Mark Dudbridge

Dudbridge uses the nickname "Flash". He started playing in his very early teens, citing Dennis Priestley as one of his heroes.^[1] Dudbridge made a name for himself in the British Darts Organisation by winning the Winmau World Masters in 2002, defeating Tony West in the final^[2] – in his first televised tournament. He never competed in the BDO version of the World Championship and switched instead to compete in the Professional Darts Corporation.

In 2003, he won a regional final of the UK Open and also the Ireland Open Classic and knocked out John Part, who was defending champion at the time, in his first appearance at the World Championship in 2004. His success continued in Blackpool at the World Matchplay in 2004 going on to reach the final before losing to Phil Taylor. His 2005 PDC World Championship campaign started off by beating two former World Champions back to back - Richie Burnett and then John Part. He then beat Denis Ovens and Wayne Mardle before meeting Taylor again in the final – possibly Dudbridge's best achievement to date. This achievement saw him qualify for the inaugural Premier League and he also took the decision to become a full-time professional player.

Since 2005, his ranking has slipped and he hasn't made the major impact on the game that his earlier results might have suggested. He started 2007 ranked 20 in the world rankings and his best result of the year to date was reaching the quarter finals of the new US Open in May. Dudbridge has qualified for the 2013 UK Open, this will be his first televised appearance since the 2012 PDC World Championship. Dudbridge has recently seen a return to form, with a string of solid performances on the PDC Pro Tour seeing him qualifying for the 2014 World Championship.^[3]

Outside darts

Dudbridge is one of the few players chosen to appear in the PDC World Championship Darts computer game.^[4]

Dudbridge owns Cafe501^[5] and Solar Darts whilst playing on the professional circuit; he currently lives in Bradley Stoke and is married with three children. He is a supporter of Bristol City and several players including Scott Murray and Louis Carey have been spotted watching his matches live.

World Championship results

PDC

2004: Quarter-Finals (lost to Kevin Painter 1-5)
2005: Runner Up (lost to Phil Taylor 4-7)
2006: 3rd Round (lost to Kevin Painter 1-4)
2007: 2nd Round (lost to Andy Hamilton 3-4)
2008: 3rd Round (lost to James Wade 2-4)
2009: 3rd Round (lost to Barrie Bates 0-4)
2010: 3rd Round (lost to Co Stompé 2-4)
2011: 2nd Round (lost to Adrian Lewis 1-4)
2012: 1st Round (lost to Dave Chisnall 0-3)
2014: 1st Round (lost to Gary Anderson 0-3)

Career finals

BDO major finals: 1 (1 title)

Outcome	No.	Year	Championship	Opponent in the final	Score	Ref.
Winner	1.	2002	Winmau World Masters	Tony West	7–4 (s)	^[6]

PDC premier event finals: 2 (2 runners-up)

Legend
World Matchplay (0–1)
World Championship (0–1)

Outcome	No.	Year	Championship	Opponent in the final	Score
Runner-up	1.	2004	World Matchplay	Phil Taylor	8–18 (l)
Runner-up	2.	2005	World Darts Championship	Phil Taylor	4–7 (s)

References

↑ "Mark Dudbridge". Darts Exhibitions. Retrieved 2 November 2015.
↑ "World Masters Winners". Darts Database. Retrieved 2 November 2015.
↑ "William Hill World Championship Field". Professional Darts Corporation. Retrieved 2 November 2015.
↑ "PDC World Championship Darts - Out Now!". Professional Darts Corporation. Retrieved 2 November 2015.
↑ "About Us". Cafe 501. Retrieved 2 November 2015.
↑ "2002 World Masters Results". Darts Database. Retrieved 25 July 2015.

External links

Profile and stats on Darts Database

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Friday, March 25, 2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.