Damon Heta

Last updated

Damon Heta
Damon Heta Darts Actueel 2022.jpg
Heta in 2022
Personal information
Nickname"The Heat"
Born (1987-08-10) 10 August 1987 (age 36) [1]
Perth, Western Australia
Home town Leominster, England
Darts information
Playing darts since2007
Darts23 Gram Harrows
Laterality Right-handed
Walk-on musicVarious
Organisation (see split in darts)
PDC 2008–
(Tour Card: 2020-)
Current world ranking 10 Steady2.svg (14 April 2024) [2]
PDC premier events – best performances
World Ch'ship Last 16: 2024
World Matchplay Quarter Final: 2023
World Grand Prix Last 32: 2021, 2022, 2023
UK Open Semi Final: 2024
Grand Slam Quarter Final: 2020, 2023
European Ch'ship Last 16: 2021
PC Finals Quarter Final: 2020, 2023
Masters Quarter Final: 2024
World Series Finals Last 16: 2018, 2019, 2020, 2022
Other tournament wins
PDC World Cup of Darts (team event) 2022
PDC Home Tour 3 2020
Australian Darts Open 2019
Australian Masters 2018, 2019
DPA Pro Tour 2014, 2016, 2019 (x8)
Pacific Masters 2011
Sydney Masters Qualifier 2014
West Coast Classic 2015

European Tour Events

Gibraltar Darts Trophy 2022

Players Championships

Players Championship (BAR) 2022 (x2)
Players Championship (HIL) 2023
Players Championship (LEI) 2023, 2024
Players Championship (NIE) 2020

World Series of Darts

Brisbane Darts Masters 2019

Damon Heta (born 10 August 1987) is an Australian professional darts player who plays in Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) events, where he is currently ranked No. 10 in the world. He won the Brisbane Darts Masters in 2019 and also, in pairs with Simon Whitlock, World Cup of Darts in 2022. His nickname is "The Heat", a play on letters within his surname.

Contents

Career

A roofer by trade, Heta has mainly played on the Dartplayers Australia (DPA) Tour. His first big exposure was qualifying for the 2014 Sydney Darts Masters, where he was whitewashed 6–0 in the first round by Dave Chisnall. Heta qualified for the 2016 Auckland Darts Masters where he lost in the first round to Michael van Gerwen 6–3.

He qualified for the 2018 Melbourne Darts Masters, where he defeated his good friend Kyle Anderson 6–5 in the first round, before losing 10–7 to Gary Anderson in the quarter-finals. Gary would then defeat Heta 6–5 in the first round of the 2018 Brisbane Darts Masters a week later.

Amongst his titles achieved Down Under are the 2011 Pacific Masters, the 2014 DPA Australian Singles, the 2015 West Coast Classic, and the 2016 DPA Australian Open.

On 3 August 2019, Damon won the first ever DFA Australian Open Darts, beating top BDO players such as Jim Williams 8–1 in the semi-final and former World Champion Scott Mitchell 10–9 in the final to take the $15,000 first prize.

Heta qualified for all three PDC World Series events in Australia and New Zealand in 2019.

At the 2019 Brisbane Darts Masters Heta reached his first PDC final by beating former major winners James Wade, Gary Anderson and Simon Whitlock, before defeating former World Champion Rob Cross 8–7 in the final to win his first World Series title. Damon become the first ever non tour card holder to win a world series event and the first to win a world series event on home soil. He became the first non-tour card holder to win a PDC televised event since Scott Waites in 2010.

Heta beat James Wade once again in the first round of the 2019 Melbourne Darts Masters, but lost 8–3 to Rob Cross in the quarter-finals. He lost 6–1 to Peter Wright in the first round of the 2019 New Zealand Darts Masters.

