Tony O'Shea

Tony O'Shea
Tony O'Shea
	O'Shea in 2005
Personal information
Nickname	"Silverback"
Born	9 May 1961 (age 63); Stockport, Cheshire, England
Home town	Stockport, Cheshire, England
Darts information
Playing darts since	1979
Darts	24g Target Signature
Laterality	Right-handed
Walk-on music	"Hey Baby" by DJ Ötzi preceded opening to "Baba O'Riley" by The Who
Organisation (see split in darts)
BDO	1995-2020
WDF	1995–
Current world ranking	(WDF) NR (8 December 2024)
WDF major events – best performances
World Ch'ship	Runner-up: 2009, 2012, 2013
World Masters	Runner-up: 2004, 2012
World Trophy	Runner-up: 2002
Int. Darts League	Runner-up: 2005
Finder Masters	Semi-final: 2002, 2003, 2008, 2010, 2014
PDC premier events – best performances
Grand Slam	Quarter-final: 2009, 2013
WSDT major events – best performances
World Ch'ship	Last 24: 2022
World Matchplay	Last 20: 2022
World Masters	Semi-final: 2022
Other tournament wins
Tournament	Years
BDO International Open; Dutch Open; Isle Of Man Open; Jersey Classic; Northern Ireland Open; Polish Open; Romanian Open; Scottish Open; Swiss Open; Turkish Open; WDF World Cup Singles; WDF World Cup Pairs; WDF World Cup Team; Welsh Classic; Welsh Masters	2009; 2012; 2016; 2014; 2011; 2012; 2013; 2009; 2003; 2009, 2017; 2009; 2011, 2013; 2007, 2011; 2009; 2008
Other achievements
	Clackmanam Open 2010; Dutch Pentathlon 2010; Six Nations Cup 2010; Winmau Darts Dazzler Batley 2010

Last updated December 15, 2024

Tony O'Shea (born 9 May 1961)^[2] is an English professional darts player. His squat figure has resulted in the nickname "Silverback". O'Shea has reached the finals of seven British Darts Organisation (BDO) major darts tournaments, but to date has never won one. He also acted as a regular commentator for televised BDO coverage.

Darts career

BDO

In 2002, O'Shea made his debut at the BDO World Championship, narrowly losing to former Masters champion Colin Monk 3–2. O'Shea returned the following year and beat former champion Ted Hankey 3–2 in the first round, before once again being beaten by Monk 3–2 – this time in the deciding leg of the deciding set. Two years thereafter he reached the semi-finals after a winning streak defeating Gary Anderson, Gary Robson and Ted Hankey before he eventually went out against Mervyn King 5–1. Later that year he had his best chance to date of winning a major title, as he led King 5–3 in the final of the Winmau World Masters before King recovered to win 6–5.

O'Shea managed to achieve a televised nine-dart finish against Adrian Lewis during the International Darts League on 9 May 2007 which made the tournament the first in darts history to witness two perfect legs. The occasion was made even sweeter as he was celebrating his 46th birthday.

In the 2008 World Championship, O'Shea defeated Steve Farmer in the first round, but was defeated by Winmau World Masters champion Robert Thornton in the second round.

O'Shea won the 2008 Welsh Masters, only his second tournament victory. In the 2009 BDO World Championship, O'Shea defeated Anderson in the quarter-finals, his best friend Darryl Fitton in the semi-final, but was once again second-best in a major final as he lost to Hankey 7–6 in what Tony Green described as the best final since 1992.

O'Shea entered the 2009 Winmau World Masters as the number one seed but despite 3–0 wins over Dave Prins and eighth seed Joey ten Berge, he lost in the semi-finals to defending champion Martin Adams who successfully retained his title. O'Shea then won the WDF World Cup men's singles title with victory over ten Berge in the final, in what was arguably his most significant win to date.

O'Shea entered the 2010 BDO World Championship as the number one seed. He had a tough first round against World Masters runner up Robbie Green but came through it 3–2. He then saw off Stephen Bunting 4–0 to reach his fourth Quarter-final. He managed a 5–1 victory over Robert Wagner in the quarter finals and went on to meet Dave Chisnall in the semi-final who had beaten Fitton in the first round, former Masters champion Tony West in the second round, and defending champion Hankey in the quarter-final. O'Shea, despite taking the first two sets, was beaten 6–3 by Chisnall and saw his World Championship dream end for another year. Martin Adams went on to defeat Chisnall in the final.

O'Shea won all three group games in the 2010 Grand Slam of Darts, defeating Vincent van der Voort 5–1, James Wade 5–1 and Justin Pipe 5–4. He then lost 10–7 to Terry Jenkins in the second round.

In contrast in 2010 where he was world number one, O'Shea came into the 2011 BDO World Championship as the number eight seed and suffered a shock first round loss to Ross Smith.

O'Shea was seeded at the 2012 BDO World Championship, O'Shea put his successful run in the tournament down to his work with professional sports mind coach and hypnotherapist Stephen McKibben from Belfast. He beat Steve West in the first round, hitting a 140 checkout and 142 checkout in consecutive legs at the end of the match, before defeating Ross Montgomery in the second round. He then beat defending champion Martin Adams 5–2 in the quarter-finals, hitting a 170 checkout in the fourth set and thanked mind coach Stephen McKibben for enabling him to at last beat Martin Adams in a major tournament. O'Shea followed this up with a 6–5 victory over Dutch débutant Wesley Harms to reach his second World Championship final, where he was defeated by another Dutch débutant, Christian Kist, 7–5. ^[3]

In October 2012, O'Shea reached his sixth major final at the 2012 Winmau World Masters, and was beaten by Stephen Bunting.

