John Michael (born Yannis Michail, 20 March 1974) is a Cypriot-born Greek

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 competes in

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) and

World Darts Federation The World Darts Federation (WDF) is a sport governing body and (along with the PDC) a tournament organiser for the game of darts Darts is a competitive sport in which two or more players bare-handedly throw small projectile point, sharp-poin ...

(WDF) events.

Career

PDC

He joined the PDC in 2009, and began competing in PDC Europe events a year later. He qualified for the 2011 European Championship, therefore becoming the first Greek player to qualify for a major PDC tournament. He was beaten 3-6 by defending champion Phil Taylor in the first round, with Taylor averaging 107.83.

BDO

He joined the BDO in 2012. Michael has won numerous WDF-ranked darts tournaments, including the Cyprus Open (four times), the Greek Open (four times) and the Hellinikon Open (three times). He qualified for the

2015 PDC World Darts Championship The 2015 William Hill World Darts Championship was the 22nd PDC World Darts Championship, World Championship organised by the Professional Darts Corporation since it Split in darts, separated from the British Darts Organisation. The event was held ...

while still playing in

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 ...

events. He played

Jani Haavisto Jani Haavisto (born 11 May 1987) is a Finnish former professional darts player. Career Haavisto won two events on the Professional Darts Corporation's Scandinavian Tour in 2012, finishing second in the Order of Merit to qualify for the 2013 P ...

in the preliminary round winning 4–1 in legs, in the first round he played Ian White losing 3–1 in sets.

Return to the PDC

Michael rejoined the PDC in 2015. After beating South Africa's

Warrick Scheffer Warrick Scheffer (born 4 March 1992) is a South African former professional darts player who plays in Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) events. Career Scheffer won the 2015 South African Masters to qualify for the 2016 PDC World Darts Cham ...

2-0 in sets in the preliminary round of the

2016 PDC World Darts Championship The 2016 William Hill World Darts Championship was the 23rd PDC World Darts Championship, World Championship organised by the Professional Darts Corporation since it Split in darts, separated from the British Darts Organisation. The event was hel ...

, he was whitewashed by seventh-seed

James Wade James Martin Wade (born 6 April 1983) is an English professional darts player who competes in Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) events, where he is currently ranked world number nine; he reached a peak ranking of world number two in 2010. ...

, 0-3 in sets. He entered the PDC's qualifying school that year, and his performance was good enough for second place on the Q School Order of Merit, earning him a

PDC Tour Card The PDC Pro Tour is a series of non-televised darts tournaments organised by the Professional Darts Corporation (PDC). They comprise Professional Dart Players Association (PDPA) Players Championships and European Tour events. Only four players ...

. Being unable to enter all the events meant that Michael was unable to retain his Tour Card, but he went to European Q-School in January 2019 and was able to regain his card, finishing fifth on the Order of Merit. After ending 2020 ranked 106th, Michael had to attend Qualifying School but successfully regained his Tour Card at the first time of asking.

2023–

Although he bypassed the first stage of 2023 European Q-School, Michael fell shy of retaining his Tour Card, finishing 19th in the Order of Merit. In January 2025, he was the runner-up at the

Romanian Open The Țiriac Open (also known as the Romanian Open) is a professional men's tennis tournament played on outdoor clay courts. It was the successor event to the earlier Romanian International Championships (1930–1983). It is part of the ATP 25 ...

, losing 5–2 to

Brian Raman Brian Raman (born 14 October 1996) is a Belgian darts player who competes in World Darts Federation (WDF) and Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) events. In 2021, he became the second Belgian WDF world number one, after Leo Laurens in 1993. ...

in the final.

World Championship results

BDO

* 2014: Preliminary round (lost to

Madars Razma Madars Razma (born 26 September 1988) is a Latvian professional darts player who competes in Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) events. Nicknamed "Razmatazz", Razma made his first PDC major quarter-final at the 2022 World Grand Prix. A PDC To ...

2–3)

PDC

* 2015: First round (lost to Ian White 1–3) * 2016: First round (lost to

0–3) * 2017: First round (lost to Alan Norris 2–3) * 2022: First round (lost to

Martijn Kleermaker Martijn Kleermaker (born 19 February 1991) is a former Dutch professional darts player. PDC Kleermaker announced that he intended to compete at Q School 2020, speaking to RTL7 saying that the 2019 World Masters was a "catastrophe ...

1–3)

Personal life

Michael works as a

farrier A farrier is a specialist in equine hoof care, including the trimming and balancing of horses' hooves and the placing of shoes on their hooves, if necessary. A farrier combines some blacksmith's skills (fabricating, adapting, and adju ...

Athens Athens ( ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Greece, largest city of Greece. A significant coastal urban area in the Mediterranean, Athens is also the capital of the Attica (region), Attica region and is the southe ...

.John Michael, Darts

References

External links

* 1974 births Living people Cypriot emigrants to Greece Greek darts players Professional Darts Corporation former tour card holders British Darts Organisation players Sportspeople from Athens PDC World Cup of Darts Greek team {{Greece-sport-bio-stub