Martin Adams

Adams reached his second world final in 2007. He was number one seed for the second time in his career and put out Tony O'Shea, Co Stompé, Ted Hankey and Mervyn King in his run to the final where he faced qualifier Phill Nixon. The two oldest players in the tournament (they were both 50 years old) reached the final. Adams stormed into a 6–0 lead, before Nixon produced an incredible comeback to level the match. Just when it looked like Adams was heading for another dramatic defeat, having already missed four match darts, he went on to win all three legs in the final set to take the match 7–6 and finally claim the world title that he said he had been chasing for 14 years.

In the draw for the 2008 BDO World Championships, Adams was again paired with Nixon in the first round. In the match, Adams beat Nixon 3–0. After the game, Adams was clearly emotional in an interview following his victory, citing the memories of the 2007 final as the reason (the first time he had won comfortably).[5] In the second round he came up against Martin Phillips. It was easy pickings for Adams, who cruised to a 4–0 victory with Phillips paying the price for many missed doubles. In the quarter-finals he played a fiercely fought match against Masters champion Robert Thornton, whom he led at one time 4–2. Thornton fought back to make it 4–4 but Adams eventually took control of his visible nerves to win 5–4. Adams went on to lose in the semi-finals to number-one seed Mark Webster, who eventually won the tournament.

Adams defeated Scott Waites in the World Masters final of 2008 to record his first Masters victory and his second major (after the 2007 Worlds), in another epic 7–6 encounter.

At the 2009 World Championship, he reached the semifinal for the fifth successive year, where he was narrowly defeated by eventual champion Ted Hankey. Later that year, he won his second successive Masters title, once again by a 7–6 scoreline in the final, over Robbie Green after Green led by 6–3 and had a dart for the title. This win made Adams the first man to retain the Masters title since Bob Anderson in 1988. Adams joined Eric Bristow, Richie Burnett, Bob Anderson and John Walton as the fifth player to win them in the same season.[6]

In the 2010 World Championship he beat a visibly nervous Anthony Fleet in the first round without losing a leg, followed by further comfortable victories over Daryl Gurney and Garry Thompson. In the semi-final he let a 5–1 lead slip over Welshman Martin Phillips before finally winning 6–4. He then defeated unseeded Dave Chisnall 7–5 in the final to win a second World Championship in a rematch of their first round match a year earlier.

In February 2010 he won the Dutch Open title for the first time in his long career. The England captain triumphed 3–1 over international team-mate Scott Waites in the men's singles final in Veldhoven.[7]

Adams won his third successive World Masters title in 2010 by defeating Stuart Kellett 7–3 in the final, becoming only the second player in history to win three consecutive World Masters titles, the other being Bob Anderson.

Adams reached his fourth World Championship final in the 2011 tournament, defeating Tony West, John Walton, Ross Smith and Martin Phillips to get there. The match against Walton was especially memorable as it went to a sudden death leg, which Adams won despite Walton having the advantage of throw. Adams played Dean Winstanley in the final, the 3rd seed - marking the only time Adams played a seed in either the 2010 or 2011 World Championship - and won 7–5 to become the first player since Raymond van Barneveld to successfully defend the BDO World Championship.

Later in January, Adams successfully defended his Dutch Open crown, once again defeating Winstanley in a close final (3–2 in sets). Adams then reached the singles final at the WDF World Cup where he was defeated by Scott Waites, and also won the doubles event with Waites. At the 2011 World Masters, the three-time defending champion was beaten by eventual champion Waites 5–3 in the semi-finals.

Adams was the top seed at the 2012 World Championship. He beat Scott Mitchell and Gary Stone without dropping a set, but was defeated 5–2 in the quarter-final by former runner-up Tony O'Shea, who went on to reach the final.

Adams had a difficult season in 2012-13, losing in his first match at the Masters 3–1 to Rune David before being eliminated in the group stage of Zuiderduin Masters without winning either of his matches. At the 2013 World Championship, Adams was beaten 3–2 by teenage débutante Jimmy Hendriks.

During this period of losing to Rune David and Jimmy Hendricks in the latter end of 2012 and the early part of 2013, Adams had been very much focused on his personal life. He lost weight and gave up smoking. Adams eventually refound his form and, entering the newly formed preliminary stage at the 2014 World Championship, Adams reached the quarter-finals with comfortable wins over David Cameron, Tony O'Shea (in which O'Shea failed to win a leg) and Ross Montgomery before losing 5–2 to Jan Dekker. Adams got back to world number two and won a number of key tournaments. At the 2014 Winmau World Masters, Adams narrowly missed out on reaching the final for the first time since 2010 as he let a 5–2 semi-final lead slip against Jamie Hughes, also missing 10 match darts in the ninth set.