Tony O'Shea reached his third World Championship final in 2013 after a high quality run. He struggled badly in the final, losing to Scott Waites 7–1 with an average of 81.90. O'Shea became the first man to lose his first three BDO World Championship finals, and only the second player to lose his first three world finals in either the BDO or PDC after Peter Manley.

In 2018, he was not at the World Championships for the first time in his career.

World Championship results

BDO

2002: 1st round (lost to Colin Monk 2–3)
2003: 2nd round (lost to Colin Monk 2–3)
2004: Semi-final (lost to Mervyn King 1–5)
2005: 1st round (lost to Marko Kantele 1–3)
2006: Quarter-final (lost to Raymond van Barneveld 3–5)
2007: 1st round (lost to Martin Adams 0–3)
2008: 2nd round (lost to Robert Thornton 2–4)
2009: Runner-up (lost to Ted Hankey 6–7)
2010: Semi-final (lost to Dave Chisnall 3–6)
2011: 1st round (lost to Ross Smith 1–3)
2012: Runner-up (lost to Christian Kist 5–7)
2013: Runner-up (lost to Scott Waites 1–7)
2014: 1st round (lost to Martin Adams 0–3)
2015: 1st round (lost to Scott Mitchell 2–3)
2016: 1st round (lost to Jim Williams 0–3)
2017: 1st round (lost to Jim Williams 0–3)
2019: 1st round (lost to Wesley Harms 2–3)

WSDT

2022: First round (lost to Kevin Painter 2–3)
2023: First round (lost to Leonard Gates 0–3)

Career finals

BDO major finals: 7 (7 runners-up)

Legend
World Championship (0–3)
Winmau World Masters (0–2)
World Darts Trophy (0–1)
International Darts League (0–1)

Outcome	No.	Year	Championship	Opponent in the final	Score^{[N 1]}
Runner-up	1.	2002	World Darts Trophy	Tony David	0–6 (s)
Runner-up	2.	2004	Winmau World Masters	Mervyn King	6–7 (s)
Runner-up	3.	2005	International Darts League	Mervyn King	11–13 (s)
Runner-up	4.	2009	World Championship	Ted Hankey	6–7 (s)
Runner-up	5.	2012	World Championship	Christian Kist	5–7 (s)
Runner-up	6.	2012	Winmau World Masters	Stephen Bunting	4–7 (s)
Runner-up	7.	2013	World Championship	Scott Waites	1–7 (s)

↑ (l) = score in legs, (s) = score in sets.

WDF major finals: 1 (1 title)

Outcome	No.	Year	Championship	Opponent in the final	Score^{[N 1]}
Winner	1.	2009	World Cup Singles	Joey ten Berge	7–3 (l)

↑ (l) = score in legs, (s) = score in sets.

Performance timeline

Tournament	2000	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006	2007	2008	2009	2010	2011	2012	2013	2014	2015	2016	2017	2018	2019
BDO World Championship	DNP		1R	2R	SF	1R	QF	1R	2R	F	SF	1R	F	F	1R	1R	1R	1R	DNQ	1R
BDO World Trophy	Not held														1R	1R	2R	DNQ	2R	DNQ
International Darts League	Not held			QF	RR	F	RR	SF	Not held
World Darts Trophy	Not held		F	1R	QF	1R	2R	1R	Not held
World Masters	QF	2R	2R	1R	F	1R	4R	QF	SF	SF	6R	3R	F	5R	3R	1R	4R	6R	2R	DNP
Finder Darts Masters	DNP		SF	SF	QF	RR	NH	RR	SF	RR	SF	RR	QF	QF	SF	QF	RR	DNP	RR	NH
Grand Slam of Darts	Not held							DNQ		QF	2R	RR	RR	QF	RR	DNQ

Nine-dart finishes

Tony O'Shea televised nine-dart finishes
Date	Opponent	Tournament	Method	Prize
9 May 2007	Adrian Lewis	International Darts League	3 x T20; 3 x T20; T20, T19, D12	Opel Tigra Twin Top

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References

↑ "WDF Men's Rankings Table". WDF. 8 December 2024. Retrieved 8 December 2024.
↑ Profile and stats on Darts Database
↑ "Christian Kist beats favourite Tony O'Shea to win BDO world title at Frimley Green". The Telegraph. Telegraph Media Group. 15 January 2012. Retrieved 10 June 2012.(registration required)

External links

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[score-4] (l) = score in legs, (s) = score in sets.

[score-5] (l) = score in legs, (s) = score in sets.

[WDF_Rankings-1] "WDF Men's Rankings Table". WDF. 8 December 2024. Retrieved 8 December 2024.

[2] Profile and stats on Darts Database

[3] "Christian Kist beats favourite Tony O'Shea to win BDO world title at Frimley Green". The Telegraph. Telegraph Media Group. 15 January 2012. Retrieved 10 June 2012.(registration required)

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