Matthew Edgar (born 28 August 1986) is an English
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 currently competing 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
2011
Edgar joined the PDC in 2011, and qualified for the
UK Open
The Cazoo UK Open is a ranking major darts tournament held annually at the Butlins Minehead Resort by the Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) in England. Often referred to as the "FA Cup of darts", the UK Open replicates the abolition of see ...
. He defeated
Nigel Heydon
Nigel Heydon (born 22 July 1970) is an English professional darts player who plays in British Darts Organisation (BDO) events.
Career
Heydon qualified for the 2007 UK Open as an amateur qualifier, losing in the first round to John Burton. He ...
, Andy Pearce and
Martyn Turner on the way to the last 32, where he lost 5–9 to
Andy Boulton.
2012
In January 2012, he entered 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 ...
Pro Tour 'Q School' qualifying tournament.
On the first day, Edgar lost to Darren Whittingham 6–4 at the final stage.
After four days playing in the event in Barnsley, Edgar gained his professional tour card for the 2012 and 2013 seasons. His best results of 2012 came in two UK Open Qualifiers, where he lost in the last 16 to
Johnny Haines and
Richie Howson
Richard Howson (born 19 December 1965) is an English professional darts player who plays in World Darts Federation (WDF) events.
Career
In 2011, he played in British Darts Organisation (BDO) tournament World Masters where he beat Scott Mitch ...
respectively.
These results helped him to reach the
UK Open
The Cazoo UK Open is a ranking major darts tournament held annually at the Butlins Minehead Resort by the Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) in England. Often referred to as the "FA Cup of darts", the UK Open replicates the abolition of see ...
for the second time where he was beaten in the second round by
Kevin McDine
Kevin McDine (born 23 May 1985 in Wallsend) is an English professional darts player currently residing in Wallsend.
Career
In November 2004 he reached the last 16 of the JR & Vauxhall Holiday Park 128 Plus Classic. He improved on that perfor ...
. He could not advance beyond the last 32 in any of the rest of the events he played in the year.
2013
Edgar went into 2013 ranked world number 81, and reached his first PDC quarter-final at the eighth
UK Open Qualifier where he was edged out 5–6 by
Adrian Lewis
Adrian Lewis (born 21 January 1985) is an English professional darts player currently playing in the PDC. He is a two-time PDC World Darts Champion, winning in 2011 and 2012. He is nicknamed Jackpot, as he won a jackpot gambling in Las Vegas ...
. He was seeded 50th for the
UK Open
The Cazoo UK Open is a ranking major darts tournament held annually at the Butlins Minehead Resort by the Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) in England. Often referred to as the "FA Cup of darts", the UK Open replicates the abolition of see ...
itself, meaning he began at the second round stage, with a 5–4 win over
Colin Osborne
Colin Osborne (born 19 June 1975) is an English professional darts player who plays in Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) events. In 2009, he won the Championship League and reached the final of the UK Open.
Darts career
Osborne has won tw ...
. He faced reigning champion
Robert Thornton in the third round and led 6–4, before going on to lose 7–9. Edgar also qualified for two European Tour events during the year, losing in the first round of the
Gibraltar Darts Trophy and beating
Stuart Kellett
Stuart Kellett (born 12 August 1981) is a former English darts player.
BDO career
Kellett reached the last 16 of the 2007 Winmau World Masters, having beaten Andy Fordham among others on the way to the televised stages. He lost 1-3 in sets t ...
6–1 at the
German Darts Championship
The German Darts Championship is a Professional Darts Corporation event that takes place in Germany as part of the PDC European Tour. Since 2013, it has been held at Halle 39 in Hildesheim, after previously being held in Berlin and Halle Halle m ...
before being defeated 6–2 by
Paul Nicholson in the second round.
2014
Edgar began 2014 outside of the world's top 64 and entered Q School in an attempt to win his place back, coming closest on the third day when he advanced to the last 32 but lost 5–2 to Darron Brown. Edgar only had PDPA Associate Member status for the year ahead which allowed him to compete in UK Open and European Tour qualifiers as well as the Challenge Tour. He qualified for the
UK Open
The Cazoo UK Open is a ranking major darts tournament held annually at the Butlins Minehead Resort by the Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) in England. Often referred to as the "FA Cup of darts", the UK Open replicates the abolition of see ...
and lost 5–3 to Spain's
Antonio Alcinas
Antonio Alcinas Estelrich (born 7 April 1979) is a Spanish darts player playing in Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) events.
Career
Alcinas started competing in PDC Europe events in 2010. After reaching the quarter-finals of a Players Champ ...
in the second round. Edgar was a runner-up in the first
Challenge Tour
The Challenge Tour is the second-tier men's professional golf tour in Europe. It is operated by the PGA European Tour and, as with on the main European Tour and the European Senior Tour, some of the events are played outside Europe.
History ...
event of the year when he lost 5–4 to Jamie Robinson, but he went one better in the fourth event by claiming the title with a deciding leg victory over
Mark Frost
Mark Frost (born November 25, 1953) is an American novelist, screenwriter, film-and-television producer and director. He is the co-creator of the mystery television series ''Twin Peaks'' (1990–1991; 2017) and was a writer and executive story ...
