Mark Walsh (darts player)

Mark Walsh
Personal information
Nickname	Special Brew
Born	2 February 1965 (1965-02-02) Watford, England
Home town	Abbots Langley England
Darts information
Darts	24g Target Darts Mark Walsh Range
Laterality	right-handed
Walk-on music	Special Brew by Bad Manners
Organisation (see split in darts)
PDC	2002 - present
Current world ranking	12
PDC premier events - best performances
World Ch'ship	Round 3 2011
World Matchplay	Round 2 (5) 2005, 2006, 2008, 2009, 2010
World Grand Prix	Round 2 (4) 2003, 2004, 2008, 2010
Ch'ship League	Winners group, Semi-finals 2008
Desert Classic	Round 2 (2) 2005, 2008
European Ch'ship	Quarter Finals (3) 2008, 2009, 2010
UK Open	Runner Up 2005
US Open/WSoD	Last 64 2007
Players Ch'ship Finals	Round 2 2010
Other tournament wins
Tournament	Years
UK Open Regional (Wales) UK Open Regional (EM) Gleneagle Irish Masters Coventry Players Ch'ship Barnsley players ch'ship Germany players ch'ship	2005 2009 2007 2009 2009 2009
Other achievements
Nine dart finish, Eddie Cox Memorial Players Championship 2009

Mark Walsh (born 2 February 1965 in Watford) is an English darts player who competes in Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) tournaments.

He reached his first major televised final in 2005, when he was beaten by England's Phil Taylor in the UK Open in Bolton.

Early career

Walsh made his televised debut at the 2002 World Matchplay but suffered a 10-0 whitewash at the hands of John Part.

His World Championship debut came in 2004, but he lost 0-3 to Erik Clarys in his first match. He went out to Wayne Mardle 2-4 in 2005. He won his first match at the World Championship at his third attempt in 2006. He was seeded 12th for the event, and beat Warren Parry before losing 0-4 to Dennis Smith in the next round.

Form

2007

He had slipped to 16th in the world rankings for the 2007 World Championship, when he was surprisingly beaten by 19 year-old Dutch player Rico Vonck, thus continuing his poor run at the tournament. He started the year ranked 15th in the world, but had fallen to 32 by November, which put him in danger of failing to qualify for the 2008 World Championship. However, he reached the semi-final of the Ireland Open Classic in September, and won the non-ranked Gleneagle Irish Masters in early November, thus hinting at an upturn in form. He also reached the semi-finals of the PDC German Darts Championship.

2008

In the 2008 PDC World Darts Championship, Walsh defeated Adrian Gray in the first round, setting up a second-round match with Taylor. Walsh led Taylor 1-0, 2-1 and 3-2 before Taylor won six consecutive legs to beat him 4-3. Despite losing, Walsh stated that from suffering dartitis to pushing the greatest player in the world to the final set at the World Championship was a great victory in its own right.

Walsh continued his good form, reaching three quarter finals including the Open Holland Masters and then reached the last 32 stage of the US Open and the UK Open. He followed up with a semi final showing in the PDPA Players Championship Las Vegas and then qualified for the 2008 Las Vegas Desert Classic the next day. He beat Bill Davis in the first round before losing to James Wade. He then reached the second round of the 2008 World Matchplay, defeating Colin Lloyd in the opening match of the tournament but lost to Kevin McDine. He reached the second round of the World Grand Prix, beating Steve Beaton in the first round before losing to Terry Jenkins. Walsh missed out on qualifying for the 2008 Grand Slam of Darts but bounced back to reach the semi finals of the inaugural Championship League Darts, winning group eight and then placing second in the winners group, eventually losing to Mervyn King. He then reached the quarter finals of the 2008 European Darts Championship and reached the final of the PDPA Players Championship Holland 2, losing to Wade.

2009

Walsh defeated Jamie Caven 3-2 in the first round of the 2009 PDC World Championship, narrowly missing out on a nine dart finish on the way. In the second round he lost 4-2 to King. On 17 January, Walsh hit a nine dart finish in the Eddie Cox Memorial Players Championship in Gibraltar against Caven to win the deciding leg of their first round match. Having rolled over for four Players Championships, Walsh won £1,600 for the nine-darter.

Walsh won his first PDC title in two years, when he won the Coventry Players Championship on 28 March 2009 beating Taylor 6-4 in the final. He added another title with his second career UK Open Regional in Derby, by winning the East Midlands region 6-5 over Raymond van Barneveld.

2010

Walsh was 12th seed for the 2010 PDC World Championship, however he only made the first round after losing 3-2 to former BDO World Champion Mark Webster.

2011

Walsh qualified for the 2011 Grand Slam of Darts as the highest ranked player from the PDC Order of Merit not already invited. He progressed through Group A with victories over Tony O'Shea and Michael van Gerwen but finished second after losing to Scott Waites. He then defeated Group B winner Dean Winstanley 10-9 and former World Champion Ted Hankey 16-14 before losing out 11-16 to Gary Anderson.

2012

At the 2012 World Championship he came from a set down to defeat [New Zealander], Warren French, 3-1 in the first round. Walsh played Kevin Painter in the Last 32 and came back from 1-3 to level the match at 3-3. He couldn't keep his momentum going, however, as he lost the deciding set by 3 legs to 0 to exit the tournament 3-4.

Successes

He has won six non-televised PDC titles: the Welsh Regional final of the UK Open in September 2005, the Gleneagle Irish Masters in November 2007, the Coventry Players Championship and the UK Open East Midlands Regional plus two more Players Championships in Barnsley beating Jamie Caven and in Germany beating Andy Hamilton 6-5.

World Championship Performances

• 2004 (PDC) - Round 2 lost to Erik Clarys 0-3
• 2005 (PDC) - Round 3 lost to Wayne Mardle 2-4
• 2006 (PDC) - Round 1 lost to Warren Parry 0-3
• 2007 (PDC) - Round 1 lost to Rico Vonck 0-3
• 2008 (PDC) - Round 2 lost to Phil Taylor 3-4
• 2009 (PDC) - Round 2 lost to Mervyn King 2-4
• 2010 (PDC) - Round 1 lost to Mark Webster 2-3
• 2011 (PDC) - Round 3 lost to Terry Jenkins 0-4
• 2012 (PDC) - Round 2 lost to Kevin Painter 3-4

External links

• Mark Walsh Official Website
• Mark Walsh's Profile and stats on Darts Database