Nathan Rafferty

Nathan Rafferty
Personal information
Nickname	"The Natural"
Born	(2000-01-17) 17 January 2000 (age 25) [1] Coalisland, Tyrone, Northern Ireland
Darts information
Playing darts since	2014
Darts	23g Red Dragon
Laterality	Right-handed
Walk-on music	"This Is the Life" by Amy Macdonald
Organisation (see split in darts)
PDC	2016– (Tour Card 2022–)
Current world ranking	( PDC ) 77 (1 April 2025) [2]
PDC premier events – best performances
World Championship	Last 64: 2023
UK Open	Last 32: 2018
Grand Slam	Last 16: 2021
PC Finals	Last 64: 2022
Other tournament wins
PDC Challenge Tour 2021 PDC Development Tour 2018, 2019, 2021 (x2), 2022 (x5), 2023, 2024 (x2) Northern Ireland Open Youth 2014, 2015

Nathan Rafferty (born 17 January 2000) is a Northern Irish professional darts player who competes in Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) events. Nicknamed "The Natural", Rafferty's best PDC major performance is reaching the last 16 at the 2021 Grand Slam.

In his youth career, he finished as the runner-up at the 2021 PDC World Youth Championship and won twelve Development Tours.

Career

Rafferty made his TV debut at the 2018 UK Open where he beat Jason Mold in the second round, before defeating the defending champion Peter Wright in the third round. ^[3] He lost to Robert Owen 10–9 in the fourth round.

In 2021, Rafferty picked up his first PDC Challenge Tour title at Event 10. ^[4] At the 2021 Grand Slam of Darts, Rafferty was drawn into a group with Gerwyn Price, Martin Schindler and Krzysztof Ratajski. He qualified for the knockout stage with wins over Schindler and Ratajski, ^[5] but was eliminated after a 10–2 loss against Jonny Clayton. ^{[6] [7]} Rafferty was the runner-up at the 2021 PDC World Youth Championship, losing 6–4 to Ted Evetts. ^[8]

Rafferty qualified for his first PDC World Championship after topping the 2022 Development Tour Order of Merit. ^[9] He won his first round game at the 2023 World Championship 3–2 against Jermaine Wattimena before losing in the next round to Michael Smith. ^[10]

Rafferty won twelve titles in total on the PDC Development Tour, with his final coming at event fourteen of the 2024 PDC Development Tour series, where he defeated Marvin van Velzen 5–3 in the final. ^[11]

World Championship results

PDC

• 2023: Second round (lost to Michael Smith 0–3)

Performance timeline

Tournament	2017	2018	2019	2020	2021	2022	2023	2024	2025
PDC Ranked televised events
World Championship	DNP		DNQ				2R	DNQ
UK Open	DNP	4R	DNQ	3R	2R	1R	4R	1R	3R
Grand Slam	DNQ				2R	RR	RR	DNQ
Players Championship Finals	DNP		DNQ		DNP	1R	1R	DNQ
Non-ranked televised events
PDC World Youth Championship	1R	RR	3R	QF	F	2R	3R	QF	DNP
Career statistics
Season-end ranking (PDC)	-	131	134	174	115	76	70	99

PDC European Tour

Season	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13
2022	IDO DNP	GDC 1R	GDG DNQ	ADO DNQ	EDO DNQ	CDO DNQ	EDG 3R	DDC DNQ	EDM DNQ	HDT 1R	GDO DNQ	BDO DNQ	GDT DNQ
2023	BSD DNQ	EDO DNQ	IDO DNQ	GDG DNQ	ADO DNQ	DDC DNQ	BDO DNQ	CDO DNQ	EDG DNQ	EDM DNQ	GDO DNQ	HDT 2R	GDC DNQ
2024	BDO DNQ	GDG DNQ	IDO DNQ	EDG DNQ	ADO DNQ	BSD DNQ	DDC DNQ	EDO 1R	GDC DNQ	FDT DNQ	HDT DNQ	SDT DNQ	CDO DNQ