.
He came within a match of qualifying for both the
Grand Slam of Darts
The Grand Slam of Darts is a darts tournament organised by the Professional Darts Corporation and is known as the Cazoo Grand Slam of Darts for sponsorship purposes. The PDC also invited the best performing players from its rival, the British Da ...
and
2015 World Championship but was beaten on both occasions.
2015
On the second day of 2015 Q School, Edgar won seven matches ending with a 5–0 whitewash of
Andy Boulton to earn a new two-year tour card.
He reached the quarter-finals of the third
UK Open Qualifier, but was edged out 6–5 by
Adrian Lewis
Adrian Lewis (born 21 January 1985) is an English professional darts player currently playing in the PDC. He is a two-time PDC World Darts Champion, winning in 2011 and 2012. He is nicknamed Jackpot, as he won a jackpot gambling in Las Vegas ...
. Edgar also suffered a narrow defeat in the second round of the
UK Open
The Cazoo UK Open is a ranking major darts tournament held annually at the Butlins Minehead Resort by the Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) in England. Often referred to as the "FA Cup of darts", the UK Open replicates the abolition of see ...
, 5–4 against Jason Mold. The only European Tour event he could qualify for this year was the
International Darts Open and he beat
Darren Webster 6–5, but was thrashed 6–0 by
Dave Chisnall
Dave Chisnall (born 12 September 1980) is an English professional darts player who plays in Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) events. He began his career in the British Darts Organisation (BDO) and was the runner-up in their World Champions ...
in the second round.
2016
A last 16 showing in the final
qualifier saw Edgar enter the
UK Open
The Cazoo UK Open is a ranking major darts tournament held annually at the Butlins Minehead Resort by the Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) in England. Often referred to as the "FA Cup of darts", the UK Open replicates the abolition of see ...
at the second round stage and he beat Mark Wilson 6–4, before losing 9–3 to
Mark Webster. He had two last 16 finishes in
Players Championship events, before reaching the quarter-finals for the only time this season at the final one by defeating
Jelle Klaasen
Jelle Klaasen (born 17 October 1984), nicknamed The Cobra, is a Dutch professional darts player who plays in the Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) and World Darts Federation (WDF) events. In 2006, he became the youngest darts player to win th ...
,
Wayne Jones,
Cristo Reyes
Cristo Reyes Torres (born 30 July 1987) is a Spanish darts player who plays in Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) events.
Career
In October 2014, Reyes bested a field of 154 players to win the Iberian Qualifier for the 2015 PDC World Champi ...
and
Robbie Green
Robbie Green (born 19 July 1974) is a former English professional darts player. His nickname was Kong.
PDC career
Green made his televised debut at the 2004 UK Open, reaching the last 64 stage. The same year he qualified for the World Matchp ...
, before losing 6–2 to
Benito van de Pas
Benito van de Pas (born 18 January 1993) is a Dutch professional darts player.
Career BDO
Van de Pas reached the semi-finals of the 2011 PDC Under-21 World Championship, losing 1-4 to Michael van Gerwen.
Van de Pas won the 2011 German Open. Th ...
. It was this result which saw Edgar make his debut in the
Players Championship Finals and he lost 6–3 to
Simon Whitlock
Simon Whitlock (born 3 March 1969) is an Australian professional darts player who plays in Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) tournaments, having also played in the British Darts Organisation (BDO) between 2004 and 2009. He uses the nickname T ...
in the first round.
2017
With his tour card status now expired, Edgar entered the 2017 Q School and finished 13th on the Order of Merit, just one point shy of reclaiming his place. A host of injuries including a broken hand restricted the amount of entries available through the year which included missing out on qualification for the PDC UK Open for the first time in his career. There were positive signs in the Summer when a second Challenge Tour title came beating
Barrie Bates
Barrie Bates (born 17 October 1969) is a former Welsh darts player who played on the Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) circuit. His original nickname was Batesy, but since 2007, he was known as Champagne.
Career
Bates made his PDC televised ...
5–2 in the final at Arena MK.
2018
Edgar re-gained his PDC Tour Card at 2018 Q school. Coming back onto the tour, he started with back-to-back last 16 runs in the UK Open Qualifiers held in Wigan and became a seed for the UK Open 2018. There, where he reached the 4th round for the 2nd time in his career, missing out 10–7 to
Steve West following a 10–4 win over
John Henderson in round 3. Edgar made his return to the European Rour in April 2018, going down 6–2 to
Steve West in
Saarbrücken
Saarbrücken (; french: link=no, Sarrebruck ; Rhine Franconian: ''Saarbrigge'' ; lb, Saarbrécken ; lat, Saravipons, lit=The Bridge(s) across the Saar river) is the capital and largest city of the state of Saarland, Germany. Saarbrücken is ...
.
Edgar did enough on the Players Championship circuit to qualify for the
2018 Players Championship Finals where he met
Michael van Gerwen
Michael van Gerwen (; born 25 April 1989) is a Dutch professional darts player. He is currently PDC Order of Merit, ranked number 3 in the world, having been number 1 from 2014 to 2021. He is also a three-time PDC World Darts Championship, PDC ...
in the first round an