Chris Dobey

Chris Dobey (born 31 May 1990) is an English professional darts player currently playing in Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) events. He is the 2023 Masters champion.

Chris Dobey
Personal information
Nickname"Hollywood"
Born (1990-05-31) 31 May 1990 (age 34)
Bedlington, England
Home townBedlington, England
Darts information
Playing darts since2010
Darts23g Target Chris Dobey Gen 1
LateralityRight-handed
Walk-on music"L'amour toujours" by Gigi D’Agostino (Main)
Organisation (see split in darts)
BDO2013–2015
PDC2015–
(Tour Card: 2015-)
Current world ranking13 Steady (26 May 2024)[1]
WDF major events – best performances
World MastersLast 32: 2014
PDC premier events – best performances
World Ch'shipQuarter-final: 2023, 2024
World MatchplayQuarter-final: 2023
World Grand PrixSemi-final: 2019
UK OpenLast 16: 2018, 2020, 2021
Grand SlamQuarter-final: 2016
European Ch'shipSemi-final: 2022
Premier League7th: 2023
PC FinalsSemi-final: 2019
MastersWinner (1): 2023
Other tournament wins
Players Championships
Players Championship (BAR) 2021
Players Championship (COV) 2021
Players Championship (LEI) 2024

Career

His first major TV appearance came in the 2015 UK Open where he lost 5–1 in the first round to Nathan Aspinall.[2] At the 11th Players Championship of the year he had deciding leg victories over Jan Dekker, Kim Huybrechts and Max Hopp to reach the last 16 of a PDC event for the first time, where he was defeated 6–2 by Mark Webster.[3] Dobey qualified for the 2015 World Series of Darts Finals and lost in a last leg decider to Terry Jenkins.[4]

At the 2016 German Darts Masters, Dobey saw off Ben Davies 6–1 and then averaged 100.64 in a win over Robert Thornton and 102.25 whilst beating Dave Chisnall 6–4.[5] In his first PDC quarter-final he averaged over 100 again, but lost 6–5 to world number one Michael van Gerwen having led 5–4.[6] At the 19th Players Championship Dobey beat Stephen Bunting 6–3 to reach the semi-finals and took out a 120 finish after Adrian Lewis had missed match darts to play in his first professional final, which he lost 6–4 to Simon Whitlock.[7]He qualified for the 2016 European Championship and was eliminated 6–2 by Joe Cullen in the first round.[8] Dobey also played in the Grand Slam of Darts for the first time and wins over Lewis and Scott Mitchell saw him advance to the knockout stage, where he hit a ten dart leg to move 9–5 up on Jamie Hughes. However, Hughes closed the deficit to force a deciding leg which Dobey took to advance to his first major quarter-final, but he was outclassed by James Wade who won 16–5.[9][10]

His performances gave him a PDC Pro Tour spot in the 2017 World Championship, where he beat Justin Pipe 3–1 in the first round.[11] In the second round he lost 4–2 to Dave Chisnall.[12]

At the 2018 World Championship, Dobey drew Phil Taylor in the first round. Taylor was appearing in his final World Championship following his decision to retire after the conclusion of the event. Dobey lost 3-1. He played in the 2018 UK Open in Minehead, reaching the fifth round before losing out to Corey Cadby. He reached 2 finals on the Pro Tour in 2018, losing 6-2 to Michael van Gerwen at Players Championship 5 despite having an average of over 109, and then lost 6-2 to Krzysztof Ratajski at the penultimate Players Championship event of the year. These performances aided him in qualifying for the 2018 Players Championship Finals where he had a run to the quarter-finals, losing out 10-2 to eventual winner Daryl Gurney.

He qualified for the 2019 PDC World Darts Championship via the Pro Tour, reaching the last 16 stage with a 3-0 win over Boris Koltsov, a 3-0 win over Steve Beaton and a 4-3 win over Vincent van der Voort. He lost 4-3 to Gary Anderson, in a match which saw 28 180s thrown, 15 of them by Dobey.

Following Gary Anderson's withdrawal from the 2019 Premier League, Dobey was selected as one of nine 'contenders'. He would play a one-off match against Mensur Suljović on night one in Newcastle. Dobey started well leading 5-1 before Suljović would win 5 consecutive legs to lead 6-5. Dobey would win the final leg to draw the match 6-6.

