Simon WHITLOCK

2012 European Darts Champion Simon Whitlock has established himself as arguably the best darts player ever born in the southern hemisphere. The Australian is a regular threat in every event he plays, having reached three major finals before taking victory in the ParyPoker.net European Championships.

The Wizard has won a whole host of titles on both sides of the globe and has become a firm fan’s favourite after reaching World Championship finals in both the BDO and PDC.

He has also been runner-up in the Premier League and World Cup of Darts.

Whitlock spent a year in the PDC before joining the BDO, making the semi-finals of the World Championship and International Darts League in 2005.

In 2008, he went one step further and reached the World Championship final but was beaten by Mark Webster.

The Beard to be Feared rejoined the PDC in 2009 and was soon charging up the rankings with some stunning performances. None more so than his run to the final of the 2010 World Championship where he made a big impression, beating a number of higher ranked opponents on the way.

During that tournament Whitlock consistently entertained the crowd with high checkouts, including two 170s, one of which was in the final.

Ruthless finishing has become The Wizard’s trademark. He had a brilliant 50% double success rate during the 2010 Premier League, an incredible feat considering the tournament runs over 14 weeks. He made the semi-finals of the Premier League that year as he continued to make the latter stages of major events.

Later that year, Whitlock reached the semi-finals of the World Matchplay, where he lost to the same player who had beaten him at the Alexandra Palace, Phil Taylor.

He ended an impressive year with a run to another semi-final, this time at the inaugural World Cup of Darts, where he represented Australia with Paul Nicholson.

Whitlock was selected to play in the prestigious Premier League again in 2011. He also became the first player to hit perfect nine dart finishes in successive ProTour events.

In 2012, Whitlock enjoyed another brilliant run at the World Championship when he reached the semi-final, despite playing the tournament with a broken ankle.

He followed that up by reaching the final of the next two televised majors. Whitlock, partnered again by Nicholson, missed out on World Cup glory for Australia in a final leg shoot-out to the English pairing of Taylor and Adrian Lewis.

He then finished runner-up to Taylor in the Premier League, after hitting a nine-dart finish against Andy Hamilton in the semi-finals in front of 10,000 delighted fans at London’s O2 Arena.

In September 2012, Whitlock ended his wait for televised title when he defeated Wez Newton 11-5 to be crowned as European Darts Champion.

A year later ‘The Wizard’ lost out to Adrian Lewis in the final of the same tournament, before reaching the semi-finals of the 2014 World Championship, which helped him move up to a career-high third in the world rankings.