Darryl Fitton (born 5 May 1962) is an English professional

darts Darts or dart-throwing is a competitive sport in which two or more players bare-handedly throw small sharp-pointed missiles known as darts at a round target known as a dartboard. Points can be scored by hitting specific marked areas of the ...

player. He is nicknamed The Dazzler and comes to the stage dancing to the

Madness Madness or The Madness may refer to: Emotion and mental health * Anger, an intense emotional response to a perceived provocation, hurt or threat * Insanity, a spectrum of behaviors characterized by certain abnormal mental or behavioral patterns * ...

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 A funeral director, also known as an undertaker (British English) or mortician (American English), is a professional involved in the business of funeral rites. These tasks often entail the embalming and burial or cremation of the dead, as ...

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 Willy van de Wiel (born 15 April 1982) is a Dutch former professional darts player. BDO career Van de Wiel won the 2008 Norway Open, beating Dave Chisnall, Stephen Bunting and John Henderson, before beating Paul Hanvidge in the final. He a ...

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 The Finder Darts Masters was a darts tournament held in Egmond aan Zee, Netherlands, sanctioned by the British Darts Organisation and the World Darts Federation, running intermittently under several different names from 1995 to 2018. The tourname ...

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 Tony Eccles (born 8 January 1970) is an English former professional darts player. Nicknamed The Viper, he played in both the British Darts Organisation (BDO) and the Professional Darts Corporation (PDC). He reached the quarter-finals of the BD ...

, 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 Glen Durrant (born 24 November 1970), nicknamed "Duzza", is an English former professional darts player who played in Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) events. He previously won the BDO World Darts Championship three times consecutively ...

. In 2015, Fitton hit a nine-dart finish in the

Dutch Open Dutch Open may refer to: *Dutch Open (tennis), an ATP tennis tournament from 1957 to 2008 *Dutch Open (golf), an annual golf tournament on the European Tour *Dutch Open (badminton) *Dutch Open (darts) The Dutch Open is amongst the longest running ...

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 The 2016 Singha Beer Grand Slam of Darts, was the tenth staging of the tournament, organised by the Professional Darts Corporation. The event took place from 12 to 20 November 2016 at the Wolverhampton Civic Hall, Wolverhampton, England. The tour ...

Fitton was knocked out of the 2018 BDO World Darts Championship in the second round, losing to

4–1

PDC

Fitton confirmed on his Facebook his intention to switch to the

Professional Darts Corporation The Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) is a professional darts organisation in the United Kingdom, established in 1992 when a group of leading players split from the British Darts Organisation (BDO) to form what was initially called the Wor ...

for the 2018 season, and he entered the 2018 Q-School in an attempt to win a Tour Card.

BDO

He rejoined the

British Darts Organisation The British Darts Organisation (BDO) was a darts organisation founded on 7 January 1973 by Olly Croft. Made up of 66 member counties, it oversaw professional, semi-professional and amateur darts competitions in Britain. The BDO was a founder ...

and competed in the Dutch Open. He reached the last 16 and got beaten by

Dave Parletti Dave Parletti (born 22 April 1983) is an English professional darts player who plays in events of the World Darts Federation. Career In 2017, Parletti won the Jersey Classic. In 2018, he won the Welsh Masters and the Winmau Wolverhampton Ope ...

World Championship Results

BDO

* 2003: 1st Round (lost to John Burton 1-3) * 2004: Quarter Final (lost to Andy Fordham 4-5) * 2005: Semi Final (lost to Raymond van Barneveld 3-5) * 2006: 1st Round (lost to Martin Adams 1-3) * 2007: 1st Round (lost to Phill Nixon 1-3) * 2008: Quarter Final (lost to Mark Webster 1-5) * 2009: Semi Final (lost to Tony O'Shea 4-6) * 2010: 1st Round (lost to Dave Chisnall 1-3) * 2011: 1st Round (lost to Stuart Kellett 0-3) * 2012: 1st Round (lost to Robbie Green 1-3) * 2013: Quarter Final (lost to Wesley Harms 2-5) * 2014: 1st Round (lost to

1-3) * 2015: Quarter Final (lost to

2-5) * 2016: 1st Round (lost to Dennis Harbour 2-3) * 2017: Semi Final (lost to Danny Noppert 3-6) * 2018: 2nd Round (lost to

1-4)

WSDT

* 2022: First round (lost to Richie Howson 2-3)

Career statistics

(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

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

Nine-dart finishes

High averages

Darryl Fitton's televised average of 114.15 was the world record until

Phil Taylor Phil Taylor may refer to: * Phil Taylor (musician) (1954–2015), English drummer, best known as "Philthy Animal" Taylor * Phil Taylor (darts player) (born 1960), English darts player * Phil Taylor (American football) (born 1988), American footbal ...

broke it at the

2008 UK Open The 2008 Blue Square UK Open was the sixth year of the PDC's UK Open darts tournament where, following numerous regional qualifying heats throughout Britain, players competed in a single elimination tournament to be crowned champion. The tourname ...

References

External links

Darryl Fitton's Official Website

Profile and stats on Darts Database
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fitton, Darryl Living people 1962 births English darts players British Darts Organisation players Darts players who have thrown televised nine-dart games