Simon Whitlock

Simon Whitlock
Personal information
Full name	Simon Whitlock
Nickname	The Wizard
Born	(1969-03-03) 3 March 1969 Cessnock, Australia
Home town	Hornsby
Darts information
Playing darts since	1984
Darts	22g Winmau Simon Whitlock
Laterality	Right-handed
Walk-on music	Down Under by Men at Work
Organisation (see split in darts)
BDO	2004 - 2009
PDC	2002 - 2003 2009 - present
Current world ranking	5
WDF major events – best performances
World Ch'ship	Runner Up 2008
World Masters	Quarter Finalist 2007
World Trophy	Round 2 (3) 2005, 2006, 2007
Int. Darts League	Semi Finalist (2) 2005, 2006
PDC premier events – best performances
World Ch'ship	Runner Up 2010
World Matchplay	Semi Final 2010
World Grand Prix	Last 16 2010, 2011
UK Open	Last 16 2010
Grand Slam	Quarter Final 2008, 2009
European Ch'ship	Semi Final 2011
Premier League	Semi Final 2010World Cup
Desert Classic	Round 1 2009
PC Finals	Last 16 2011
Other tournament wins
Tournament	Years
Oceanic Masters Australian Masters Australian Grand Masters Coota Pacific Masters Wattle Time Memorial Tournament Castle Hill New Zealand Masters Japan Open Goulburn Open 1 Mittagong RSL Open Oak Flats Soundwaves Open Pine Rivers Open Russell Stewart Classic Southern Illawarra Wagga Classic Newcastle Classic Goulburn Open 2 Viva Las Vegas NZ Queensland Open Critereon Hotel Open Bobby Bourne Memorial Players Championship Players Ch'ship Derby Players Ch'ship Wigan Players Ch'ship Salzburg Players Ch'ship Dublin	2002, 2010 2002, 2003, 2006, 2007 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007 2004 2004, 2006, 2008, 2004 2005 2005 2006 2007, 2009 2007, 2009 2007 2007 2007, 2009 2007, 2009 2007 2009 2009 2009 2009 2009 2010 2010 2010 2010 2010

Simon Whitlock (born 3 March 1969) is an Australian professional darts player who plays in Professional Darts Corporation tournaments, although he did have a spell playing in the rival organisation, the British Darts Organisation. He uses the nickname The Wizard for his matches. His walk-on music is Down Under by Men At Work.

His greatest career achievements to date were finishing runner-up at the 2008 BDO World Darts Championship and the 2010 PDC World Darts Championship. He claimed that the prize money gained from the tournament which included money for the highest checkout (joint with Taylor) would allow him to move over to the UK from Australia and compete on the PDC Pro Tour.

His defeat also made him the first, and so far only, player to have never won a World Championship after reaching both the BDO and PDC World Championship Final.

Early darts career

He reached the last 16 of the 2003 PDC World Darts Championship and also the semi-finals of the 2005 BDO World Darts Championship but lost heavily 0–5 to Martin Adams. In other events, he has also reached the semi-finals of the International Darts League in 2005 (losing to Mervyn King) and 2006 (losing to Raymond van Barneveld).

In 2007, the PDC set up an Australian Grand Prix – a series of tournaments in Whitlock's native country, and Whitlock won the first two events. The eventual winner of the AGP would have received automatic qualification for the 2008 PDC World Darts Championship; however, Whitlock remained a WDF/BDO player and chose to compete in the BDO World Championship instead.

Whitlock showed great form throughout the tournament, beating Edwin Max and Fabian Roosenbrand before beating former world champion Ted Hankey (who would win the title again the following year) 5–0 in the quarter-finals. He then beat Cumbria's Brian Woods to reach the final of the 2008 BDO World Darts Championship, where he was beaten by number one seed Mark Webster 7–5. He was the first Australian to the reach the final since Tony David won the tournament in 2002.

Whitlock entered the 2009 BDO World Darts Championship as the number 12 seed and reached the second round, beating Mark Barilli in the first round before losing to Darryl Fitton.

Return to PDC

After many weeks of speculation, Whitlock returned to the PDC on 19 March 2009. He began playing in the AGP circuit where he won eight tournaments. He qualified for the Las Vegas Desert Classic but lost in the first round of the televised stages against Terry Jenkins.

He played in the 2009 Grand Slam of Darts and performed well in the Group stages winning all 3 of his games against Ted Hankey, Wayne Mardle and Scott Waites. In the Last 16 he thrashed 1996 BDO World Champion Steve Beaton 9–1 but lost to eventual runner up Scott Waites in a tight encounter.

At the 2010 PDC World Championship, Whitlock made a great impression, beating Colin Osborne (3–1), Wayne Jones (4–0) and Terry Jenkins (4–2), before going on to beat James Wade 5–3 in an epic encounter, setting up a semi final clash against Raymond van Barneveld which he won 6-5, after falling 4-2 behind. In the final against Phil Taylor, he lost the first set before winning the next two, including his second 170 checkout of the tournament, but Taylor would also make his second 170 checkout later in the match and went on to win 7-3.

