Erik Clarys

Erik Clarys
Personal information
Nickname The Sheriff
Born (1968-10-18) 18 October 1968
Belgium
Home town Antwerp
Belgium
Darts information
Laterality Right-handed
Walk-on music The Good, the Bad and the Ugly by Ennio Morricone
Organisation (see split in darts)
BDO 1989-2004
PDC 2004-2006
BDO majors - best performances
World Ch'ship Quarter Final 2003
World Masters Winner 1995
World Darts Trophy Last 32 2002
Int. Darts League Last 32 Group 2003
PDC premier events - best performances
World Ch'ship Last 32 2004, 2006
Desert Classic Last 16 2005
UK Open Quarter Final 2005
Other tournament wins
Tournament Years
Belgium National Championship
Belgium Gold Cup
Dortmund Open
Swedish Open
German Gold Cup
1997, 1998, 1999, 2003

1998, 2002, 2004
1998, 1999, 2002
1999
2006

Erik Clarys (born 18 October 1968) is a Belgian former darts player. He competed for the British Darts Organisation and the Professional Darts Corporation. He is nicknamed "The Sheriff". Clarys was known for his unorthodox way of scoring and finishing which made him popular with fans.

BDO career

Clarys caused a major upset by winning the 1995 Winmau World Masters. Amongst his victims were future World and Masters champions Andy Fordham and Martin Adams before beating reigning Masters and World champion Richie Burnett in the final. Clarys continued to do well in tournaments, winning the Belgium National Championship four times, the Belgium Gold Cup three times, the Dortmund Open three times as well as the 1999 Swedish Open. Despite this however, he wasn't able to match these performances in other major tournaments. He played in six BDO World Championships, losing in the first round in his first four visits. He finally won a match at the Lakeside in the fifth time of asking in 2002, beating Andree Welge before losing in the second round to Raymond van Barneveld. In 2003, Clarys beat Tony Eccles and Robert Wagner en route to the quarter finals, eventually losing again to Barneveld.

PDC career

In 2004, Clarys switched to the PDC, after qualifying for their World Championship, beating Dan Lauby and Mark Walsh to reach the third round, losing to Ronnie Baxter. Though Clarys was unable to win any titles, he had good showings in major tournaments including a quarter final place in the 2005 UK Open. He made another appearance in the PDC World Championship, beating Winston Cadogan in round one before losing to Wayne Mardle. He then went on to win the WDF German Gold Cup.

Injury and retirement

In June 2006, Clarys shattered his right elbow after falling from a ladder while at work, forcing him to withdraw from the 2006 UK Open.[1] He was ranked 26th in the PDC world rankings at the time of his accident and was in the running for qualification for the World Matchplay. After eleven operations, Clarys has now given up all hope of returning to darts as a right-handed player. He has though begun practising throwing left-handed and stated he hoped to return to the game some day. He does however remain inactive.[2]

World Championship performances

BDO

PDC

Career finals

BDO major finals: 1 (1 title)

Outcome No. Year Championship Opponent in the final Score Ref.
Winner 1. 1995 Winmau World Masters Wales Richie Burnett 3–0 (s) [3]

References

External links

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