Rowby-John Rodriguez (born 27 March 1994) is an Austrian professional

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 playing in events of 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 ...

(PDC).

Career

In 2010, as a 16-year-old, Rodriguez won the Austrian National Championship by beating Franz Thaler 5–0 in the final. At the second event of Q School in January 2014 he stood one win away from joining the PDC but lost 5–3 to Gerwyn Price. However, after all four events had been played Rodriguez had done enough to finish ninth on the Q School Order of Merit and earn a two-year tour card. His first PDC major was 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 ...

where he was knocked out 5–1 by Tony Randall in the first round. In May, Rodriguez reached the final of the PDC World Youth Championship where he lost 6–4 to Keegan Brown at the O2 Arena in London as part of the

Premier League The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Foo ...

finals night. Reaching the final secured him a place in the 2014 Grand Slam of Darts. Rodriguez was now Austria's number two player behind

Mensur Suljović Mensur Suljović (Serbian Cyrillic: Менсур Суљовић; born 5 March 1972) is an Austrian professional darts player. He plays in Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) events, having previously played in the British Darts Organisation (BD ...

and they teamed up at the World Cup of Darts, but lost both their singles matches in the second round against the Belgium brothers of

Kim Kim or KIM may refer to: Names * Kim (given name) * Kim (surname) ** Kim (Korean surname) *** Kim family (disambiguation), several dynasties **** Kim family (North Korea), the rulers of North Korea since Kim Il-sung in 1948 ** Kim, Vietnamese ...

and Ronny Huybrechts. Rodriguez reached the quarter-finals of a Pro Tour event for the first time at the 14th Players Championship defeating the likes of Gary Anderson, Paul Nicholson and Jamie Caven, before losing 6–1 to Ian White. His play throughout the year earned him a debut in the European Championship where he lost 6–2 to Robert Thornton in the opening round. At the Grand Slam, Rodriguez beat world number three

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 ...

5–2 in his opening group game before losing 5–1 to

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 ...

. He went into his final group game knowing a win over Brown would see him qualify for the last 16 and, despite coming back from 3–0 down to level at 3–3, he lost 5–3.

2015 season

Rodriguez made his debut at the 2015 World Championship after he qualified through the Pro Tour Order of Merit. However, he ran into an in-form

Raymond van Barneveld Raymond van Barneveld (born 20 April 1967) is a Dutch professional darts player. Nicknamed Barney, although originally known as The Man, he is one of the most successful darts players in history. Van Barneveld is a five-time World Darts Champ ...

who hit finishes of 167 and 170 as he restricted Rodriguez to two legs during the match in a 3–0 defeat. Rodriguez averaged 79.22 which was over 20 points lower than his opponent's, but he still broke into the top 64 on the Order of Merit for the first time after the tournament concluded as he was ranked world number 58. He won the opening Development Tour event of the year by beating Jamie Lewis 4–1 in the final. Rodriguez and Suljović were eliminated in the last 16 of the

World Cup A world cup is a global sporting competition in which the participant entities – usually international teams or individuals representing their countries – compete for the title of world champion. The event most associated with the concept i ...

for the second consecutive year, this time to Germany. From the last 32 onwards he knocked out

Kim Huybrechts Kim Huybrechts (born 16 November 1985) is a Belgian professional darts player currently playing in Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) events. He made the final of a major TV event, the 2012 Players Championship Finals, losing to Phil Taylor 13 ...

, Wayne Jones and

at the 14th Players Championship to play in his first PDC Pro Tour semi-final, where he lost 6–2 against

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 ...

. A 6–4 win over Christian Kist saw Rodriguez make the second round of the European Championship in which he could only average 73.43 against John Henderson in a 10–2 defeat. After losing 5–3 to

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 ...

and beating Martin Phillips 5–2 at the Grand Slam, Rodriguez needed a win over

Phil Taylor Phil Taylor may refer to: * Phil Taylor (musician) (1954–2015), English drummer, best known as "Philthy Animal" Taylor * Phil Taylor (darts player) (born 1960), English darts player * Phil Taylor (American football) (born 1988), American footbal ...

to qualify for the last 16, but he lost 5–2.

