Wayne Warren

Wayne Warren (born 12 June 1962) is a Welsh professional darts player who plays in events of the World Darts Federation (WDF). He is the reigning and last BDO World Darts Champion. He is the oldest player to become world champion.[3]

Wayne Warren
Personal information
Nickname"Yank"[1]
Born (1962-06-12) 12 June 1962
Wales
Home townTynewydd, Wales
Darts information
Playing darts since1985
Darts17.5g Red Dragon Signature
LateralityRight Handed
Walk-on music"Eye of the Tiger" by Survivor
Organisation (see split in darts)
BDO2003–2020
PDC2021 Q School
WDF2003–
Current world ranking(WDF) 1 3 (13 December 2020)[2]
BDO majors – best performances
World Ch'shipWinner (1): 2020
World MastersQuarter Finals: 2018
World Darts TrophyQuarter Finals: 2015
Finder MastersQuarter Finals: 2018
PDC premier events – best performances
Grand SlamGroup Stage: 2019, 2020
Other tournament wins
TournamentYears
Antwerp Open
BDO Gold Cup
BDO International Open
Romanian Classic
Slovak Masters
WDF Europe Cup Team		2019
2014
2012
2020
2020
2014
Other achievements
2014 Glamorgan Open

Darts career

BDO

Warren qualified for the 2005 BDO World Darts Championship, where he was the only Welshman in the field. He lost 3–0 in the first round to third seed Mervyn King. Warren has come close to qualifying for Lakeside on two occasions, falling two games short of qualifying for the 2008 World Championship in a loss to Mike Veitch who eventually qualified, and then falling at the same hurdle again in the qualifiers for the 2009 World Championship, losing to Robbie Green. Warren fell two games short once more of qualifying for the 2010 World Championship, losing to Irishman Martin McCloskey who eventually qualified.

Warren's best TV performance came in the 2015 BDO World Trophy, where he reached the quarter-finals, beating Madars Razma 6–4 and 2015 World Champion Scott Mitchell with ease 7–2. He fell at the Last-8 stage, losing a close game with Jeff Smith 8–7.[4]

Warren also qualified for the 2013 World Championship, but lost in the first round to Alan Norris.

In 2014, Warren won the BDO Gold Cup, beating Pip Blackwell in the final three sets to nil.[5]

Warren reached the quarter-final of the 2018 World Championship, beating Wesley Harms 3–1 in an impressive showing in the 1st round; in the 2nd round, after a tough start, he defeated Willem Mandigers 4–2 to set up a quarter-final match against Mark McGeeney. Warren led McGeeney 4–3 in sets and led the eighth by a break of throw, but McGeeney took the set to a deciding leg, in which Warren hit a double-one attempting to hit a single 20 that would have given him one match dart. McGeeney won the set and ultimately the match 5–4.[6][7]

At the 2020 World Championship, Warren improved on his best performance by reaching the final, and beat fellow Welshman Jim Williams 7–4 to win the BDO world title.[8] At 57, Warren was the oldest winner of either version of the world championship.[9] His prize winning fee of £23,000 was the lowest awarded to a world champion since 1989, as a result of the BDO's financial difficulties which led to it going into liquidation later in the year. Warren is therefore the last player to win the BDO version of the world championship, and became the World Darts Federation's number one ranked player as a result of his victory.[9]

Style of play

Fellow players and commentators have commented on Warren's smooth and relaxing throwing style.[10]

Personal life

Warren is an active player on the darts exhibition circuit.[11]

Away from darts, Warren works as a roofer and lives in Tynewydd, Rhondda Cynon Taf.[1] He is sponsored by Red Dragon Darts.[12]

In 2001, Warren was involved in an incident in which he was splashed with boiling chip fat – suffering 20% upper body burns which gave him heavy scarring.[13]

World Championship performances

BDO

Career finals

BDO major finals: 1 (1 title)
Legend
World Championship (1–0)
Outcome No. Year Championship Opponent in the final Score[N 1]
Winner 1. 2020 World Darts Championship Jim Williams 7–4 (s)
  1. (l) = score in legs, (s) = score in sets.

Performance timeline
Tournament200320042005200620072008200920102011201220132014201520162017201820192020
BDO World Championship DNQ 1R DNQ 1R DNQ QF 2R W
BDO World Trophy Not held DNQ QF DNQ 1R 2R NH
Winmau World Masters 1R DNP 1R DNP 2R DNP 1R 3R 4R 2R 4R 2R 1R 1R 1R QF DNP NH
Finder Darts Masters DNP NH DNP QF NH
Grand Slam of Darts NYF DNQ RR RR
Performance Table Legend
DNP Did not play at the event DNQ Did not qualify for the event NYF Not yet founded #R lost in the early rounds of the tournament
(WR = Wildcard round, RR = Round robin)
QF lost in the quarter-finals SF lost in the semi-finals F lost in the final W won the tournament

References
  1. "Players – Wayne Warren". Mastercaller. Retrieved 16 January 2019.
  2. "WDF Men's Rankings Table". WDF. 13 December 2020. Retrieved 13 December 2020.
  3. "Warren claims BDO title". RTÉ Sport. 12 January 2020. Retrieved 16 October 2020.
  4. "BDO World Trophy Men 2015 – Match results". Mastercaller. Retrieved 16 January 2019.
  5. "BDO Gold Cup Men 2014 – Match results". Mastercaller. Retrieved 16 January 2019.
  6. "Wayne Warren causes Lakeside shock as Wesley Harms crashes out". Darts News. 7 January 2018. Retrieved 16 October 2020.
  7. "Mark McGeeney prevails in yet another quarter-final thriller". Darts News. 13 January 2018. Retrieved 16 October 2020.
  8. "BDO World Darts: Wayne Warren beats Jim Williams to win dramatic final". BBC Sport. 12 January 2020. Retrieved 16 October 2020.
  9. Pearlman, Michael (15 January 2020). "BDO darts: Champion Wayne Warren to receive lowest prize since 1989". BBC Sport. Retrieved 16 October 2020.
  10. "Warren Extends Red Dragon Deal!"". Darts World. 6 March 2020. Retrieved 8 March 2020.
  11. Haigh, Phil (19 February 2020). "Wayne Warren hints at PDC switch after 'gutting' BDO prize money fiasco". Metro. Retrieved 16 October 2020.
  12. Harris-Hulme, CJ (18 February 2020). ""If God Threw Darts, He Would Throw 'Em Like Wayne Warren!"". Retrieved 8 March 2020.
  13. "It's top darts for roofer Wayne". Wales Online. Reach. 27 December 2012. Retrieved 16 October 2020.
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