On 19 January 2020, Heta won a two-year PDC Tour Card by finishing fourth on the UK Q School Order of Merit. He will play on the ProTour in 2020 and 2021. He won his first PDC ranking event at the PDC Autumn Series in Niedernhausen, beating Joe Cullen 8–4 in the final. [3]

Heta, in conjunction with Simon Whitlock, beat Wales in the 2022 PDC World Cup of Darts on 19 June 2022 to claim the title for Australia for the first time, after Whitlock and Paul Nicholson lost in the grand final in 2012 to England. [4]

Heta won the 2022 Gibraltar Darts Trophy on the PDC European Tour in October 2022, where along the way, he defeated Michael van Gerwen in the semi-final and Peter Wright in the final. [5]

At the 2023 Grand Slam of Darts, Heta qualified for the knockout rounds by finishing second in Group H with 5–4 wins over Ricardo Pietreczko and Beau Greaves respectively and a 5–2 loss to Nathan Aspinall. In the second round, Heta shocked Michael van Gerwen with a 10–7 victory. [6] In the third round Heta was knocked out by Rob Cross 6–16. [7]

At the 2024 UK Open, Heta reached the semi-finals for the first time. Heta achieved wins over Simon Whitlock 10–8 and Nathan Aspinall 10–9, before defeating Gian van Veen and Luke Littler both 10–8. [8] Heta was drawn to play Dimitri Van den Bergh in the semi-finals, who he lost to 11–6. [9]

World Championship results

PDC

Career finals

PDC world series finals: 2 (1 title, 1 runner-up)

Legend
World Series of Darts (1–1)
OutcomeNo.YearChampionshipOpponent in the finalScore [N 1]
Winner1. 2019 Brisbane Darts Masters Flag of England.svg Rob Cross 8–7 (l)
Runner-up1. 2023 New South Wales Darts Masters Flag of England.svg Rob Cross 1–8 (l)

PDC team finals: 1 (1 title)

OutcomeNo.YearChampionshipCountryTeammateOpponents in the finalScore [N 1]
Winner1. 2022 World Cup of Darts Flag of Australia (converted).svg   Australia Simon Whitlock Flag of Wales (1959-present).svg   Wales Gerwyn Price and Jonny Clayton 3–1 (m)
  1. 1 2 (l) = score in legs, (s) = score in sets, (m) = score in matches.

Performance timeline

PDC

Tournament2018201920202021202220232024
PDC World Championship DNQ 2R 1R 3R 3R 4R
UK Open DNP 1R 3R QF 4R SF
World Matchplay DNPDNQ 1R 1R QF
World Grand Prix DNPDNQ 1R 1R 1R
European Championship DNPDNQ 2R 1R 1R
Grand Slam of Darts DNP QF DNQ RR QF
Players Championship Finals DNP QF 3R 1R QF
Non-major televised events
Masters DNPDid not qualify 1R QF
PDC World Cup of Darts DNP QF QF W QF
World Series of Darts Finals 2R 2R 2R DNQ 2R 1R
Career statistics
Year-end ranking--56291611

PDC European Tour

Season12345678910111213
2020 BDC
2R
GDC
DNQ
EDG
1R
IDO
DNQ
2021 HDT
3R
GDT
3R
2022 IDO
3R
GDC
2R
GDG
SF
ADO
2R
EDO
2R
CDO
2R
EDG
SF
DDC
3R
EDM
QF
HDT
2R
GDO
3R
BDO
2R
GDT
W
2023 BSD
3R
EDO
QF
IDO
QF
GDG
SF
ADO
3R
DDC
SF
BDO
3R
CDO
SF
EDG
SF
EDM
2R
GDO
2R
HDT
QF
GDC
QF
2024 BDO
3R
GDG
2R
IDO
3R
EDG ADO
BSD
DDC
EDO
GDC
FDT
HDT
SDT
CDO


