Wayne Warren (born 12 June 1962) is a Welsh professional darts player who plays in events of the World Darts Federation (WDF). He was the last ever BDO World Darts Champion. He is the oldest player to become world champion.[3]
| Wayne Warren | |
|---|---|
| Personal information | |
| Nickname | "Yank"[1] |
| Born | 12 June 1962 Cardiff, Wales |
| Home town | Tynewydd, Wales |
| Darts information | |
| Playing darts since | 1985 |
| Darts | 17.5g Red Dragon Signature |
| Laterality | Right Handed |
| Walk-on music | "Eye of the Tiger" by Survivor |
| Organisation (see split in darts) | |
| BDO | 2003–2020 |
| WDF | 2003– |
| Current world ranking | (WDF) 174  (14 November 2023)[2] |
| WDF major events – best performances | |
| World Ch'ship | Winner (1): 2020 |
| World Masters | Quarter Finals: 2018 |
| World Trophy | Quarter Finals: 2015 |
| Finder Masters | Quarter Finals: 2018 |
| PDC premier events – best performances | |
| Grand Slam | Group Stage: 2019, 2020 |
| WSDT major events – best performances | |
| World Ch'ship | Last 16: 2022 |
| Other tournament wins | |
| Tournament | Years |
| Antwerp Open BDO Gold Cup BDO International Open Romanian Classic Slovak Masters WDF Europe Cup Team | 2019 2014 2012 2020 2020 2014 |
| Other achievements | |
| 2014 Glamorgan Open | |
Darts career
editBDO
editWarren qualified for the 2005 BDO World Darts Championship, where he was the only Welshman in the field. He lost 3–0 in the first round to third seed Mervyn King. Warren has come close to qualifying for Lakeside on two occasions, falling two games short of qualifying for the 2008 World Championship in a loss to Mike Veitch who eventually qualified, and then falling at the same hurdle again in the qualifiers for the 2009 World Championship, losing to Robbie Green. Warren fell two games short once more of qualifying for the 2010 World Championship, losing to Irishman Martin McCloskey who eventually qualified.
Warren's best TV performance came in the 2015 BDO World Trophy, where he reached the quarter-finals, beating Madars Razma 6–4 and 2015 World Champion Scott Mitchell with ease 7–2. He fell at the Last-8 stage, losing a close game with Jeff Smith 8–7.[4]
Warren also qualified for the 2013 World Championship, but lost in the first round to Alan Norris.
In 2014, Warren won the BDO Gold Cup, beating Pip Blackwell in the final three sets to nil.[5]
Warren reached the quarter-final of the 2018 World Championship, beating Wesley Harms 3–1 in an impressive showing in the 1st round; in the 2nd round, after a tough start, he defeated Willem Mandigers 4–2 to set up a quarter-final match against Mark McGeeney. Warren led McGeeney 4–3 in sets and led the eighth by a break of throw, but McGeeney took the set to a deciding leg, in which Warren hit a double-one attempting to hit a single 20 that would have given him one match dart. McGeeney won the set and ultimately the match 5–4.[6][7]
At the 2020 World Championship, Warren improved on his best performance by reaching the final, and beat fellow Welshman Jim Williams 7–4 to win the BDO world title.[8] At 57, Warren was the oldest winner of either version of the world championship.[9] His prize winning fee of £23,000 was the lowest awarded to a world champion since 1989, as a result of the BDO's financial difficulties which led to it going into liquidation later in the year. Warren is therefore the last player to win the BDO version of the world championship, and became the World Darts Federation's number one ranked player as a result of his victory.[9]
Style of play
editFellow players and commentators have commented on Warren's smooth and relaxing throwing style.[10]
Personal life
editWarren is an active player on the darts exhibition circuit.[11]
Away from darts, Warren works as a roofer and lives in Tynewydd, Rhondda Cynon Taf.[1] He is sponsored by Red Dragon Darts.[12]
In 2001, Warren was involved in an incident in which he was splashed with boiling chip fat – suffering 20% upper body burns which gave him heavy scarring.[13]
World Championship performances
editThis section of a biography of a living person does not include any references or sources. (February 2023) |
BDO/WDF
edit- 2005: First round (lost to Mervyn King 0–3)
- 2013: First round (lost to Alan Norris 1–3)
- 2018: Quarter-finals (lost to Mark McGeeney 4–5)
- 2019: Second round (lost to Michael Unterbuchner 0–4)
- 2020: Winner (beat Jim Williams 7–4)
- 2022: Third round (lost to Cameron Menzies 0-3)
Career finals
editThis section of a biography of a living person does not include any references or sources. (February 2023) |
BDO major finals: 1 (1 title)
edit| Legend |
|---|
| World Championship (1–0) |
| Outcome | No. | Year | Championship | Opponent in the final | Score[N 1] |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Winner | 1. | 2020 | World Darts Championship | Jim Williams | 7–4 (s) |
- ^ (l) = score in legs, (s) = score in sets.