He opened his 2015 World Championship campaign with a 3–1 victory over Jan Dekker, setting up a tie against Jim Widmayer in the second round. He whitewashed Widmayer 4–0 to advance to the quarter-final stage, where he would face Ross Montgomery. He comfortably beat Montgomery 5–1 to go through to the semi-finals, to play Glen Durrant, who he edged out 6–5 to reach the final. Adams had a near nine darter hitting the treble 20 7 times and hitting the treble 19 but missed the double 12, if he had hit it, he would have been the first person to hit a 9 darter at the BDO World Championship in 25 years since Paul Lim in 1990. In the final, he was narrowly defeated by Scott Mitchell 7–6 in a deciding set.

In November 2015, Adams made his first PDC tournament appearance since 2007, at the 2015 Grand Slam of Darts, where topped his group with three wins of out of three, with victories against Ian White and two former BDO World Champions in Jelle Klaasen and Steve Beaton.[8] In the last 16, Adams faced Kim Huybrechts where he narrowly lost 10-9. Adams rallied from 6-3 and 9-7 deficits to force a decisive leg which Huybrechts won on a 13 darter. In his post-match interview, Adams praised the crowds and said he would likely return to the tournament next year if invited.[9]

Adams was the number two seed going into the 2016 World Championship, but was handed a tough first round draw against Canadian Jeff Smith, who had reached the semi finals the previous year. Ultimately, Adams was whitewashed for the first time ever at Lakeside, suffering a 3 sets to nil defeat. He recovered from this setback by winning the Dutch Open just a few weeks later, beating Danny Noppert in the final.

At the 2016 Grand Slam of Darts, Adams was grouped with Michael van Gerwen, Brendan Dolan and Max Hopp. He lost all three matches and finished bottom of the group. To date, this marks his last appearance at a PDC televised tournament.

Adams was the 5th seed for the 2017 World Championship, and was drawn to face the winner of a preliminary round match, which Ryan Joyce won beating Dennis Nilsson. Adams narrowly defeated Joyce 3 sets to 2 in a close encounter to set up a rematch against Jeff Smith, who had whitewashed him the previous year. Adams was able to avenge his loss with a convincing 4-1 over the Canadian. He would eventually go out at the quarter-finals stage to 4th seed Jamie Hughes, in a thrilling 5-4 defeat.

Adams qualified for the 2018 World Championship, but was not seeded and thus was handed a difficult first round draw against the number two seed Mark McGeeney. Despite a gallant effort, Adams would lose 3 sets to 2 in a close match.

Adams failed to qualify for the 2019 World Championship, making it the first that he would miss the event since making his debut in 1994. It ended a run of 25 consecutive appearances. He did, however, win his first ranking tournament for nearly three years by clinching the Italian Open.

In the 2020 World Championship, Adams lost 3-2 in the first round to Scott Waites.

• 1994: Quarter Final (lost to Magnus Caris 2–4)
• 1995: Semi Final (lost to Raymond van Barneveld 4–5)
• 1996: Quarter Final (lost to Steve Beaton 1–4)
• 1997: 1st Round (lost to Roger Carter 1–3)
• 1998: 1st Round (lost to Robbie Widdows 2–3)
• 1999: Quarter Final (lost to Chris Mason 4–5)
• 2000: 1st Round (lost to Steve Coote 2–3)
• 2001: 2nd Round (lost to Ronnie Baxter 1–3)
• 2002: Semi Final (lost to Tony David 4–5)
• 2003: 2nd Round (lost to Bob Taylor 1–3)
• 2004: 1st Round (lost to Ritchie Davies 2–3)
• 2005: Runner-up (lost to Raymond van Barneveld 2–6)
• 2006: Semi Final (lost to Raymond van Barneveld 2–6)
• 2007: Winner (defeated Phill Nixon 7–6)
• 2008: Semi Final (lost to Mark Webster 4–6)
• 2009: Semi Final (lost to Ted Hankey 4–6)
• 2010: Winner (defeated Dave Chisnall 7–5)
• 2011: Winner (defeated Dean Winstanley 7–5)
• 2012: Quarter Final (lost to Tony O'Shea 2–5)
• 2013: 1st Round (lost to Jimmy Hendriks 2–3)
• 2014: Quarter Final (lost to Jan Dekker 2–5)
• 2015: Runner-Up (lost to Scott Mitchell 6–7)
• 2016: 1st Round (lost to Jeff Smith 0–3)
• 2017: Quarter Final (lost to Jamie Hughes 4–5)
• 2018: 1st Round (lost to Mark McGeeney 2–3)
• 2020: 1st Round (lost to Scott Waites 2–3)