Erik Clarys (born 18 October 1968) is a Belgian former professional

darts Darts is a competitive sport in which two or more players bare-handedly throw small projectile point, sharp-pointed projectile, projectiles known as dart (missile), darts at a round shooting target, target known as a #Dartboard, dartboard. Point ...

player who competed in events of the

British Darts Organisation The British Darts Organisation (BDO) was a darts organisation founded on 7 January 1973 by Olly Croft, and dissolved in 2020 under the stewardship of Des Jacklin. Made up of 66 member counties, it oversaw professional, semi-professional and ...

(BDO) and

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 ...

(PDC). Nicknamed "The Sheriff", he was known for his unorthodox way of scoring and finishing which made him popular with fans.

BDO career

Clarys caused a major upset by winning the 1995

Winmau World Masters The World Masters is a darts tournament, initially organised by the British Darts Organisation from 1974 and later by the World Darts Federation. It is one of the longest-running and most prestigious of the BDO/WDF tournaments. The tournament w ...

. Amongst his victims were future World and Masters champions

Andy Fordham Andrew Fordham (2 February 1962 – 15 July 2021) was an English professional darts player, commonly known as The Viking. He won the 2004 BDO World Darts Championship and the 1999 Winmau World Masters. Darts career Fordham made his first app ...

and

Martin Adams Martin Adams (born 4 June 1956) is an English professional darts player who plays in World Darts Federation (WDF) events. Nicknamed "Wolfie", he is a three-time BDO World Champion and three-time World Masters champion. He represents Cambridgesh ...

before beating reigning Masters and World champion

Richie Burnett Richard Mark Burnett (born 7 February 1967), nicknamed Prince of Wales, is a Welsh professional darts player who competes in Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) and World Seniors Darts (WSD) events. He was formerly ranked BDO world number one. ...

in the final. Clarys continued to do well in tournaments, winning the Belgium National Championship four times, the Belgium Gold Cup three times, the Dortmund Open three times as well as the 1999 Swedish Open. Despite this however, he wasn't able to match these performances in other major tournaments. He played in six

BDO World Championships The BDO World Darts Championship was a professional darts tournament organised by the British Darts Organisation (BDO) and held annually from 1978 to 2020. The championship was first held at the Heart of the Midlands Nightclub in the English ...

, losing in the first round in his first four visits. He finally won a match at the Lakeside in the fifth time of asking in 2002, beating

Andree Welge Andree Welge (born 6 May 1972) is a German professional darts player who competed in events of the World Darts Federation (WDF). Career Welge made his World Championship debut in the 2002 BDO World Darts Championship where he lost in the first ...

before losing in the second round to

Raymond van Barneveld Raymond van Barneveld (born 20 April 1967) is a Dutch professional darts player who competes in Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) events, where he was ranked world number one from January 2008 to June 2008. Nicknamed "Barney", he is a five-t ...

. In 2003, Clarys beat

Tony Eccles Tony Eccles (born 8 January 1970) is an English former professional darts player and convicted sex offender. Nicknamed The Viper, he played in both the British Darts Organisation (BDO) and the Professional Darts Corporation (PDC). He reached t ...

and

Robert Wagner Robert John Wagner Jr. (born February 10, 1930) is an American actor. He is known for starring in the television shows ''It Takes a Thief (1968 TV series), It Takes a Thief'' (1968–1970), ''Switch (American TV series), Switch'' (1975–1978), ...

en route to the quarter-finals, eventually losing again to Barneveld despite hitting a 170 checkout.

PDC career

In 2004, Clarys switched to the PDC, after qualifying for their

World Championship A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game ...

, beating

Dan Lauby Daniel Lauby (sometimes referred to as Dan Lauby Snr; born March 6, 1960) is an American former professional darts player who played in Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) events. His son Danny Lauby Jr. is also a professional darts player. Ca ...

and Mark Walsh to reach the third round, losing to

Ronnie Baxter Ronnie Baxter (born 5 February 1961) is an English former professional darts player who competed in Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) events. He used the nickname "The Rocket" for his matches. Baxter was known for his fast robotic throwing a ...

. Though Clarys was unable to win any titles, he had good showings in major tournaments including a quarter final place in the 2005 UK Open. He made another appearance in the PDC World Championship, beating Winston Cadogan in round one before losing to

Wayne Mardle Wayne William Mardle (born 10 May 1973) is an English former professional darts player who competed in Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) and British Darts Organisation (BDO) events. He finished as the runner-up in three PDC majors, losing ...

. He then went on to win the WDF German Gold Cup.

Injury and retirement

In June 2006, Clarys shattered his right elbow after falling from a ladder while at work, forcing him to withdraw from the 2006 UK Open. He was ranked 26th in the PDC world rankings at the time of his accident and was in the running for qualification for the World Matchplay. After eleven operations, Clarys gave up all hope of returning to darts as a right-handed player. He began practising throwing left-handed, stating he hoped to return to the game some day, but was unable to reach a competitive level and ultimately gave up returning to competitive darts.Disappointment For Clarys
/ref> Since 2021, he has been working as a darts commentator for Belgian television.

World Championship performances

BDO

*1997: 1st round (lost to

Paul Williams Paul Williams may refer to: Authors * Paul Williams (Crawdaddy) (1948–2013), American music and science fiction journalist; founder of ''Crawdaddy'' and the Philip K. Dick Society * Paul Williams (Irish journalist) (born 1964), Irish journalis ...

2–3) *1998: 1st round (lost to

Kevin Painter Kevin Painter (born 12 July 1967) is an English former professional darts player who competes in World Seniors Darts (WSD) events. He competed in British Darts Organisation (BDO) tournaments from 1992 to 2001, before switching to the Profession ...

1–3) *1999: 1st round (lost to Tony Littleton 2–3) *2001: 1st round (lost to

1–3) *2002: 2nd round (lost to

0–3) *2003: Quarter-finals (lost to Raymond van Barneveld 1–5)

PDC

*2004: 3rd round (lost to

2–4) *2006: 2nd round (lost to

1–4)

Career finals

BDO major finals: 1 (1 title)

References

External links

Profile and stats on Darts Database
{{DEFAULTSORT:Clarys, Erik 1968 births Belgian darts players Living people British Darts Organisation players Professional Darts Corporation former pro tour players