first round of the 2013 UK Open.[21] He only played in six more events in the rest of the year and finished it outside the top 64 meaning he needed to enter Q School to regain his place.[22] However, the Netherlands-based West decided not to register for the event and instead concentrated on European Tour tournaments in 2014.[23] He entered three qualifiers and failed to reach the main event in all of them.[24]

West qualified for the 2016 European Darts Grand Prix, his first European tour event in three years, and beat Jeffrey de Graaf 6–2, before losing 6–3 to Michael Smith.[25] He also played in the German Darts Championship and met brother Steve in the first round, who averaged 109.98 in a 6–0 whitewash.[26]

World Championship results

BDO

Performance timeline
Tournament200220032004200520062007200820092010201120122013
BDO World Championship DNP DNQ 2R 2R 1R DNQ 2R 1R 1R DNP
International Darts League NH 1R 2R 1R DNP Not held
World Darts Trophy DNP QF 2R 2R DNP Not held
Winmau World Masters RU W L16 L128 L192 L72 L40 L40 L16 QF DNP
Zuiderduin Masters DNQ RR QF RR NH DNQ RR RR RR DNQ
UK Open NH DNP Prelim L128
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. Dudbridge wins World Masters BBC Sport, 3 November 2002
  2. Tony West BBC Sport, 29 December 2003
  3. Van Barneveld stopped by West BBC Sport, 2 November 2003
  4. Barneveld eases through BBC Sport, 6 January 2004
  5. Fordham clinches Lakeside title BBC Sport, 11 January 2004
  6. Fourth seed Darryl Fitton out of BDO World Darts BBC Sport, 3 January 2010
  7. O'Shea storms through at Lakeside BBC Sport, 5 January 2010
  8. Martin Adams overcomes shaky start to win at Lakeside BBC Sport, 1 January 2011
  9. BDO World Championships: Winstanley through as West crashes out BBC Sport, 9 January 2012
  10. "Ted Hankey to lead exodus from BDO to PDC, says Barry Hearn". BBC Sport. 16 January 2012.
  11. "Qualifying School - Day One". PDC. 19 January 2012. Archived from the original on 22 January 2012.
  12. "Tony West PDC Results". Darts Database. Retrieved 19 June 2012.
  13. "2012 PDC European Tour Stuttgart UK Qualifier Results". Darts Database. Retrieved 8 August 2012.
  14. "German Darts Masters - Day One". PDC. Archived from the original on 10 September 2012. Retrieved 7 September 2012.
  15. "German Darts Masters - Day Two". PDC. Archived from the original on 8 September 2012. Retrieved 9 September 2012.
  16. "German Darts Masters Round Three". PDC. Archived from the original on 12 September 2012. Retrieved 9 September 2012.
  17. "Lewis Is German Darts Master!". PDC. Archived from the original on 13 September 2012. Retrieved 9 September 2012.
  18. "Dutch Darts Masters Day One". PDC. Archived from the original on 28 October 2012. Retrieved 27 October 2012.
  19. "ProTour Order of Merit". PDC. Archived from the original on 5 December 2012. Retrieved 6 December 2012.
  20. "2013 PDC World Championship Qualifiers". Darts Database. Retrieved 6 December 2012.
  21. "Speedy Services UK Open - Thursday". PDC. Retrieved 8 June 2013.
  22. "Tony West 2013". Darts Database. Archived from the original on 28 November 2013. Retrieved 28 November 2013.
  23. "2014 PDC Qualifying School Day Four". PDC. Archived from the original on 19 January 2014. Retrieved 18 January 2014.
  24. "Tony West 2014". Darts Database. Archived from the original on 11 December 2014. Retrieved 10 December 2014.
  25. "HappyBet European Grand Prix Day One". PDC. Archived from the original on 26 October 2016. Retrieved 25 October 2016.
  26. "HappyBet German Darts Championship Day One". PDC. Retrieved 14 October 2016.
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