During the championships, Whitlock made a televised post-match appeal for sponsorship during a Sky Sports interview. As a result of his performances, he did earn a sponsorship deal, enabling him to move to the UK and compete on the PDC Pro Tour full-time. After his run to the World Championship final, it was announced that he would be competing in the 2010 Premier League Darts as a wild card. He finished second in the table, therefore qualified for the semi-finals, after having beaten Raymond van Barneveld (twice), Adrian Lewis, Mervyn King (twice), Terry Jenkins and James Wade in the process. His run came to an end in the semis where he was beaten 8-6 by eventual runner-up Wade.

Whitlock's trademark in darts is his big finishing and superb checking out. In the 2010 Premier League, Whitlock had a 50% success rate in checking out, stretching 14 weeks.

On his World Matchplay debut in 2010, Whitlock reached the semi-finals before losing to Phil Taylor. At the 2010 Grand Slam of Darts, he lost all three of his group matches against Dave Chisnall, Colin Osborne and Robert Thornton.

Whitlock represented his native Australia alongside Paul Nicholson during the inaugural PDC World Cup of Darts in December 2010, losing out in the semi-finals to the Welsh pairing of Mark Webster and Barrie Bates.

2011 onwards

At the 2011 PDC World Darts Championship, Whitlock defeated Steve Evans 3–0 in the first round, and Denis Ovens 4–0 in the second round, before losing 2–4 to Vincent van der Voort in the third round. He competed in the 2011 Premier League, again as a wild card, but failed to qualify for the play-offs after finishing sixth.

During the 2011 PDC Pro Tour, he became the first player to hit nine-dart finishes in successive Pro Tour events. His first came in the Bobby Bourn Memorial Players Championship in Barnsley on 12 June, during his win against South African Devon Petersen. His second came in the Dutch Darts Trophy event in Nuland six days later, against Nigel Heydon.

At the 2011 World Matchplay, Whitlock defeated Peter Wright 10–7 and Denis Ovens 13–1 to reach the quarter-finals, where he played Andy Hamilton. Whitlock was leading 15–8 and within one leg of victory, when Hamilton fought back, winning nine consecutive legs to take the match 17–15.

Whitlock broke a bone in his ankle while playing in Benidorm in November 2011 and was forced to withdraw from the 2011 Grand Slam of Darts. He did not play again until the 2012 World Championship and, with only a weeks practice behind him, produced a stunning performance to beat Dennis Smith 3–0, with an average of 105. He continued his form to ease past Steve Beaton 4–1 in the second round. Whitlock let a 3–0 lead slip to 3–3 in the last 16 against Michael van Gerwen but held his nerve to win the deciding set, and then comfortably beat Gary Anderson 5–1 to set up a semi-final clash with Andy Hamilton. He led 5–3, to need just one more set to reach his second PDC World Championship final, but his opponent raised his game and Whitlock would bow out of the tournament. Whitlock said after the match that he had had a fantastic tournament, considering he wasn't supposed to play.

Whitlock partnered Nicholson 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. Whitlock lost both of his singles matches in the final, but Nicholson won his final match and the duo won the doubles to mean the title would be decided on a sudden-death leg. Whitlock and Nicholson both missed two darts each to win the match, with Adrian Lewis hitting the winning double for England.

He was a Sky Sports pick for the 2012 Premier League Darts and drew 7–7 with Raymond van Barneveld on the opening night. He got to the semi-final of the first 2012 UK Open qualifier before losing out to Kim Huybrechts 6–4 after earlier beating Prakash Jiwa, Johnny Haines, Mark Frost, Alex Roy, Colin Osborne and Sean White.He reached the semi-final of the second 2012 UK Open Qualifier beating Andy Smith, Brian Woods, Shaun Griffiths, Dave Honey, and Mick Todd, before losing to Michael van Gerwen 6-0.

Personal life

Whitlock has two sons, Mason and Locky, from his marriage to Peta, which ended shortly before his run to the 2010 PDC World Championship final.

As of July 2011, Whitlock is in a relationship with German darts player Stefanie Lück.

Career finals

PDC premier event finals: 1 (1 runner-up)

Legend World Championship (0–1) World Matchplay (0–0) Premier League (0–0) Other (0–0) Outcome No. Year Championship Opponent in the final Score Runner-up 1. 2010 World Darts Championship Phil Taylor 3–7 (s) World Championship Performances BDO 2005 - Semi-finalist (lost to Martin Adams 0-5) 2006 - Last 16 (lost to Paul Hanvidge 2-4) 2007 - Last 16 (lost to Niels de Ruiter 3-4) 2008 - Runner Up (lost to Mark Webster 5-7) 2009 - Last 16 (lost to Darryl Fitton 2-4) PDC 2003 (PDC) - Last 16 (lost to Richie Burnett 3-5) 2010 (PDC) - Runner-up (lost to Phil Taylor 3-7) 2011 (PDC) - Last 16 (lost to Vincent van der Voort 2-4) 2012 (PDC) - Semi-final (lost to Andy Hamilton 5-6) References External links Official website Player profile on Simon Whitlock from Dartsdatabase