Michael Barnard (darts player)

Michael Barnard (born 8 October 1976 from Sidcup, Greater London) is an English professional darts player who plays in the Professional Darts Corporation events.

Michael Barnard
Personal information
NicknameThe Dinosaur
Born (1976-10-08) 8 October 1976
Barking, Greater London, England
Home townSidcup, Greater London
Darts information
Playing darts since1991
Darts23 Gram One80 Signature
LateralityRight-handed
Walk-on music"Walk the Dinosaur" by Was (Not Was)
Organisation (see split in darts)
PDC2003–
Current world ranking143 (3 January 2021)[1]
PDC premier events – best performances
World Ch'shipLast 64: 2009, 2019
UK OpenLast 32: 2006, 2009
Players Ch'ship FinalsLast 64: 2018
Other tournament wins
British Teenage Open 1994
World Youth Masters 1991
PDC Challenge Tour 2018 (x3)

Career

A winner of the World Youth Masters in 1991, Barnard joined the PDC circuit in late 2003 taking part in UK Open regionals, reaching the semi finals of the Scottish Regional and the quarter finals of the North West Regional. His performances helped him progress to the third round of the 2004 UK Open automatically where he narrowly lost 8-7 to Andy Jenkins. He then reached a semi final in the Midlands Regional for the 2005 UK Open as he entered the third round automatically once more, losing to Roland Scholten. He followed this with a quarter final showing in the Open Holland.

Barnard started his 2006 UK Open campaign in the second round, beating Nigel Langton 8-1. He then beat Lee Palfreyman in the third round to reach the fourth round for the very first time. He was drawn against Ronnie Baxter and lost 11-7. Poor form forced Barnard to begin his 2007 UK Open campaign in the first round where he beat Vernon Sheppard but lost in the second round to Paul Williams. He then lost in the Preliminary Round in the 2008 UK Open, losing to Paul Cooper.

Besides from the UK Open, Barnard had failed to qualify for any of the other PDC majors. This run ended when he won one of eight places to qualify for the 2009 PDC World Darts Championship. He was beaten by Andy Hamilton in round one. Having finished the 2011 season ranked too low to retain his PDC tour card automatically, Barnard entered the PDC Q School in January 2012. On the second day Barnard earned his tour card for 2012 and 2013 by beating John Bowles 6-2 in the final stage.[2]

In May 2012, Barnard earned a place in the German Darts Championship in Berlin by defeating Adrian Gray and James Richardson in the UK qualifier.[3] He received a bye through the first round when Gary Anderson withdrew and then lost to Co Stompé in round two 6–5.[4] He reached the last 32 of three other ProTour events during 2012, but could never advance beyond this stage.[5] Barnard went into 2013 ranked world number 77.[6]

Barnard failed to qualify for the 2013 UK Open as he finished 115th on the Order of Merit, outside of the top 96 who claimed their places.[7] He reached the main stage of two European Tour events during the year, the first being a 6–2 opening round defeat to Andy Smith at the German Darts Championship.[8] The other was at the Dutch Darts Masters where Barnard defeated Stuart Kellett 6–3 and Kevin Painter 6–4 to record his best finish of 2013 by reaching the last 16.[5] He faced world number two Michael van Gerwen and was defeated 6–1.[9] Barnard once again entered Q School to remain on the PDC Tour as he was ranked 82nd in the world after the 2014 World Championship outside the top 64 on the Order of Merit.[10][11] His best result during the four days came on the final day when he lost in the last 16 5–3 to Jason Hogg, a result which saw him finish inside the top 24 on the Q School Order of Merit to earn a fresh two-year tour card.[12]

Barnard was beaten 5–1 by Stuart Kellett in the second round of the 2014 UK Open.[13] He qualified for the Dutch Darts Masters and lost 6–5 to Vincent van der Voort in the first round.[14] Barnard reached the last 32 of Pro Tour events three times during the year but was knocked out on each occasion.[5] He participated in the 2015 German Darts Championship, but was knocked out 6–5 by Joe Murnan in the opening round.[15] Barnard's deepest run in 2015 came at the 15th Players Championship where he was eliminated in the last 16 6–5 by Devon Petersen.[5]

Barnard qualified for the 2016 International Darts Open, but lost 6–5 to Mike Holz in the first round.[16] He reached the final of the 13th Challenge Tour event and was beaten 5–1 by Rob Cross.[17]

World Championship results

PDC

Performance timeline

Tournament20042005200620072008200920102011201220132014201520162017201820192020
PDC World Championship Did not qualify 1R Did not qualify 2R DNQ
UK Open 3R 3R 4R 1R PR 4R 3R 1R PR DNQ 2R Did not qualify 3R 1R 1R
Players Championship Finals Did not qualify 1R DNQ

References

  1. "PDC Order of Merit". PDC.tv. 3 January 2021. Retrieved 3 January 2021.
  2. "Planet Darts | Latest News | Newsdesk | Newsdesk | Qualifying School - Day Two". Pdc.tv. Archived from the original on 23 January 2012. Retrieved 20 January 2012.
  3. "2012 PDC European Tour Berlin UK Qualifier Results". Darts Database. Retrieved 29 May 2012.
  4. "German Darts Champs Day Two". PDC. Archived from the original on 26 June 2012. Retrieved 23 June 2012.
  5. "Michael Barnard 2012". Darts Database. Archived from the original on 7 December 2012. Retrieved 7 December 2012.
  6. "Order of Merit on 1 January 2013". PDC. Archived from the original on 9 February 2013. Retrieved 9 February 2013.
  7. "Van Gerwen's Five Alive With Whitewash!". PDC. Retrieved 28 April 2013.
  8. "2013 PDC German Darts Championship Results". Darts Database. Retrieved 28 November 2013.
  9. "2013 PDC Dutch Darts Masters Results". Darts Database. Retrieved 28 November 2013.
  10. "Order of Merit on 2 January 2014". PDC. Archived from the original on 2 January 2014. Retrieved 13 January 2014.
  11. "2014 PDC Tour Card Qualifying School Entry List". Darts Database. Retrieved 13 January 2014.
  12. "2014 PDC Qualifying School Day Four". PDC. Archived from the original on 19 January 2014. Retrieved 18 January 2014.
  13. "Coral UK Open - Friday Afternoon". PDC. 7 March 2014.
  14. "2014 PDC Dutch Darts Masters Results". Darts Database. Retrieved 1 December 2014.
  15. "German Darts Championship Day One". PDC. Retrieved 18 November 2015.
  16. "HappyBet International Darts Open Day One". PDC. Archived from the original on 18 October 2016. Retrieved 27 October 2016.
  17. "2016 PDC Challenge Tour England Results". Darts Database. Retrieved 27 October 2016.
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