Performance timeline
edit| Tournament | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| WDF World Championship | NYF | 3R | DNQ | ||||||||||||||||||
| BDO World Championship | DNQ | 1R | DNQ | 1R | DNQ | QF | 2R | W | Not held | ||||||||||||
| BDO World Trophy | Not held | DNQ | QF | DNQ | 1R | 2R | NH | ||||||||||||||
| Winmau World Masters | 1R | DNP | 1R | DNP | 2R | DNP | 1R | 3R | 4R | 2R | 4R | 2R | 1R | 1R | 1R | QF | DNP | NH | |||
| Finder Darts Masters | DNP | NH | DNP | QF | NH | ||||||||||||||||
| Grand Slam of Darts | NYF | DNQ | RR | RR | |||||||||||||||||
| Performance Table Legend | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| DNP | Did not play at the event | DNQ | Did not qualify for the event | NYF | Not yet founded | #R | 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 | F | lost in the final | W | won the tournament |
References
edit- ^ a b "Players – Wayne Warren". Mastercaller. Retrieved 16 January 2019.
- ^ "WDF Men's Rankings Table". WDF. 14 November 2023. Retrieved 14 November 2023.
- ^ "Warren claims BDO title". RTÉ Sport. 12 January 2020. Retrieved 16 October 2020.
- ^ "BDO World Trophy Men 2015 – Match results". Mastercaller. Retrieved 16 January 2019.
- ^ "BDO Gold Cup Men 2014 – Match results". Mastercaller. Retrieved 16 January 2019.
- ^ "Wayne Warren causes Lakeside shock as Wesley Harms crashes out". Darts News. 7 January 2018. Retrieved 16 October 2020.
- ^ "Mark McGeeney prevails in yet another quarter-final thriller". Darts News. 13 January 2018. Retrieved 16 October 2020.
- ^ "BDO World Darts: Wayne Warren beats Jim Williams to win dramatic final". BBC Sport. 12 January 2020. Retrieved 16 October 2020.
- ^ a b Pearlman, Michael (15 January 2020). "BDO darts: Champion Wayne Warren to receive lowest prize since 1989". BBC Sport. Retrieved 16 October 2020.
- ^ "Warren Extends Red Dragon Deal!". Darts World. 6 March 2020. Retrieved 8 March 2020.
- ^ Haigh, Phil (19 February 2020). "Wayne Warren hints at PDC switch after 'gutting' BDO prize money fiasco". Metro. Retrieved 16 October 2020.
- ^ Harris-Hulme, CJ (18 February 2020). ""If God Threw Darts, He Would Throw 'Em Like Wayne Warren!"". Retrieved 8 March 2020.
- ^ "It's top darts for roofer Wayne". Wales Online. Reach. 27 December 2012. Retrieved 16 October 2020.
External links
edit- Wayne Warren Profile, results and stats Profile on Mastercaller.com
- Wayne Warren Profile and stats Darts Database
- Wayne Warren on Twitter
- Wayne Warren at IMDb