Gary Mawson

Last updated

Gary Mawson
Personal information
Nickname"The Mauler"
Born (1963-05-17) May 17, 1963 (age 61)
Etobicoke, Ontario, Canada
Home town Fort Myers, Florida, U.S.
Darts information
Playing darts since1989
Darts23g Cosmo Darts Gary Mawson "THE MAWLER" Signature Series. Made by COSMO Darts
Laterality Right-handed
Walk-on music"Living in America" by James Brown
Organisation (see split in darts)
PDC 1995–2001, 2007–2020, 2021-
WDF 2020–
PDC premier events – best performances
World Ch'ship Last 16: 1999
World Matchplay Last 16: 1998, 1999
World Grand Prix Quarter-finals: 1998
UK Open Runner-up: 2008
Grand Slam Last 16: 2007
Desert Classic Quarter-finals: 2007
US Open/WSoD Last 16: 2008
Other tournament wins
CDC Tour Event 2018, 2024
ADO Broward County Turkey Shoot 2012
ADO Harvest Moon Tourney 2012
ADO Youngstown Charity Open 2012
Houston Open 2006
Las Vegas Open 2013
WDF Americas Cup Singles 2008

Gary Mawson (born May 17, 1963) is a Canadian-born American professional darts player. He currently resides in Fort Myers, Florida. Mawson played darts for the US in 2004 and the years immediately following, having previously played darts for Canada up to 2001. Mawson used the nickname The Mauler for his matches.

Contents

Mawson's biggest career achievement in darts was in reaching the final of the 2008 UK Open in Bolton, after upsetting the odds and defeating the two-time defending UK Open champion Raymond van Barneveld, 10–8 in the semi-finals. Van Barneveld had never previously lost at the UK Open and had won 16 matches in a row at the event. Mawson lost in the final to James Wade.

Biography

Mawson's parents were born in Britain, and he also lived in Bolton, England for four years between the ages of 3–7 before moving back to Canada. As a result, Mawson holds dual Canadian and British citizenship. After living in the United States for many years, Mawson is now a US citizen. [1] In more recent times, Mawson has been representing Canada again, such as at the televised 2019 US Darts Masters.

Career

Gary Mawson first tried to play the darts circuit in Britain in 1989, but that was the year when darts went through a big slump, and he had to return home to Canada. Mawson first entered the Canadian National Darts Championship in 1992 and reached the last 16. When the World Darts Council (now the Professional Darts Corporation – PDC) was first formed in 1994, players from the North American circuit were added to the 14 who broke away from the British Darts Organisation to bring the number of players up to the total required for a tournament. Mawson made his televised debut in darts at the 1995 World Matchplay, where he took an early lead against Phil Taylor, before Taylor came back to win 8–5.

Representing Canada, Mawson appeared at each PDC World Matchplay between 1995 and 2000, at the PDC World Grand Prix in 1998 and 1999, and also at the PDC World Darts Championship between 1996 and 2000. His best performance in these years was to reach the quarter-finals of the 1998 World Grand Prix which remained his best performance in a PDC event until he made it to the quarter-finals of the 2007 Las Vegas Desert Classic, by then representing the USA.

As a result of his performances on the North American circuit including his Vegas quarter-final, he qualified for the inaugural Grand Slam of Darts in 2007 and was back at the World Championships in 2008 for the first time since 2000.

2008 also saw Mawson defeat Raymond van Barneveld in the Last 32 of the US Open, to reach the Last 16 and the televised stages of the tournament. Mawson lost to Ronnie Baxter in the Last 16.

Mawson had a great run in the 2008 UK Open. It was a tournament that Mawson very nearly didn't play in, as he had accidentally left his Canadian passport at JFK airport in New York City. Fortunately for Mawson, he did have his British passport on him, which was enough to allow him into Britain after his arrival at Manchester airport. Mawson defeated Darren Johnson and Mark Frost in the first two rounds, before beating Alex Roy, Mark Lawrence, Mark Dudbridge and Wayne Jones to reach the semi-finals before upsetting reigning champion van Barneveld to reach his first major final. It was the second time that Mawson had beaten van Barneveld in a matter of weeks, but unlike their 2008 US Open Last 32 match which was on the floor, their 2008 UK Open semi final was on a big stage and fully televised, so Mawson's 10–8 win was considered a big upset. This was especially the case because van Barneveld had won the UK Open for the previous 2 years and had won 16 matches in a row at the UK Open without losing at the event (which included 3 Raymond van Barneveld wins over Phil Taylor in 3 consecutive years at the UK Open). Mawson lost in the 2008 UK Open final to James Wade.

