James Richardson (darts player)

James Richardson
Personal information
Full name James Robert Richardson
Nickname Ruthless
Born (1974-01-07) 7 January 1974
England
Home town Rushden, Northamptonshire
England
Darts information
Walk-on music Vindaloo by Fat Les
Organisation (see split in darts)
PDC 2011–
Current world ranking 69
PDC premier events - best performances
World Ch'ship Last 32: 2012
European Ch'ship Last 16: 2016
UK Open Last 64: 2015

James Richardson (born 7 January 1974) is an English darts player currently playing in Professional Darts Corporation events. He is best known for defeating five-time world champion Raymond van Barneveld in the first round of the 2012 PDC World Darts Championship.

Career

Richardson joined the PDC Pro Tour in 2011, after winning a tour card on the first day of Q School.[1] He reached his first Pro Tour final in Gladbeck on 23 October 2011, losing 6–2 to Colin Osborne.[2]

Richardson caused one of the biggest upsets in the history of the PDC World Championship by beating five-time World Champion, Raymond van Barneveld, 3–0 in the first round of the 2012 Championship. Van Barneveld led both the first and third sets 2–0 and had six darts at a double to win the third, but Richardson hit two 145 finishes to break Barneveld's throw in both sets. Richardson stated afterwards that the victory was "an absolute dream".[3] He then faced Belgian Kim Huybrechts in the second round, but couldn't find the form he showed in the first round as he was beaten 4–1.[4] In April, he earned a place in the Austrian Darts Open in Vienna by defeating Stuart Kellett in the UK qualifier.[5] He received a bye through the first round after Adrian Lewis pulled out of the event and then beat Peter Wright 6–3.[6] He saw off Michael van Gerwen in round three, before losing 6–3 to Dave Chisnall in the quarter-finals.[7] He also reached the German Darts Masters and defeated Wright 6–3 once more in the first round in Stuttgart.[8] Richardson played Wes Newton in round two and lost 6–4.[9]

Richardson qualified for his second World Championship by finishing 43rd on the 2012 ProTour Order of Merit,[10] claiming the 12th of 16 spots that were available for non-qualified players.[11] He threatened to cause a major shock for the second successive year by taking the opening set of his first round match against Andy Hamilton, but went on to lose 3–1 as he missed three darts to extend the match to a deciding set.[12] Richardson failed to qualify for the 2013 UK Open as he finished 142nd on the Order of Merit, outside of the top 96 who claimed their places.[13] His best result of 2013 was in the fifth Players Championship where he was edged out 6–5 by Peter Wright in the last 16.[14][15]

He failed to qualify for any of the European Tour events during 2014 and could only record a best of three last 32 defeats in his other events.[16] Richardson lost the £6,000 from his ranking he earned at the World Championships two years ago and dropped to world number 102, outside the top 64 who remain in the PDC.[17] He played in Q School and only reached the last 32 once during the four days to fail short of earning a new tour card, but he still had entry into UK Open and European Tour qualifiers as well as the Challenge Tour in 2015.[18]

Richardson reached the third round of the UK Open for the first time by seeing off Johnny Haines and Dean Stewart, but then lost 9–4 to Nathan Aspinall.[19] He reached the semi-finals of the seventh Challenge Tour event and was defeated 5–1 by Scott Dale.[20]

On the second day of 2016 Q School, Richardson won back his tour card by beating six players in a row.[21] A few days later he qualified for the first two European Tour events of the year and credited his resurgence in form to practicing with his son Joshua, who had recently won the BDO World Youth Championship.[22] He lost 6–1 to Terry Jenkins in the second round of the Dutch Darts Masters, but at the German Darts Masters he eliminated Andrew Gilding 6–1, Jenkins 6–2 and Adrian Lewis 6–3 to reach the quarter-finals of a PDC event for the first time in nearly four years.[23] Richardson averaged 99.25, but was defeated 6–2 by Peter Wright.[24] He was also knocked out in the second round of the Austrian Darts Open and European Darts Open as well as the first round of the International Darts Open.[25] This saw Richardson placed 31st on the European Order of Merit to make his debut in the European Championship.[26] He beat Jamie Caven 6–3 in the first round, before losing 10–4 to Kyle Anderson.[27]

World Championship results

PDC

Personal life

Richardson is married to wife Carolyn, with whom he has a son, Joshua (born 1998), and a daughter, Paige. He is a full-time bricklayer. Richardson is an Ipswich Town supporter, as well as his son.

References

  1. ↑ Qualifying School Day One PDC.tv
  2. ↑ Osborne Claims German Triumph PDC.tv
  3. ↑ "Barney rumbled at the Palace". Sky Sports. 18 December 2011. Retrieved 18 December 2011.
  4. ↑ "World Championship - Day Ten". PDC. Retrieved 28 December 2011.
  5. ↑ "European Tour 1 - UK Qualifier". PDC. 13 April 2012. Retrieved 24 April 2012.
  6. ↑ "Austrian Darts Open Day Two". PDC. 28 April 2012. Retrieved 28 April 2012.
  7. ↑ "2012 PDC European Tour Vienna Results". Darts Database. Retrieved 29 April 2012.
  8. ↑ "German Darts Masters - Day One". PDC. Retrieved 7 September 2012.
  9. ↑ "German Darts Masters - Day Two". PDC. Retrieved 9 September 2012.
  10. ↑ "ProTour Order of Merit". PDC. Archived from the original on 4 December 2012. Retrieved 4 December 2012.
  11. ↑ "2013 PDC World Championship Qualifiers". Darts Database. Retrieved 4 December 2012.
  12. ↑ "Ladbrokes WDC Day Three". PDC. Retrieved 16 December 2012.
  13. ↑ "Van Gerwen's Five Alive With Whitewash!". PDC. Retrieved 28 April 2013.
  14. ↑ "James Richardson 2013". Darts Database. Archived from the original on 5 December 2013. Retrieved 5 December 2013.
  15. ↑ "Wright Brilliant In Crawley". PDC. Retrieved 5 December 2013.
  16. ↑ "James Richardson 2014". Darts Database. Archived from the original on 1 December 2014. Retrieved 1 December 2014.
  17. ↑ "Order of Merit on 5 January 2015". PDC. Archived from the original on 8 January 2015. Retrieved 24 January 2015.
  18. ↑ "PDC Qualifying School Day Four". PDC. Retrieved 24 January 2015.
  19. ↑ "Coral UK Open Third Round". PDC. Retrieved 7 March 2015.
  20. ↑ "2015 PDC Challenge Tour England Results". Darts Database. Retrieved 14 November 2015.
  21. ↑ "James Richardson, Jonathan Worsley, Ted Evetts and Ryan Meikle win PDC Tour Cards". Sky Sports. Retrieved 17 January 2016.
  22. ↑ "ET1/2 UK Qualifier Results". PDC. Retrieved 17 January 2016.
  23. ↑ "Richardson Shocks Lewis In Munich". PDC. Retrieved 12 November 2016.
  24. ↑ "Van Gerwen Retains German Masters Title". PDC. Retrieved 12 November 2016.
  25. ↑ "James Richardson 2016". Darts Database. Archived from the original on 12 November 2016. Retrieved 12 November 2016.
  26. ↑ "2016 Pro Tour Order of Merit". PDC. Archived from the original on 12 November 2016. Retrieved 12 November 2016.
  27. ↑ "2016 European Championship Results". Darts Database. Retrieved 12 November 2016.
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