PDC Players Championships

Season	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	26	27	28	29	30	31	32	33	34
2020 [nb 1]	DNP								MIL 1R	MIL 1R	MIL 2R	MIL 1R	MIL 1R	DNP
2022	BAR 2R	BAR 1R	WIG 2R	WIG 1R	BAR 1R	BAR 2R	NIE 2R	NIE 1R	BAR 1R	BAR 2R	BAR 1R	BAR 2R	BAR 2R	WIG 2R	WIG 2R	NIE 3R	NIE 3R	BAR 1R	BAR 1R	BAR 1R	BAR 4R	BAR 2R	BAR 2R	BAR 1R	BAR 3R	BAR 3R	BAR 2R	BAR 2R	BAR 2R	BAR 2R
2023	BAR	BAR	BAR	BAR	BAR	BAR	HIL	HIL	WIG	WIG	LEI	LEI	HIL	HIL	LEI	LEI	HIL	HIL	BAR	BAR	BAR	BAR	BAR	BAR	BAR	BAR	BAR	BAR	BAR	BAR
2024	WIG 3R	WIG 1R	LEI 1R	LEI 2R	HIL 1R	HIL 1R	LEI 1R	LEI 2R	HIL 2R	HIL 1R	HIL DNP	HIL DNP	MIL 4R	MIL 3R	MIL 2R	MIL 1R	MIL 1R	MIL 1R	MIL QF	WIG 1R	WIG 1R	LEI 4R	LEI 2R	WIG 3R	WIG 1R	WIG 2R	WIG 2R	WIG 1R	LEI 1R	LEI 2R

1. Not a Tour card holder

Performance Table Legend
W	Won the tournament	F	Finalist	SF	Semifinalist	QF	Quarterfinalist	#R RR Prel.	Lost in # round Round-robin Preliminary round	DQ	Disqualified
DNQ	Did not qualify	DNP	Did not participate	WD	Withdrew	NH	Tournament not held			NYF	Not yet founded

References

1. "Nathan Rafferty player profile". Mastercaller.
2. "PDC Order of Merit". PDPA. 1 April 2025. Retrieved 1 April 2025.
3. "UK Open Darts: Michael van Gerwen and Peter Wright crash out on day one but John Part storms through on his dream return". Sporting Life . 3 March 2018. Retrieved 14 December 2024.
4. Phillips, Josh (4 September 2021). "Rafferty, Robinson, Noster & Bialecki pick up Unicorn Challenge Tour titles". PDC . Retrieved 14 December 2024.
5. "Nathan Rafferty: Tyrone man wins thriller to reach last 16 at Grand Slam of Darts". BBC . 16 November 2021. Retrieved 14 December 2024.
6. "Nathan Rafferty: Tyrone man loses 10-2 to Jonny Clayton in last 16 of Grand Slam of Darts". BBC Sport . 17 November 2021. Retrieved 14 December 2024.
7. "Tyrone tyro Nathan Rafferty bows out of Grand Slam of Darts". RTÉ . 17 November 2021. Retrieved 14 December 2024.
8. Ashton, Zoe (3 December 2021). "Stockton's Ted Evetts is world youth darts champion". WarwickshireWorld. Retrieved 14 December 2024.
9. Donaghy, Ciaran (13 December 2022). "Nathan Rafferty hoping to follow Dennis Taylor as Coalisland's World champion". News Letter . Retrieved 14 December 2024.
10. Armour, Glen (15 December 2022). "Mickey Mansell and Nathan Rafferty get Northern Ireland off to a flier at World Darts Championships". Belfast Telegraph . Retrieved 14 December 2024.
11. Gorton, Josh (22 June 2024). "Nijman & Rafferty extend Development Tour title hauls in Wigan". PDC . Retrieved 14 December 2024.

External links

• Player profile for Nathan Rafferty from Dartsdatabase