PDC Players Championship

Season123456789101112131415161718192021222324252627282930
2020 BAR
2R
BAR
1R
WIG
1R
WIG
1R
WIG
3R
WIG
1R
BAR
1R
BAR
2R
MIL
DNP
MIL
DNP
MIL
DNP
MIL
DNP
MIL
DNP
NIE
1R
NIE
W
NIE
QF
NIE
3R
NIE
1R
COV
QF
COV
3R
COV
F
COV
QF
COV
1R
2021 BOL
4R
BOL
2R
BOL
2R
BOL
F
MIL
4R
MIL
2R
MIL
3R
MIL
4R
NIE
3R
NIE
1R
NIE
QF
NIE
3R
MIL
1R
MIL
3R
MIL
4R
MIL
1R
COV
4R
COV
3R
COV
1R
COV
1R
BAR
F
BAR
4R
BAR
1R
BAR
1R
BAR
1R
BAR
2R
BAR
QF
BAR
1R
BAR
SF
BAR
4R
2022 BAR
2R
BAR
SF
WIG
F
WIG
1R
BAR
W
BAR
3R
NIE
4R
NIE
4R
BAR
2R
BAR
SF
BAR
1R
BAR
SF
BAR
3R
WIG
SF
WIG
QF
NIE
4R
NIE
4R
BAR
3R
BAR
3R
BAR
4R
BAR
SF
BAR
DNP
BAR
DNP
BAR
DNP
BAR
SF
BAR
W
BAR
1R
BAR
SF
BAR
4R
BAR
3R
2023 BAR
3R
BAR
1R
BAR
1R
BAR
3R
BAR
2R
BAR
1R
HIL
3R
HIL
3R
WIG
2R
WIG
QF
LEI
3R
LEI
SF
HIL
SF
HIL
W
LEI
4R
LEI
W
HIL
2R
HIL
2R
BAR
2R
BAR
3R
BAR
1R
BAR
SF
BAR
3R
BAR
QF
BAR
1R
BAR
2R
BAR
3R
BAR
F
BAR
SF
BAR
SF
2024 WIG
1R
WIG
2R
LEI
4R
LEI
W
HIL
3R
HIL
4R
LEI
LEI
HIL
HIL
HIL
HIL
MIL
MIL
MIL
MIL
MIL
MIL
MIL
WIG
WIG
MIL
MIL
WIG
WIG
WIG
WIG
WIG
LEI
LEI
Performance Table Legend
WWon the tournamentFFinalistSFSemifinalistQFQuarterfinalist#R
RR
Prel.
Lost in # round
Round-robin
Preliminary round
DQDisqualified
DNQDid not qualifyDNPDid not participateWDWithdrewNHTournament not heldNYFNot yet founded

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References

  1. "Damon Heta". Mastercaller.com. 10 August 1987. Retrieved 5 November 2018.
  2. "PDC Order of Merit". PDPA. 14 April 2024. Retrieved 14 April 2024.
  3. "Heta lands maiden title on Autumn Series Day Two". Professional Darts Corporation . Retrieved 15 September 2020.
  4. "Wayne Mardle applauds Damon Heta and Simon Whitlock as Australia lifted the World Cup of Darts". Sky Sports. Retrieved 20 June 2022.
  5. "Heta secures maiden European Tour title at Gibraltar Darts Trophy". PDC. 16 October 2022.
  6. "Grand Slam of Darts: Damon Heta shocks Michael van Gerwen to ensure new winner as Stephen Bunting and Rob Cross progress". Sky Sports . 17 November 2023. Retrieved 3 March 2024.
  7. Gorton, Josh (18 November 2023). "Cross and Bunting complete semi final line up in Wolverhampton". PDC . Archived from the original on 18 November 2023.
  8. Stanley, Lawrence (3 March 2023). "Damon Heta comes through magnificent quarter-final clash against Luke Littler at UK Open". Darts News. Retrieved 3 March 2023.
  9. Gorton, Josh (3 March 2024). "Van den Bergh topples Humphries to claim UK Open glory". PDC. Retrieved 3 March 2024.