Russell "Rusty" Stewart (born 9 October 1960) is an Australian former 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. He used the nickname Rusty for his matches.
Playing career
Stewart was one of the most successful Australian darts players of the 1980s, Australian Singles Champion four times (1988, 1989, 1993 and 1994), also Pacific Masters Champion three times (1983, 1984, 1990), winning the Australian Masters five times in six years (1983, 1984, 1985, 1987, 1988) and the Australian Grand Masters six times in three different decades (1987, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1993, 2001). He won Pacific Cup singles on two occasions in Tokyo, Japan and Vancouver, Canada. His only major title won on UK soil was the Scottish Open in 1983, but he twice reached the semi-finals of the MFI World Matchplay and was also a quarter-finalist at the
Winmau World Masters
The World Masters is a darts tournament, initially organised by the British Darts Organisation from 1974 and later by the World Darts Federation. It is one of the longest-running and most prestigious of the BDO/WDF tournaments. The tournament w ...
in 1985 and 1988. He came runner up to Eric Bristow MBE in then the world's richest dart tournament the World Grand Prix – Tokyo 1988. He obtained his highest world ranking position in November 1989 at No. 2 to
Bob Anderson who was the No. 1 ranked player.
He made his World Championship debut in 1984, but lost in the first round to
Peter Locke. He competed eleven times at the BDO World Championship, but failed to progress beyond the last sixteen. Between 1985 and 1991, he suffered defeats to some of the best players of the era including to
Bob Anderson in 1988 and
Phil Taylor in 1990 during their world title runs.
Stewart represented Australia in seven WDF World Cup teams; 1983 Edinburgh, Scotland, 1985 Brisbane, Australia, 1987 Copenhagen, Denmark, 1989 Toronto, Canada, 1993 Las Vegas, United States, 1995 Basel, Switzerland and 2001 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
Stewart was runner-up in the
1985 WDF World Cup pairs with
Frank Palko, lost to
Eric Bristow
Eric John Bristow (25 April 1957 – 5 April 2018), nicknamed "the Crafty Cockney", was an English professional darts player and one of the most recognisable and successful players of the 1980s. He was ranked World No. 1 by the World Darts Fed ...
and
John Lowe by 0–4.
After eight successive appearances in the world championships, he missed out in 1992 and 1993 but returned to the event in 1994 following the loss of many top players who left to form the
World Darts Council. He went out to
Bobby George
Robert Francis George (born 16 December 1945) is an English television presenter and former professional darts player. He is widely recognised as one of the game's biggest personalities, known for his flamboyant entrances in which the "King o ...
in the first round in 1994 and to
Richie Burnett in the second round in 1995 – Burnett went on to take the title.
Stewart only managed to qualify for the World Championship on one further occasion – when he suffered a first round defeat to
Mervyn King in 2002.
Stewart continued to compete in darts tournaments in his native country – adding more titles to his collection. He narrowly missed out on qualification for the
2006 PDC World Darts Championship, losing in the final of the Oceanic Masters to
Warren Parry and suffered a semi-final defeat to 15-year-old
Mitchell Clegg the following year. Stewart finally captured the Oceanic Masters in 2008 and earned qualification for the
2009 PDC World Darts Championship. It was his PDC World Championship debut and only his second appearance in any version of the World Championship in 14 years. He was beaten 3–1 in the first round by
Adrian Lewis
Adrian Lewis (born 21 January 1985) is an English professional darts player who formerly competed in Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) events. Nicknamed "Jackpot", he is a two-time PDC World Champion, having won the title in 2011 and 2012. ...
.
Outside darts
Stewart earns his living working for the Australian Government in Canberra.
World Championship results
BDO
* 1984: 1st Round (lost to
Peter Locke 0–2) (sets)
* 1985: 2nd Round (lost to
Jocky Wilson
John Thomas "Jocky" Wilson (22 March 1950 – 24 March 2012) was a Scottish professional darts player. After turning professional in 1979, he quickly rose to the top of the game, winning the World Professional Darts Championship in 1982, ...
1–3)
* 1986: 1st Round (lost to Malcolm Davies 1–3)
* 1987: 1st Round (lost to
Cliff Lazarenko
Cliff Lazarenko (born 16 March 1952) is an English former professional darts player. Nicknamed "Big Cliff" due to his height (193 cm / 6'4") and weight (over 127 kg at his peak), he is known for being a colourful character on and off ...
2–3)
* 1988: 2nd Round (lost to
Bob Anderson 0–3)
* 1989: 2nd Round (lost to
Dennis Hickling 0–3)
* 1990: 1st Round (lost to
Phil Taylor 1–3)
* 1991: 2nd Round (lost to
Bob Anderson 2–3)
* 1994: 1st Round (lost to
Bobby George
Robert Francis George (born 16 December 1945) is an English television presenter and former professional darts player. He is widely recognised as one of the game's biggest personalities, known for his flamboyant entrances in which the "King o ...
0–3)
* 1995: 2nd Round (lost to
Richie Burnett 1–3)
* 2002: 1st Round (lost to
Mervyn King 1–3)
PDC
* 2009: 1st Round (lost to
Adrian Lewis
Adrian Lewis (born 21 January 1985) is an English professional darts player who formerly competed in Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) events. Nicknamed "Jackpot", he is a two-time PDC World Champion, having won the title in 2011 and 2012. ...
1–3)
Performance timeline
References
External links
Stats on Darts Database
{{DEFAULTSORT:Stewart, Russell
1960 births
Australian darts players
Living people
Place of birth missing (living people)
British Darts Organisation players
Professional Darts Corporation associate players
Sportspeople from Canberra
Darts players from Melbourne