Peter Manley

For the Ontario politician, see Peter Manley (politician).

Peter Manley
Manley in 2007
Personal information
Full name	Peter David Manley [1]
Nickname	"One Dart"
Born	(1962-03-07) 7 March 1962 (age 62) Cheam, London, England
Home town	Carlisle, Cumbria, England
Darts information
Playing darts since	1974
Darts	Winmau Tungsten 19 Gram
Laterality	Right-handed
Walk-on music	"Amarillo" by Tony Christie preceded opening to "Who Are You" by The Who
Organisation (see split in darts)
BDO	1995–1996
PDC	1996–2017
WDF major events – best performances
World Masters	Last 16: 1998
World Trophy	Quarter Final: 2007
Int. Darts League	Last 32 Group: 2007
Finder Masters	Semi Final: 2000
PDC premier events – best performances
World Ch'ship	Runner Up: 1999, 2002, 2006
World Matchplay	Runner Up: 1999
World Grand Prix	Semi Final: 1998, 1999, 2000, 2003, 2006
UK Open	Semi Final: 2005
Grand Slam	Group Stages: 2007
European Ch'ship	Semi Final: 2008
Premier League	Semi Final: 2005
Ch'ship League	Initial groups, Semi-finals: 2008
Desert Classic	Winner (1): 2003
US Open/WSoD	Fifth round: 2007
PC Finals	Last 32: 2009, 2010
WSDT major events – best performances
World Ch'ship	Last 16: 2022
World Matchplay	Quarter Final: 2022
Other tournament wins
Canadian Open 2000 England Open 1999 French Open 1998 Ireland Open Spring Classic 2001 Irish Masters 2004 Isle of Man Open 1998, 2004 Le Skratch Montreal Open 2000 North American Open 1997 Open Holland Masters 2007 PDC Eastbourne Open 2003 PDC Northern Ireland Open 2001 Sunparks Masters 2002 Vauxhall Autumn Open 2005 UK Open Regionals/Qualifiers UK Open Regional (MID) 2003 UK Open Regional (NOE) 2003 UK Open Regional (SCO) 2002 UK Open Regional (WAL) 2003
Other achievements
PDC World number one, September 2000 to October 2001
Updated on 11 August 2018.

Peter David Manley (born 7 March 1962) is an English former professional darts player who played in Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) events from 1996 until 2017. He won one major title, the Las Vegas Desert Classic, in 2003, and twice held the number one ranking. He also reached the World Championship final in 1999, 2002 and 2006, losing to Phil Taylor on each occasion. Declining form led to him losing his place on the PDC tour in 2011.

Manley was nicknamed "One Dart" by commentator Tony Green after hitting the winning double on numerous occasions with his first dart during his first televised appearance at the 1995 Unipart European Masters, where he eventually lost in the final to Mike Gregory. Manley was also known for his walk on and personality. Described as someone whom "darts crowds love to hate", ^[2] his antics sometimes led to run-ins with fellow players.

Darting career

Manley made his debut in 1996 PDC World Matchplay Last 40 to Paul Cook, 5–2, in Last 32 to Dave Kelly 8-2 and Last 16 his losing to Jamie Harvey, 8–3.

Manley's controversial personality rather than the quality of his darts was often the most notable part of his career^{[ citation needed ]} and continued poor form resulted in his failure to secure a PDC tour card in 2012. Manley lost several major sponsors including darts manufacturer Unicorn as a result.

Manley is perhaps most famous for his long-running feud with Phil Taylor resulting from his refusal to shake Taylor's hand after losing 7–0 to him in the 2002 PDC World Darts Championship final. He has finished runner-up to Taylor in two other World Championships – losing 6–2 in 1999 and 7–0 in 2006.

His biggest tournament win was 2003 Las Vegas Desert Classic when he beat John Part 16–12 in the final. He is also the chairman of the Professional Dart Players Association, ^[3] a position he has held for six years. ^[4] Manley attempted getting a PDC Tour card in the Q-School in 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018 and 2019 but was unsuccessful.

In 2022, Manley appeared in the inaugural World Seniors Darts Championship and reached the second round, where after winning against former BDO world finalist, Deta Hedman 3 – 1 he suffered a 3 – 1 defeat to old time rival Phil Taylor. Although not competing in the 2022 World Seniors Darts Masters, he made an appearance at the 2022 World Seniors Darts Matchplay in which he managed to reach the Quarter Finals after beating John Part in a deciding leg. His run was then ended once more by Phil Taylor. Manley entered the Modus Online Super League, in December 2022 in preparation for the 2023 World Seniors Darts Championship in which he pulled off a 4 – 2 win over Alan Norris.

