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 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 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, 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.
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 in the final.
World Championship results
BDO
* 2014: Preliminary round (lost to
Madars Razma 2–3)
PDC
* 2015: First round (lost to
Ian White 1–3)
* 2016: First round (lost to
James Wade 0–3)
* 2017: First round (lost to
Alan Norris 2–3)
* 2022: First round (lost to
Martijn Kleermaker 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 ...
in
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
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