Jim Walker (born 10 February 1959) is a Scottish 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 plays 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) events.

Career

Walker became a PDC Pro Tour Card holder in January 2012 after qualifying through Q-School in

Barnsley Barnsley () is a market town in South Yorkshire, England. It is the main settlement of the Metropolitan Borough of Barnsley and the fourth largest settlement in South Yorkshire. The town's population was 71,422 in 2021, while the wider boroug ...

. Walker's best results on the PDC Pro Tour in the early part of 2012 were at the 2012 UK Open Qualifier 3 and Qualifier 5, where he reached the last 32 both times. These were enough to see him qualify for his first PDC major, the

UK Open The Ladbrokes UK Open is a ranking major darts tournament held annually at the Butlins Minehead Resort by the Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) in England. The event is often referred to as the "FA Cup of darts" as it has an unseeded open dr ...

. There he beat James Richardson, before losing to Joe Cullen 2–9 in the last 64. Walker qualified for the first PDC European Tour event of 2012, held in

Wiener Neustadt Wiener Neustadt (; Lower_Austria.html" ;"title=".e. Lower Austria">.e. Lower Austria , ) is a city located south of Vienna, in the state of Lower Austria, in northeast Austria. It is a self-governed city and the seat of the district administr ...

Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...

. He played

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 ...

in the last 64 and beat the world number 17 6–5, before being on the wrong end of a 6–5 scoreline to

Dean Winstanley Dean Winstanley (born 10 February 1981) is an English professional darts player. He first took up darts as a two-year-old, stopped playing at the age of 12, and then started playing again when he was 22. He turned professional in 2008 and won ...

in the next round. He also qualified for three of the remaining four European Tour events, but lost in the first round on each occasion. His best result of 2012 came at the 10th Players Championship when he reached the last 16 by beating Nigel Heydon, Baxter and

Roland Scholten Roland Scholten (born 11 January 1965) is a Dutch former professional darts player who played in events of the Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) and British Darts Organisation (BDO). Nicknamed The Tripod and The Flying Dutchman, Scholten turn ...

, but then lost to

Terry Jenkins Terry Jenkins (born 26 September 1963) is an English former professional darts player who was nicknamed The Bull, having previously used the name "Tucker" for his matches. He reached a peak ranking of world number three in the darts world ranki ...

3–6. After his first year on the PDC tour, Walker was ranked world number 71. Walker finished 61st on the 2013 UK Open Order of Merit, meaning he would enter the tournament at the second round stage. He beat Michael Bushby 5–1, before losing 7–9 to

. At the Austrian Darts Open Walker saw off Leon de Geus 6–1 but was then defeated 6–4 by Mervyn King in the second round. He played in 18 events during the rest of the season with the furthest he advanced being two last 32 defeats. Walker's tour status had now expired and he entered Q School once again to try to win his place back as he started 2014 78th in the rankings, well outside the top 64 who automatically remain. During the four days of the event he was a last 16 loser twice which helped him to finish inside the top 24 on the Q School Order of Merit to earn a fresh two-year tour card. His best results in 2014 were two last 32 defeats. In May 2015, Walker had wins over Ian White, Prakash Jiwa and Tony Newell at the 10th Players Championship event to reach the last 16 of a PDC event for the second time in his career, where he narrowly lost 6–5 to

Andrew Gilding Andrew Gilding (born 7 December 1970) is an English professional darts player who plays in Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) events, where he is currently ranked world number twenty-eight. Nicknamed "Goldfinger", Gilding won his maiden PDC ...

. Walker won through to the last 16 of the sixth and seventh Players Championships in 2016, losing 6–4 to

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. ...

and 6–3 to Kevin Dowling respectively. He beat Maik Langendorf 6–3 at the International Darts Open, but was defeated 6–2 in the second round by Ian White.

Personal life

Walker originally comes from

Dalbeattie Dalbeattie (, , meaning 'haugh of the birch', or 'drowned haugh' (i.e. liable to flood) is a town in the historical county of Kirkcudbrightshire in Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland. Dalbeattie is in a wooded valley on the Urr Water east of Ca ...

, Scotland, where he started playing darts over 35 years ago in local leagues. In the late 1980s he joined the Fire Service and moved south of the border to Surrey, later moving to Leicestershire where he lives today. He is married to Lisa and has two children.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Walker, Jim 1959 births Living people Scottish darts players People from Dalbeattie Professional Darts Corporation former tour card holders