During the 2008 UK Open, Mawson became popular with British fans due to his resemblance to then Liverpool manager Rafael Benítez. The resemblance caused chants such as 'Rafa give us a wave...' and 'Rafa Rafael, Rafa Rafael, Rafa Rafael, Rafael Benitez'. After the match, when asked in jest whether he should change his nickname to Rafa, he proclaimed that "Rafael Benitez is changing his name to Gary Mawson. The new manager of Liverpool is Gary Mawson".

Mawson played in the 2008 Grand Slam of Darts, which he earned a place in by reaching the final of the 2008 UK Open but lost out in the group stages.

He represented the United States with Darin Young in the 2012 PDC World Cup of Darts and reached the quarter-finals, where they were defeated by England 1–3, having beaten Germany in the second round. Mawson was responsible for the point picked up against England as he defeated 15-time World Champion Phil Taylor in his singles match. [2]

Mawson threw a nine-dart finish at the Las Vegas Open in 2013 and went on to claim the title by defeating Wes Newton. [3]

After a long time not playing in an official PDC tournament he qualified for the 2019 US Darts Masters by getting one of the ranking places for the tournament before losing to Gerwyn Price 6–4 in the first round.

World Championship results

PDC

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Phil Taylor (darts player)</span> English darts player (born 1960)

Philip Douglas Taylor is an English former professional darts player. Nicknamed "The Power", he dominated darts across three decades and is widely considered the greatest darts player of all time, having won 214 professional tournaments, including a record 85 major titles and a record 16 World Championships. In 2015, the BBC rated Taylor among the ten greatest British sportsmen of the last 35 years.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Raymond van Barneveld</span> Dutch darts player

Raymond van Barneveld is a Dutch professional darts player who competes in Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) events, where he is currently ranked world number thirty-four, having been the world number one from January 2008 to June 2008. Nicknamed "Barney", although originally known as "The Man", he is a five-time World Champion. van Barneveld is also a two-time UK Open champion, and a former winner of the Las Vegas Desert Classic, the Grand Slam and the Premier League. He is also a two-time World Masters winner, and a former World Darts Trophy champion. He is a three-time winner of both the International Darts League, the Dutch Open, and the WDF World Cup singles event.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Part</span> Canadian darts player

John Part is a Canadian former professional darts player and current commentator, as well as competing in World Seniors events. Nicknamed "Darth Maple", he is a three-time World Champion, having won the 1994 BDO World Darts Championship on his world championship debut, and the PDC World Championship in 2003 and 2008. Widely regarded as one of the greatest players in the history of the sport, Part is statistically North America's greatest darts player to date. He has the distinction of being the first non-British player to win the World Championship, and the only non-European to date to win the PDC World Darts Championship.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kevin Painter</span> English darts player

Kevin Painter is an English former professional darts player, known as "The Artist". He is arguably most famous for finishing as the runner-up to Phil Taylor in the 2004 PDC World Championship final, now widely credited as one of the greatest televised matches in the history of the sport. He was also the winner of the Players Championship Finals in 2011.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jelle Klaasen</span> Dutch darts player

Jelle Klaasen, nicknamed The Cobra, is a Dutch professional darts player who plays in Professional Darts Corporation (PDC). In 2006, he became the youngest player to win the BDO World Darts Championship, aged 21 at the time. He also is a Dutch Open champion.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Vincent van der Voort</span> Dutch darts player

Vincent van der Voort is a Dutch former professional darts player who played in British Darts Organisation (BDO) then Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) events. He is nicknamed the "Dutch Destroyer", although he used to go by "Grease Lightning". He is best known for his quick throwing style, which is how he got his temporary nickname "The Fastest Player in the World". He has won 4 ranking PDC titles and was the runner-up at the 2007 UK Open, which helped him become a well known face in the world of darts. He is also a three-time World Championship quarter-finalist.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Adrian Lewis</span> English darts player (born 1985)

Adrian Lewis is an English professional darts player who formerly played in Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) events. Nicknamed "Jackpot", Lewis is a two-time PDC World Champion, having won the title in 2011 and 2012. Lewis also won the European Championship in 2013 and the UK Open in 2014.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Martin Adams</span> English darts player

