Martin Atkins (darts player, born 1965)

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Martin Atkins
Personal information
NicknameThe Assassin
Born (1965-12-24) 24 December 1965 (age 59)
Leeds, Yorkshire, England
Home town Rawdon, West Yorkshire, England
Darts information
Playing darts since1983
Darts24g Red Dragon Martin Atkins 95% Tungsten
Laterality Right-handed
Walk-on music"Paranoid" by Black Sabbath
Organisation (see split in darts)
BDO 2002–2017, 2018
PDC 2018
WDF 2019–
WDF major events – best performances
World Ch'ship Quarter Final: 2012
World Masters Semi Final: 2007
World Trophy Quarter Final: 2005
Int. Darts League Quarter Final: 2004, 2005
Finder Masters Quarter Final: 2009
Other tournament wins
TournamentYears
BDO International Open
British Open
England Matchplay
Finnish Open
Northern Ireland Open
WDF World Cup Team
2015
2012
2012
2006
2009
2011
Other achievements
England Classic Warm Up 2010
England GP of Darts Bolton 2012

Martin Atkins (born 24 December 1965) is an English professional darts player. His nickname is The Assassin.

Contents

Career

Atkins has been a Yorkshire county player since 1996 and has represented the England national side in many occasions including 3 times in the Six Nations, winning all three, and once in the World Cup in 2011, contributing to England's best performance since 1995. He reached the last 16 of the BDO World Professional Darts Championship in both 2006 and 2007. In 2006 he led Martin Adams 3–0 and had a match dart in the fifth leg of the fifth set, but ultimately lost 4–3. The following year, he was beaten by eventual finalist Phill Nixon .

He was seeded number 10 for the 2008 BDO World Darts Championship. However, he lost in the first round to Andy Boulton. The following year, unseeded, Atkins won his first round match 3–2 against Joey ten Berge before losing to Gary Robson 4–1.

Seeded number 10 for the 2010 BDO World Darts Championship, Atkins suffered another first round exit after he was defeated by Lakeside debutant Paul Carter 3–1. In 2011, Atkins was drawn against third seed and eventual runner-up Dean Winstanley in the first round, and lost 3–2 having missed two match darts in the fourth set.

Atkins finally progressed past the second-round stage of the World Championship when, in 2012, he defeated 7th seed John Walton and 10th seed Willy van de Wiel en route to a quarter-final match against Ted Hankey where he lost 5–1. In 2012, Atkins won the biggest title of his career so far by winning the BDO British Open, beating Robbie Green in the final. However, his season ended in disappointment when he lost in the first round of the World Championship to Jason Cullen.

Atkins was unseeded for the 2014 World Championship and faced eighth seed Jeffrey de Graaf in the first round. Despite competing with an elbow injury sustained on New Year's Day, and despite de Graaf throwing for two of the sets, Atkins won the match 3–0, finishing with a 135 checkout on the bullseye. However, Atkins had to withdraw during his second round match against Rick Hofstra while trailing 2–0 in sets.

PDC

Announced on 9 December 2017, he will be joining the rival organisation the Professional Darts Corporation for the first time in his career. He has played most of the BDO tour but has decided to give the PDC tour a go for the first time after playing his whole career in the BDO.

BDO

As of May 2018, it would seem he returned to the BDO circuit due to an unsuccessful run on the PDC circuit.

World Championship results

BDO

Performance timeline

Tournament2002200320042005200620072008200920102011201220132014201520162017
BDO World Championship DNQ 1R 2R 2R 1R 2R 1R 1R QF 1R WD DNQ 2R 1R
BDO World Trophy Not heldDNQ 1R
International Darts League NHDNQ QF QF 1R 1R Not held
World Darts Trophy DNQ 1R QF 2R PR Not held
Winmau World Masters DNQ 5R QF 2R 4R SF 5R 5R 2R 3R 4R 4R 3R 1R 1R DNP
Finder Darts Masters DNQ RR RR NH RR RR QF DNQ RR DNQ RR DNQ
Performance Table Legend
DNPDid not play at the eventDNQDid not qualify for the eventNYFNot yet foundedL#lost in the early rounds of the tournament
(WR = Wildcard round, RR = Round robin)
QFlost in the quarter-finalsSFlost in the semi-finalsFlost in the finalWwon the tournament

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References