Peter Manley
| Peter Manley | |
|---|---|
| Personal information | |
| Full name | Peter David Manley [1] |
| Nickname | One Dart |
| Born | 7 March 1962 Cheam, Surrey, England |
| Home town | Carlisle, Cumbria England |
| Darts information | |
| Playing darts since | 1995 |
| Darts | Unicorn Tungsten 19g |
| Laterality | Right-handed |
| Walk-on music | Amarillo by Tony Christie |
| Organisation (see split in darts) | |
| BDO | 1995 - 1996 |
| PDC | 1996 - present |
| Current world ranking | 79 |
| BDO majors - best performances | |
| World Masters | Last 16 1998 |
| World Darts Trophy | Quarter-finals 2007 |
| Int. Darts League | Last 32 2007 |
| PDC premier events - best performances | |
| World Ch'ship | Runner-up 1999, 2002, 2006 |
| World Matchplay | Runner-up 1999 |
| World Grand Prix | Semi-finals 1998-2000, 2003, 2006 |
| Grand Slam | First round 2007 |
| Premier League | Semi-finals 2005 |
| Ch'ship League | Initial groups, Semi-finals 2008 |
| European Ch'ship | Semi-finals 2008 |
| UK Open | Semi-finals 2005 |
| US Open/WSoD | Fifth round 2007 |
| Players Ch'ship Finals | First round 2009, 2010 |
| Other tournament wins | |
| Tournament | Years |
| European Masters French Open |
1995 |
| Other achievements | |
| PDC World number one, September 2000 to October 2001 Three time PDC World Championship runner-up |
|
Peter David Manley (born 7 March 1962 in Cheam, Surrey) is an English professional darts player who used to play in the Professional Darts Corporation. He was named One Dart by commentator Tony Green after hitting the winning double on numerous occasions with his first dart during his first televised appearance at the 1995 Unipart European Masters, where he eventually lost in the final to Mike Gregory.
The nickname subsequently proved to be a heavy burden for Manley who despite a confident, outspoken persona only managed one major win - the 2003 Las Vegas Desert Classic - during his professional darts career.
Manley's controversial persona rather than the quality of his darts was often the most notable part of his career and continued poor form resulted in him failing to secure a PDC tour card in 2012. Manley lost several major sponsors including darts manufacturer Unicorn as a result.
Manley is perhaps most famous for his long-running feud with Phil Taylor resulting from his refusal to shake Taylor's hand after losing 7-0 to him in the 2002 PDC World Championship final.[1] He has finished runner-up to Taylor in two other World Championships - losing 6-2 in 1999 and 7-0 in 2006. Taylor and Manley's feud culminated in them being separated by fellow players at the 2010 PDC Awards Dinner.
His biggest tournament win was 2003 Las Vegas Desert Classic when he beat John Part 16-12 in the final. He is also the chairman of the Professional Dart Players Association,[2] a position he has held for six years.[3]
Contents |
[edit] Darts career
He has managed to reach the World Championship final three times, but lost all finals to Taylor and two of those defeats were heavy 0-7 reversals. After beating Taylor in the semi-finals of the 1999 World Matchplay, he lost 17-19 to Rod Harrington in the final.
He has been a semi-finalist in the UK Open, World Matchplay and World Grand Prix since, and had qualified for the first four seasons of the Premier League, finishing 3rd in 2005 with 12 points. However, he was knocked out in the semi-final by Colin Lloyd, 13-7. He failed to progress from the league stages in 2006, 2007 and 2008.
[edit] Crowd popularity
Manley's refusal to shake Taylor's hand in 2002 led to darts fans booing him for many years. However, this changed in 2005 when he changed his entrance theme from Chumbawamba's Tubthumping to Tony Christie's Is This the Way to Amarillo, which had just topped the UK Singles Chart having been re-popularised by Peter Kay.[2] This has led to a far more relaxed Manley and a far more positive crowd response, even though they still boo him once the music fades out. However, this is done more due to Manley being a 'pantomime villain' rather than genuine animosity.
[edit] Controversy
Despite being chairman of the Players' Union (the Professional Dart Players Association - PDPA), Manley is often the subject of controversy with fellow players, most notably Taylor in the aforementioned incident, and in the 2006 PDC World Championship where in a Quarter Final match against Taylor's protegé, Adrian Lewis, he muttered words to his opponent, resulting in Lewis leaving the stage in anger. (Lewis had thrown a 'Blind' 180 whereby he threw the first two darts as normal, hitting 2 treble 20s; with the third going in while Lewis was looking back at the crowd and Manley.)
It is suggested this act of showmanship may have sparked the controversy. After a while, he returned and the match continued where Manley won. This incident sparked a few days of animosity in the lead-up to the final between Manley and Taylor, with the vast majority of darts players and fans incensed at Manley's behaviour. Manley attracted more hate when, during an interview on Sky Sports, he said that he didn't care what other people think as he'd made his money (£50,000 for reaching the final). Manley was beaten in the final 7-0 by Taylor.
Manley has also had notable spats with the likes of: Roland Scholten, former best friend Wayne Mardle, Rod Harrington, and in the 2007 PDC World Championship, he exchanged words with Wynand Havenga in the second round, possibly pertaining to his opponent's prolonged celebrations upon winning a set.
He later lost the match but appeared to apologise for his attitude afterwards. Further controversy with Lewis erupted in the 2007 Las Vegas Desert Classic, where words were again exchanged onstage. Manley tried to minimise the incident after the match, but Lewis continued to complain after he left the stage.
[edit] Outside of darts
Manley currently resides in Carlisle. He started playing darts at the age of 12, and at the age of 16 his father allowed him to play a local team who congregated every Saturday at The Bell Inn, Cheam. Often playing for money, Manley recalls 'winning his fair share, but wanting more'. He is married to Crissy Manley (née Howat), a fellow dart player nicknamed 'two darts' who has previously had relationships with other dart players such as former World Champion Les Wallace.
Manley asked Crissy to marry him after winning the Las Vegas Desert Classic in 2003 and they tied the knot in Las Vegas the following year. Fellow darts players were in attendance at the wedding with Wayne Mardle serving as Manley's best man. Manley and Mardle subsequently fell out for several years after Mardle accused him of being a cheat in his autobiography.
[edit] References
- ^ a b Darts Players Wives. Sky. Sky3. 17 August 2007.
- ^ a b Peter Manley - Team Unicorn from Unicorn, retrieved 19 February 2009
- ^ PDPA Board Members from the PDPA, retrieved 22 February 2009