Martin Adams is an English professional darts player who plays in World Darts Federation (WDF) events. Nicknamed "Wolfie", he is a three-time BDO World Champion and three-time World Masters champion. He represents Cambridgeshire at county darts level and was the captain of England from 1993 to 2013, the longest any player has held that role. From his debut in 1994, Adams made a record 25 consecutive World Championship appearances, before failing to qualify for the first time in 2019. Adams was diagnosed with prostate cancer in April 2016, but by the end of the year he was given the all-clear. As well as playing, he also acted as a regular pundit and commentator for televised coverage of BDO events.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">James Wade</span> English darts player (born 1983)

James Martin Wade is an English professional darts player who plays in Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) events, where he is currently ranked world number fifteen, having reached a peak of world number two in 2010. He became the youngest player to win a major PDC title when he won the 2007 World Matchplay at age 24. This record has since been broken by Michael van Gerwen and Luke Littler. Wade has won eleven PDC majors, third in the all-time list behind Phil Taylor and Michael van Gerwen.

Richard Mark Burnett, nicknamed Prince of Wales, is a Welsh professional darts player who plays in Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) events. He is a former World No. 1 who won the 1995 Embassy World Darts Championship. Burnett is known for coming on to "Dakota" and dancing on stage. He is also known for his fiery personality, fighting with Adrian Lewis on stage during the 2012 Players Championship Finals.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Terry Jenkins</span> English darts player

Terry Jenkins is an English former professional darts player who was nicknamed The Bull, having previously used the name "Tucker" for his matches. He reached number three in the world rankings and was a runner-up in nine major PDC televised finals, those being the 2006 and 2007 World Grand Prix, 2007 Premier League, 2007 Las Vegas Desert Classic, 2007 and 2009 World Matchplay, 2008 Grand Slam of Darts, 2014 UK Open and 2014 European Championship.

Barrie Bates is a Welsh former darts player who played on the Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) circuit. His original nickname was Batesy, but since 2007 he was known as Champagne.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Simon Whitlock</span> Australian darts player (born 1969)

Simon Whitlock is an Australian professional darts player who formerly competed in Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) events, having previously competed in British Darts Organisation (BDO) events. Nicknamed "The Wizard", he won the premier event 2012 European Championship, and the 2022 World Cup of Darts for Australia, partnering Damon Heta. Whitlock is also a two-time World Championship finalist, having been the runner-up at the BDO World Darts Championship in 2008, and the PDC World Darts Championship in 2010. His defeat also made him the only player to have never won a World Championship after reaching the final in both the BDO and PDC.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stephen Bunting</span> English darts player (born 1985)

Stephen Bunting is an English professional darts player who competes in Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) events, where he is currently ranked world number five. He is a former BDO World Champion, having won the 2014 World Championship.

Robbie Green is a former English professional darts player. His nickname was Kong.

The 2008 Blue Square UK Open was the sixth year of the PDC's UK Open darts tournament where, following numerous regional qualifying heats throughout Britain, players competed in a single elimination tournament to be crowned champion. The tournament was held at Bolton Wanderers' Reebok Stadium, Bolton, England, between 5–8 June 2008.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Brendan Dolan</span> Darts player from Northern Ireland

Brendan Gabriel Dolan is a Northern Irish professional darts player who plays in Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) events. He was the first player to hit a nine-dart finish in a "double-to-start" event, which he achieved at the 2011 World Grand Prix, giving him the nickname The History Maker. He also reached the final of this tournament, where he lost to Phil Taylor.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ronnie Baxter</span> English darts player

Ronnie Baxter is an English former professional darts player who competed in Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) events. He used the nickname "The Rocket" for his matches. Baxter was known for his fast robotic throwing action. He currently resides in his hometown Blackpool. Baxter is widely regarded as one of the best players never to have won a major TV title. He is still active on the exhibition circuit.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Joe Cullen (darts player)</span> English darts player (born 1989)

Joseph Cullen is an English professional darts player who plays in Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) events, where he is currently ranked world number twenty-three. He has won 10 ranking PDC titles and was the 2022 Masters champion. Cullen was also the runner-up at the 2022 Premier League Darts.

Ronny Huybrechts is a Belgian professional darts player.

References

  1. ↑ "Darts interview with Gary Mawson at Darts 1".
  2. ↑ "Cash Converters World Cup Quarter-finals Round-Up". PDC. February 5, 2012. Archived from the original on February 7, 2012. Retrieved February 7, 2012.
  3. ↑ "2013 Las Vegas Open Player Prize Money". Darts Database. Retrieved December 10, 2014.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.