Crowd popularity

Manley's refusal to shake Taylor's hand after his 7-0 World Championship thrashing in 2002 led to darts fans booing him for many years. The boos became more ironic and good-natured when in 2005 Manley changed his entrance theme from Chumbawamba's Tubthumping to Tony Christie's "Is This the Way to Amarillo". By the end of his career Manley was seen by darts crowds as being more of a 'pantomime villain' rather than subject to genuine animosity which had occurred previously. Manley has gone on to say that whilst the booing and crowd reaction was hard for him and his family to take in the early days, it helped him as his career went on and ensured his popularity on the exhibition circuit.^{[ citation needed ]}

Controversy

Despite being chairman of the Players' Union (the Professional Dart Players Association – PDPA), Manley was often the subject of controversy with fellow players. Most notably Taylor in the aforementioned incident, and also in the 2006 PDC World Darts Championship. During that tournament, Manley was accused of gamesmanship against Dennis Smith and in a later round against Taylor's protégé, Adrian Lewis. Manley muttered words to his opponent, resulting in Lewis leaving the stage in anger. Despite serving as Mardle's best man at his wedding Manley also had a notable spat with the former PDC professional player Wayne Mardle. Mardle accused Manley of being a cheat in his autobiography. Manley has also had notable spats with the likes of Roland Scholten, John Lowe, Rod Harrington, Dave Jowett and Wynand Havenga.

World Championship results

PDC

• 1997: Preliminary round (lost to Chris Mason 0–3)
• 1998: Quarter-finals (lost to Dennis Priestley 3–4)
• 1999: Runner-up (lost to Phil Taylor 2–6)
• 2000: Semi-finals (lost to Dennis Priestley 2–5)
• 2001: First round (lost to Jamie Harvey 2–3)
• 2002: Runner-up (lost to Phil Taylor 0–7)
• 2003: Second round (lost to Simon Whitlock 1–4)
• 2004: Quarter-finals (lost to Bob Anderson 2–5)
• 2005: Third round (lost to Josephus Schenk 2–4)
• 2006: Runner-up (lost to Phil Taylor 0–7)
• 2007: Second round (lost to Wynand Havenga 3–4)
• 2008: Quarter-finals (lost to Kirk Shepherd 4–5)
• 2009: First round (lost to Mensur Suljović 2–3)
• 2010: Second round (lost to Mark Webster 2–4)

WSDT

• 2022: Second round (lost to Phil Taylor 1–3)
• 2023: First round (lost to Scott Mitchell 0–3)

Career finals

PDC major finals: 5 (1 title, 4 runners-up)

Legend
World Championship (0–3)
World Matchplay (0–1)
Las Vegas Desert Classic (1–0)

Outcome	No.	Year	Championship	Opponent in the final	Score
Runner-up	1.	1999	World Darts Championship	Phil Taylor	2–6 (s)
Runner-up	2.	1999	World Matchplay	Rod Harrington	17–19 (l)
Runner-up	3.	2002	World Darts Championship	Phil Taylor	0–7 (s)
Winner	1.	2003	Las Vegas Desert Classic	John Part	16–12 (l)
Runner-up	4.	2006	World Darts Championship	Phil Taylor	0–7 (s)

Independent major finals: 1 (1 runner-up)

Outcome	No.	Year	Championship	Opponent in the final	Score
Runner-up	1.	2007	Masters of Darts	Raymond van Barneveld	0–7 (s)

Career statistics

Performance timeline

Tournament	1995	1996	1997	1998	1999	2000	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006	2007	2008	2009	2010	2011
BDO Ranked televised events
World Masters	DNP		1R	4R	2R	2R	2R	3R	DNP
European Masters	F	Not held
Zuiderduin Masters	Not held					SF	RR	DNP				NH	DNP
World Darts Trophy	Not held							DNP				1R	QF	Not held
International Darts League	Not held								DNP				RR	Not held
News of the World	Not held		QF	Not held
PDC Ranked televised events
PDC World Championship	DNP		PR	QF	F	SF	1R	F	2R	QF	3R	F	2R	QF	1R	2R	DNQ
UK Open	Not held								4R	3R	SF	3R	4R	4R	4R	2R	1R
World Matchplay	DNP	2R	2R	QF	F	1R	1R	1R	SF	QF	SF	1R	1R	2R	DNQ
World Grand Prix	Not held			SF	SF	SF	1R	1R	SF	2R	2R	SF	1R	1R	DNQ
Grand Slam of Darts	Not held												RR	DNQ
European Championship	Not held													SF	DNQ
Players Championship Finals	Not held														1R	1R	DNQ
PDC Non-ranked televised events
Premier League Darts	Not held										SF	6th	6th	6th	DNP
PDC Past major events
Las Vegas Desert Classic	Not held							1R	W	2R	1R	2R	SF	SF	2R	Not held
Masters of Darts	Not held										DNP	NH	F	Not held
Career statistics
Year-end ranking	Non-PDC		7	4	1	1	4	6	3	3	5	7	5	13	20	38	66

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. "Darts Players Wives". 17 August 2007. Sky. Sky3.{{cite episode}}: Missing or empty |series= (help)
2. "Taylor top of world with lucky thirteen title" . The Independent. London. 3 January 2006. Archived from the original on 26 May 2022. Retrieved 15 December 2019.
3. Peter Manley – Team Unicorn from Unicorn, retrieved 19 February 2009
4. PDPA Board Members Archived 25 February 2009 at the Wayback Machine from the PDPA, retrieved 22 February 2009

External links

• Peter Manley's official website
• Peter Manley on Twitter
• Player profile and stats on Darts Database

Sporting positions
Preceded by Phil Taylor	PDC World Number One 24 September 2000 – 28 October 2001	Succeeded by Alan Warriner