Richie Burnett

Richie Burnett
Personal information
Nickname	The Prince of Wales
Born	(1967-02-07) 7 February 1967 Cwmparc, Rhondda, Wales
Home town	Cwmparc, Rhondda
Darts information
Darts	Red Dragon Richie Burnett
Laterality	Right-handed
Walk-on music	Dakota by Stereophonics
Organisation (see split in darts)
BDO	1994 - 1999
PDC	1999 - present
Current world ranking	31
WDF major events – best performances
World Ch'ship	Winner 1995
World Masters	Winner 1994
Int. Darts League	Preliminary 2007
PDC premier events – best performances
World Ch'ship	Quarter Final 2002, 2003
World Matchplay	Runner-up 2001
World Grand Prix	Semi Final 2011
UK Open	Last 16 2007, 2011
Desert Classic	Quarter Final 2004
PC Finals	First round 2011
Other tournament wins
Tournament	Years
Denmark Open Dutch Open Welsh Open British Matchplay Witch City Open William Cross Pro Am	1994 1994 1994, 1995 1994 2001 2006

Richie Burnett (born 7 February 1967 in Cwmparc, Rhondda) is a Welsh darts player who was the 1995 Embassy World Darts Champion and currently plays in Professional Darts Corporation events. His nickname is The Prince of Wales.

BDO career

Burnett first came to prominence shortly after the split in the game. After the WDC and the BDO players went their separate ways from 1994, Burnett began to win several titles in the BDO. During that first year after the split, he won the Dutch Open, Welsh Open, British Matchplay and the Denmark Open. He then added one of the two BDO major titles, the Winmau World Masters beating Steve Beaton in the final.

Although the 1995 BDO World Darts Championship was his debut, he had risen in the rankings to become number two seed and eventually went on to win the title, beating Raymond van Barneveld 6–3 (sets) in the final.

He would also reach the final of the BDO World Championship on two more occasions, losing in 1996 to Steve Beaton and in 1998 to Raymond van Barneveld. His 1996 final defeat was his first match loss at Lakeside and ended a run of nine consecutive match wins. The 1998 final went down the 11th and deciding set and Burnett had an out-shot for the title, but wired his dart at treble-14 which would have left him on a double, and did not get another opportunity to win the match. A year later, after first round defeat in the 1999 World Championship to Ronnie Baxter, he switched to compete on the PDC circuit.

PDC career

Since joining the PDC, Burnett's overall record has not been as successful as his time in the BDO. His best performance to date came by reaching the final of the 2001 World Matchplay. At the World Championships, he twice reached the quarter finals (2002 and 2003), but his world ranking steadily fell afterwards and by the end of 2006 he had almost slipped out of the top 50. As a result he now has to qualify for all the major PDC tournaments, and failed to qualify for the World Championships for the first time in 2006.

This led to six years of poor form and falling world rankings with his only television appearances between 2005 and 2010 coming at the UK Open, apart from his run in the qualifying rounds for the 2007 PDC World Darts Championship when he won four matches to make it to the television stages. However, he lost in the first round to Alex Roy. He was also reported to be suffering from dartitis which was visible at the 2009 UK Open where he lost in the first round.

He showed an improvement in October 2010 by reaching the semi-finals of the John McEvoy Gold Dart Classic, losing in a last-leg decider to Gary Anderson. A week later, he reached two successive PDC Pro Tour finals in Bad Nauheim, Germany - losing 4–6 to fellow Welshman Mark Webster on Saturday, and then by the same scoreline to Simon Whitlock on Sunday. His improved form earned him qualification for the 2011 World Championships and the 2011 Players Championship Finals. The improvement continued throughout 2011 reaching the semi finals of the World Grand Prix where he lost to Phil Taylor. He also claimed his first ever PDC Pro Tour title in September beating Dave Chisnall in the final.

Burnett secured the first shock of the 2012 World Championships by defeating fellow countryman and number six seed, Mark Webster, 3-2 in the first round. He lost nine out of the first ten legs in his second round match to John Part and, although he did win a set, was beaten 1-4. He then teamed up with Webster for the World Cup and together they reached the semi-finals with wins over Croatia and South Africa. They couldn't reach the final however, as the English pair of Phil Taylor and Adrian Lewis won 1–3.

World Championship Results

BDO

• 1995: Winner (beat Raymond van Barneveld 6–3)
• 1996: Runner-Up (lost to Steve Beaton 3–6)
• 1997: Second Round (lost to Leo Laurens 0–3)
• 1998: Runner-Up (lost to Raymond van Barneveld 5–6)
• 1999: First Round (lost to Ronnie Baxter 0–3)

PDC

• 2001: Second Round (lost to Keith Deller 2–3)
• 2002: Quarter-Finals (lost to Colin Lloyd 4–6)
• 2003: Quarter-Finals (lost to Kevin Painter 2–5)
• 2004: Third Round (lost to Simon Whatley 3–4)
• 2005: Third Round (lost to Mark Dudbridge 3–4)
• 2007: First Round (lost to Alex Roy 0–3)
• 2011: First Round (lost to Alan Tabern 2-3)
• 2012: Second Round (lost to John Part 1-4)

External links

• Player profile for Richie Burnett from Dartsdatabase