2016 season

Rodriguez hit the first 170 finish of the 2016 World Championship, but lost each of the three sets played against

in the first round by deciding legs. He reached the quarter-finals of the first UK Open Qualifier, but was beaten 6–1 by

and he lost 6–2 to Lee Evans in the second round of the

main event In sports, a card lists the matches taking place in a title match combat-sport event. Cards include a main event match and the undercard listing the rest of the matches. The undercard may be divided into a midcard and a lower card, according to ...

. Rodriguez was defeated in the final of three Development Tour events in 2016. Rodriguez and

eliminated Italy and Singapore to ensure Austria played in their first

quarter-final, where Suljović was whitewashed by

and Rodriguez lost 4–1 to

. A couple of quarter-finals out of the 20 Players Championship events qualified him for the

Finals Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: * Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which decides a winner for an event ** Another term for playoffs, describing a sequence of con ...

and he beat Ronny Huybrechts 6–4, before being thrashed 6–0 by Joe Cullen in the second round.

2017 season

Rodriguez squared his first round match with

at the 2017 World Championship at two sets apiece, but lost all three legs of the decider. Austria played England in the quarter-finals of the 2017 World Cup for the second successive year.

thrashed

4–0 and Rodriguez lost 4–1 to Chisnall, before Austria were defeated 4–2 in the decisive doubles match.

2022 European Darts Matchplay

Rodriguez made his first final at a Euro Tour tournament by beating Danny Noppert,

Gerwyn Price Gerwyn Stephen Price (born 7 March 1985) is a Welsh professional darts player and former professional rugby union and rugby league player. Nicknamed "The Iceman", he competes in events of the Professional Darts Corporation (PDC), where he is cu ...

, Gabriel Clemens, Nathan Aspinall and Madars Razma at the

2022 European Darts Matchplay The 2022 Interwetten European Darts Matchplay was the ninth of thirteen PDC European Tour events on the 2022 PDC Pro Tour. The tournament took place at the Trier Arena, Trier, Germany, from 1–3 July 2022. It featured a field of 48 players and � ...

Trier Trier ( , ; lb, Tréier ), formerly known in English as Trèves ( ;) and Triers (see also names in other languages), is a city on the banks of the Moselle in Germany. It lies in a valley between low vine-covered hills of red sandstone in the ...

. In the final he met Luke Humphries, who already won three Euro Tour tournaments earlier that year. Rodriguez missed a match dart in the deciding leg, after which the Englishman won with 8-7.

World Championship results

PDC

* 2015: First round (lost to

0–3) * 2016: First round (lost to

0–3) * 2017: First round (lost to

2–3) * 2019: Second round (lost to Cristo Reyes 2–3) * 2020: First round (lost to

Noel Malicdem Noel Malicdem (born 10 January 1977) is a Filipino darts player who plays in Professional Darts Corporation events. Career Malicdem qualified for the 2019 World Championship. In his first round he defeated Jeffrey de Graaf 2:3, but lost in the ...

0–3) * 2022: Second round (lost to Luke Humphries 0–3) * 2023: First round (lost to Lourence Ilagan 2–3)

Performance timeline

PDC European Tour

Personal life

Rodriguez' older brother

Roxy-James Rodriguez Roxy-James Rodriguez (born 25 November 1991) is a former professional Austrian darts player who has played in the Professional Darts Corporation The Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) is a professional darts organisation in the United King ...

also plays darts and reached the last 16 of the European Darts Trophy in 2014. His other younger brother, Rusty-Jake Rodriguez is also a darts player and made his PDC European Tour debut in the 2017 Austrian Darts Open.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Rodriguez, Rowby-John 1994 births Professional Darts Corporation current tour card holders Austrian darts players Living people Sportspeople from Vienna PDC World Cup of Darts Austrian team 21st-century Austrian people