Darryl Fitton

Darryl Fitton (born 5 May 1962 in Stockport, England) is an English professional darts player. He is nicknamed The Dazzler and comes to the stage dancing to the Madness song "One Step Beyond" wearing sunglasses. It is one of the most popular walk-ons with the audience. Before embarking on a career in darts, Fitton worked as an undertaker.

Darts career

Fitton's first TV appearance was against Peter Manley in the 1997 PDC World Matchplay. However, he lost 8-6, and has not made another PDC appearance since.

Fitton debuted in the BDO World Championship in 2003 as a qualifier, but lost 1-3 to fellow qualifier John Burton in the first round. In 2004, he returned to Lakeside, again hitting a 180 score with his very first turn. He reached the quarter-finals before being beaten by Andy Fordham, who went on to win the title. The following year, he reached the semi-finals, this time losing out to Raymond van Barneveld in a hard-fought 5-3 scoreline, as van Barneveld went on to win the title that year. After that, Darryl did not win a match at the World Championship for the next two years, losing to Martin Adams and Phill Nixon in the first round of the 2006 and 2007 championships respectively. Fitton did reach the final of the Winmau World Masters in 2007, leading Robert Thornton 5-2 before Thornton hit back to win 7-5.

In the 2008 World Championship, Fitton got beyond the first round for the first time since 2005 when he bossed his match against Davy Richardson, running out a 3-1 winner with a 94.86 average. In the second round he put in one of the most dominant performances of the World Championship when he averaged over 100 in a 4-0 hammering of Gary Robson. However he lost 5-1 in the quarter-finals to number-one seed (and eventual champion) Mark Webster.

Darryl is known as a consistently high scorer, he once held the record for best average in a full, televised match. His 6-0 win against Davy Richardson in the 2004 International Darts League saw him hit a three-dart average of 114.15. This was, at the time, the highest three-dart average on a televised tournament.

Fitton reached the semi finals of the 2009 BDO World Championship, beating Mark Salmon in the first round and then defeated 12th seed Simon Whitlock in round two. He followed up with a 5-4 win over fourth seed Scott Waites before bowing out to his friend Tony O'Shea in a 6-4 defeat. Fitton then claimed the 2009 Dutch Open title, beating Willy van de Wiel in the final and then the Isle of Man Open title, beating World Champion Ted Hankey in the final.

Fitton won the 2009 Zuiderduin Masters beating Martin Adams in the final 5-2. He also achieved the magic nine dart finish against Ross Montgomery and was given £4,000 which he donated to a local Charity. In the 2010 BDO World Championship, he was beaten by eventual finalist Dave Chisnall 3-1 in the first round.

Fitton also lost in the first round at Lakeside in 2011, 3-0 against second seed Stuart Kellett winning just one leg. Fitton managed to retain some form later in the year by reaching his second Zuiderduin Masters final, where he narrowly lost to Scott Waites having had two darts to win. However, Fitton would once again lose in the first round at Lakeside in 2012 losing 3-1 against fourth seed Robbie Green.

After a quiet 2012 season, Fitton entered the 2013 BDO World Darts Championship as the 16th seed. He narrowly defeated Benito van de Pas 3-2 in the first round to secure his first win at Lakeside since 2009. He then caused a big upset by defeating top seed Stephen Bunting 4-2 in the second round. In the quarter-final, Fitton was defeated 5-2 by Wesley Harms. Fitton's form improved after this but his 2014 World Championship was ended in the first round by Tony Eccles, in Eccles's last tournament before being convicted of child grooming. The following year, Fitton reached the quarter-finals again beating previous year's runner-up Alan Norris en route, before losing to Glen Durrant.

In 2015, Fitton hit a nine-dart finish in the Dutch Open final against Martin Adams, although he ended up losing the match. He also reached the final of the Jersey Open losing to Scott Mitchell.

In the 2016 BDO World Darts Championship, seeded seventh, Fitton was defeated 3-2 in the first round by Dennis Harbour.

After that, he won the 2016 BDO World Trophy by defeating Peter Machin in the final 13-9. With this win, Fitton qualified for the 2016 Grand Slam of Darts

Fitton was knocked out of the 2018 BDO World Darts Championship in the second round, losing to Glen Durrant 4–1

World Championship Results

Career finals

BDO major finals: 4 (2 title, 2 runners-up)

Legend

Winmau World Masters (0–1)

Zuiderduin Masters (1–1)

BDO World Trophy (1–0)

Outcome	No.	Year	Championship	Opponent in the final	Score[note 1]
Runner-up	1.	2007	Winmau World Masters	Robert Thornton	5-7 (s)
Winner	1.	2009	Zuiderduin Masters	Martin Adams	4-2 (s)
Runner-up	2.	2011	Zuiderduin Masters	Scott Waites	4-5 (s)
Winner	1.	2016	BDO World Trophy	Peter Machin	13-9 (l)

1. ↑ (l) = score in legs, (s) = score in sets.

Performance timeline

Nine-dart finishes

Darryl Fitton televised nine-dart finishes

Date	Opponent	Tournament	Method	Prize
13 December 2009	Ross Montgomery	Zuiderduin Masters	2 x T20, T19; 3 x T20; 2 x T20, D12
2 February 2015	Martin Adams	Dutch Open	3 x T20; 3 x T20; T20, T19, D12

High averages

Darryl Fitton's televised average of 114.15 was the world record until Phil Taylor broke it at the 2008 European Championship.

Darryl Fitton televised high averages

Average	Date	Opponent	Tournament	Stage	Score
114.15	May 2004	Davy Richardson	2004 International Darts League	Last 32 group	6-0 (l)

References

External links

• Darryl Fitton's Official Website
• Profile and stats on Darts Database