Paul Nicholson (darts player)

Paul Nicholson
Personal information
Nickname	The Asset
Born	(1979-05-10) 10 May 1979 Newcastle upon Tyne, England
Home town	Chorley
Darts information
Darts	20g Paul Nicholson
Laterality	Right-handed
Walk-on music	Club Foot by Kasabian
Organisation (see split in darts)
PDC	2007 - present
Current world ranking	17
PDC premier events – best performances
World Ch'ship	Quarter Finalist 2009
World Matchplay	Last 16 2011
World Grand Prix	Last 16 2011
UK Open	Quarter Finalist 2011
Grand Slam	Quarter Finalist 2011
European Ch'ship	Quarter Finalist 2011
PC Finals	Winner 2010
Other tournament wins
Tournament	Years
DPA Australian Singles Australia Matchplay Wagga Classic 1 Gaels Club Open 2 Young RSL Viva NZ 1 Young RSL Viva NZ 2 Viva Las Vegas NZ Southern Illawara Mildura Workers 1 Mildura Workers 2 Punchbowl Club Open Australian Players Ch'ship Player Ch'ship Crawley 1	2007 2008, 2009 2008 2008 2008 2008 2008 2008 2008 2008 2009 2009 2011

Paul Nicholson (born 10 May 1979) is a British born darts player, who holds Australian nationality. He aims to project the image of the 'bad boy of darts'

2008-2009

Before joining the PDC Pro Tour, Nicholson was one of the top players in the Australian Grand Prix circuit, winning 15 titles in 2008. His performances led him to the top of the DPA rankings and earned him a spot in the 2008 Grand Slam of Darts. He was drawn in Group H with Kevin Painter, Darryl Fitton and WDF number one Gary Anderson. Nicholson caused a major surprise by beating Anderson 5-4 in his opening group game. This was despite constant booing from the crowd, who began chanting "Who Are You?" during his walk-on and after his first three darts which was a maximum 180, he put his finger to his mouth at the crowd which caused the crowd to boo him almost every time he threw his darts. Despite beating Anderson, losses to Fitton and Painter eliminated him at the group stage.

Nicholson earned qualification for the 2009 PDC World Darts Championship through the DPA rankings. He destroyed Adrian Gray in the first round, winning all nine legs for a three sets to nil victory. He then upset world number 6 Adrian Lewis in the second round 4-3 and then came from 2 sets down to beat world number 11 Dennis Priestley 4-2 to advance to the quarter finals in another upset. In the quarter-finals, he lost to world number 3 at the time, James Wade but his tournament performance lifted him into the top 50 on the PDC Order of Merit.

After his performance in the World Championship, Nicholson decided to leave the DPA and play in the PDC Pro Tour in an attempt to qualify for the UK Open. After a slow start, his last 16 place in the Southern Regional finals ensured his qualification for the tournament. He faced Scottish player Gary Anderson in the second round and was victorious 6 legs to 4. He then however lost 9-7 to pub qualifier Ken Mather where afterwards Nicholson's relationship with the crowd soured further, claiming Mather's crowd has repeatedly shouted out while he was throwing. After the match as the crowd chanted "who are you" directed at Nicholson, he responded using profanity towards the crowd which he was later fined for by the DRA.

Nicholson reached the semi-final of the PDPA Players Championship Barnsley 2, defeating Gary Mawson, Mark Dudbridge, John MaGowan, Justin Pipe and Denis Ovens before losing out to Colin Osborne the eventual winner. Nicholson did not enter to qualification procedure for the Las Vegas Desert Classic and failed to qualify for the World Matchplay.

2010

In 2010, Nicholson claimed his first PDC title, The Totesport Player's Championship. He had to play the quarter-final, the semi-final and the final in the same day. In the quarter-final he defeated Adrian Lewis 9-7. He then caused a sensation by overcoming reigning champion Phil Taylor 10-9 in the semi-finals, and followed this up with a 13-11 victory over Mervyn King in the final. During the latter stages of the tournament, the crowd started to support Nicholson due to his efforts against higher ranked and more experienced opponents (in particular Taylor), and as a result he relaxed his behaviour leading many pundits such as Alan Warriner-Little to suggest that he might give up the 'bad boy' image and just be himself. In March 2010, he moved into the top 16 of the PDC Order of merit for the first time. In the UK Open 2010, he beat Kirk Shepherd 9-6 in the third round, but lost 7-9 to Gary Anderson in the fourth round. On his World Matchplay debut, he lost 3-10 to Steve Beaton in the first round.

2011

In the 2011 World Championship, Nicholson continued his poor run of form, only reaching the second round. He won his first title since January 2010 by winning the Crawley Players Championship (1) by defeating Adrian Lewis 6-4. He also came through a tough semi final clash with Gary Anderson defeating him 6-5.

At the 2011 UK Open, Nicholson won final-leg deciders against Gary Anderson in round 4, and Phil Taylor in round 5, to reach the quarter-finals. He lost 7-10 to eventual champion James Wade.

At the 2011 World Matchplay, Nicholson defeated Colin Osborne in the first round to secure a second-round match with Raymond van Barneveld.

2012

Nicholson made it to the last 16 of the 2012 World Championship by recording 3-1 and 4-0 victories over Mensur Suljović and Alan Tabern respectively. He next played Belgian Kim Huybrechts and won the first set, before losing 12 of the next 14 legs to exit the tournament 1-4. He only hit 21% of his doubles in the match.

Nicholson partnered Simon Whitlock again for the 2012 PDC World Cup of Darts to try to improve on the semi-final the pair reached in 2010. Together they enjoyed comfortable victories over Ireland, Belgium and the Netherlands to indeed better 2010 and reach their first World Cup final, where they played the English pair of Phil Taylor and Adrian Lewis. Australia found themselves 0–3 down in the final, meaning that Nicholson had to beat Lewis in the last singles match and then win the doubles to force the tie to a sudden-death leg for the World Cup crown. Australia won both of the matches 7–4 and the sudden-death leg proved to be a tense affair as Whitlock and Nicholson both missed two darts each to secure the title, with Lewis hitting the winning double for England. After the match Nicholson vowed that Australia would win the title in the future.

Feud with Phil Taylor

In the 2011 UK Open, Nicholson defeated Taylor in the last 16, and supposedly waved goodbye to him. While being interviewed at that year's World Matchplay, Nicholson spoke of Taylor's reaction and stated that when they meet again, if Phil doesn't bring his 'A' game he will "put him to bed". Nicholson defended the gesture saying that he was 'I was waving bye-bye to the demons which had dogged me in too many televised tournaments'. The comments garnered much media attention. Taylor reacted angrily to Nicholson's comments, telling BBC Radio Stoke, "I think he's very, very silly." Taylor added that Nicholson "has a big mouth and won't keep it shut". He played Taylor in an eagerly anticipated match at the 2011 European Darts Championships and was beaten 10-7, despite being 7-6 ahead. He was then defeated at the World Grand Prix by Phil Taylor by 3 sets to nil.

CM Punk Association

During his walk-on for the Barneveld match, Nicholson mimicked WWE wrestler CM Punk by having X's marked on his hands and also lifted up a Nexus scarf. However, he lost the match, 13-9. Then when he met Phil Taylor he once again mimicked CM Punk during his walk-on, using his signature pose on one knee, shouting "It's clobberin' time" and punching the air. During Taylors walk-on, Nicholson sat Indian style on the stage, another trait of CM Punk, in an attempt to anger Taylor.

External links

• Profile and stats on Darts Database
• Official Website of The Asset Paul Nicholson
• Interview with Paul Nicholson

Paul Nicholson on Darts Players Info website