Ryan Searle (born 21 October 1987) is an English 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 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) events, where he is currently ranked world number nineteen. Nicknamed "Heavy Metal", Searle has won six ranking titles in PDC Players Championship events. He reached his first major final at the 2021 Players Championship Finals, finishing as runner-up after losing to Peter Wright 11–10.

Career

Searle reached the last 16 of the 2013 BDO World Masters after a controversial win over

Richie George Richard George (born 18 December 1989) is an English former professional darts player. He was born in Essex and is the son of former world championship finalist Bobby George. They became the first father-and-son duo to play in the BDO version ...

when his winning dart at double 10 did not actually hit the target, but referee Nick Rolls called 'game shot', ending the leg and giving Searle the match. In 2016, he finished second on the PDC Challenge Tour Order of Merit, thanks to winning two events along the way, which meant he automatically gained a PDC Tour Card. Searle reached the fourth round of the 2019 PDC World Darts Championship on his debut. He defeated Stephen Burton,

Mensur Suljović Mensur Suljović (Serbian Cyrillic: Менсур Суљовић; born 5 March 1972) is a Serbian-Austrian professional darts player who competes in Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) events, where he reached a peak ranking of world number five ...

and William O'Connor before losing to Michael Smith 1–4. In the following year, he reached the third round, where he led Gary Anderson 3–1 but was eventually defeated 3–4. In the 2020 season, Searle won his first Pro Tour title by beating world number one

Michael van Gerwen Michael van Gerwen (; born 25 April 1989) is a Dutch professional darts player, who competes in Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) events, where is currently ranked PDC Order of Merit, world number three; he was ranked world number one from 20 ...

8–6 in the final of event 3. Searle made his first appearance in a PDC major quarter-final at the 2021 World Grand Prix, following victories over

Dimitri Van den Bergh Dimitri Barbara Peter Van den Bergh (born 8 July 1994) is a Belgian professional darts player who competes in Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) events, where he is currently ranked world number twenty-two; he reached a peak ranking of world n ...

and

Luke Humphries Luke Humphries (born 11 February 1995) is an English professional darts player who competes in Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) events, where he is currently ranked PDC Order of Merit, world number one. He is a former PDC World Darts Champion ...

. He lost to

Stephen Bunting Stephen Bunting (born 9 April 1985) is an English professional darts player who competes in Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) events, where he is currently ranked world number four. Nicknamed "the Bullet", Bunting formerly competed in Brit ...

in the quarter-finals, by a score of 3–1 in sets. Searle hit a first televised

nine-dart finish A nine-dart finish, also known as a nine-darter, is a perfect leg or single game in the sport of darts. The object of the game is to score a set number of points, most commonly 501; in order to win, a player must reach the target total exactly a ...

at the 2023 Grand Slam of Darts in a final group match victory over Nathan Rafferty. In January 2024, it was announced that Searle had left Loxley Darts at the end of his 3-year deal. Shortly afterwards, on 17 January, it was announced that he had signed with Harrows Darts, which coincided with the release of his new signature darts, shirt and merchandise. The same year, he was one of the participants at the Masters. However, he lost in the first round to

Dirk van Duijvenbode Dirk van Duijvenbode (born 30 June 1992) is a Dutch professional darts player who competes in Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) events. He is known for his energetic walk-on, combined with hardstyle music. More recently, he has become known f ...

. On the

2024 PDC Pro Tour The 2024 PDC Pro Tour was a series of non-televised darts tournaments organised by the Professional Darts Corporation (PDC). Players Championships and European Tour events are the events that make up the Pro Tour. There were thirty Players Cham ...

, Searle was runner-up in the opening two Players Championship events of the season, losing to

Luke Littler Luke Littler (born 21 January 2007) is an English professional darts player who competes in Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) events, where he is currently ranked PDC Order of Merit, world number two. Nicknamed "the Nuke", Littler is the rei ...

8–7 and Gary Anderson 8–5 in the respective finals. The following week at Players Championship 3, he defeated Anderson 8–7 in a repeat of the previous event's final to win his first event in a year.

Personal life

Searle has

astigmatism Astigmatism is a type of refractive error due to rotational asymmetry in the eye's refractive power. The lens and cornea of an eye without astigmatism are nearly spherical, with only a single radius of curvature, and any refractive errors ...

, and often cannot even see where his darts land.

World Championship results

PDC

* 2019: Fourth round (lost to Michael Smith 1–4) * 2020: Third round (lost to Gary Anderson 3–4) * 2021: Fourth round (lost to

3–4) * 2022: Fourth round (lost to Peter Wright 1–4) * 2023: Third round (lost to

José de Sousa José is a predominantly Spanish and Portuguese form of the given name Joseph. While spelled alike, this name is pronounced very differently in each of the two languages: Spanish ; Portuguese (or ). In French, the name ''José'', pronounced ...

3–4) * 2024: Third round (lost to Joe Cullen 2–4) * 2025: Third round (lost to

Ryan Joyce Ryan Joyce (born 20 September 1985) is an English professional darts player who competes in Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) events, where he is currently ranked world number twenty-six. A PDC Tour Card holder since 2018, he has won two ran ...

3–4)

PDC career finals

PDC major finals: 1 (1 runner-up)

Performance timeline

BDO PDC PDC European Tour PDC Players Championships

Nine-dart finishes

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Searle, Ryan 1987 births Living people English darts players Sportspeople from Wellington, Somerset PDC ranking title winners Professional Darts Corporation current tour card holders Darts players who have thrown televised nine-dart games