Dobey reached his fourth PDC final at the 2019 Danish Darts Open, winning through as a non seed, but lost it 8-3 to Dave Chisnall.

After semi-finals at both the 2019 World Grand Prix and 2019 Players Championship Finals, Dobey was once again selected for the Premier League night in Newcastle, this time under the tag of 'challenger'.[13]

In 2021, Dobey won his first PDC ranking title the 18th Players Championship event in Coventry. Along the way he defeated Jeff Smith, Luke Humphries, William Borland, Jonny Clayton, Stephen Bunting, Maik Kuivenhoven & José de Sousa.[14] Dobey then went on to claim his 2nd ranking title at PC28 in Barnsley including a phenomenal Semi-final clash with Rob Cross where the pair threw a combined average of 224.68 (111.73 for Chris).[15]

On 29 January 2023, Dobey reached his first televised final at the 2023 Masters. He beat reigning Masters champion Joe Cullen, Luke Humphries, Dirk van Duijvenbode, Michael Smith before defeating Rob Cross 11–7 in the final.[16] The following day, Dobey was confirmed to be in the 2023 Premier League.[17]

On 1 September 2023, Chris Dobey announced he has joined a new equipment sponsor in Target Darts.

In April 2024, Dobey won a first Players Championship event since 2021 with victory in PC7, hitting a nine-dart finish along the way before registering a second-career highest average of 109.63 in the semi-final.[18][19]

World Championship results

PDC

Performance timeline

Tournament20142015201620172018201920202021202220232024
PDC World ChampionshipDNQ2R1R4R4R3R4RQFQF
UK Open1R2RDNQ4R5R3R6R6R4R5R5R
World MatchplayDNQ1RDNQ1R1RQF
World Grand PrixDNQSF1RDNQQFQF
European ChampionshipDNQ1RDNQ2RDNQSFQF
Grand Slam of DartsDNQQFDNQRRDNQ2R
Players Championship FinalsDNQ1R3RQFSF1R1R2R2R
Non-ranking televised events
MastersDNQ2RDNQW2R
Premier League DartsDNPCCDNP7thDNP
World Series of Darts FinalsNH1RDNQ2RDNQDNP
Career statistics
Year-end ranking-1224236341923322115

PDC European Tour

Season12345678910111213
2015GDC
DNP
GDT
DNP
GDM
DNP
DDM
DNP
IDO
DNP
EDO
DNP
EDT
1R
EDM
DNQ
EDG
DNQ
2016DDM
DNQ
GDM
QF
GDT
DNQ
EDM
2R
ADO
2R
EDO
DNQ
IDO
2R
EDT
DNQ
EDG
DNQ
GDC
1R
2017GDC
1R
GDM
DNQ
GDO
DNQ
EDG
1R
GDT
DNQ
EDM
1R
ADO
3R
EDO
DNQ
DDM
DNQ
GDG
DNQ
IDO
DNQ
EDT
2R
2018EDO
3R
GDG
2R
GDO
DNQ
ADO
DNQ
EDG
DNQ
DDM
DNQ
GDT
3R
DDO
1R
EDM
2R
GDC
DNQ
DDC
DNQ
IDO
DNQ
EDT
DNQ
2019EDO
DNQ
GDC
DNQ
GDG
1R
GDO
2R
ADO
2R
EDG
2R
DDM
DNQ
DDO
F
CDO
3R
ADC
1R
EDM
DNQ
IDO
DNQ
GDT
2R
2020BDC
DNQ
GDC
2R
EDG
1R
IDO
DNQ
2021HDT
DNQ
GDT
DNQ
2022IDO
DNQ
GDC
2R
GDG
2R
ADO
DNQ
EDO
DNQ
CDO
DNQ
EDG
DNQ
DDC
3R
EDM
2R
HDT
2R
GDO
DNQ
BDO
1R
GDT
2R
2023BSD
DNP
EDO
2R
IDO
DNQ
GDG
3R
ADO
2R
DDC
DNQ
BDO
2R
CDO
DNQ
EDG
2R
EDM
DNP
GDO
DNQ
HDT
DNQ
GDC
2R
2024BDO
2R
GDG
3R
IDO
SF
EDG
2R
ADO
2R
BSD
1R
DDC
EDO
GDC
FDT
HDT
SDT
CDO
Performance Table Legend
WWon the tournamentFFinalistSFSemifinalistQFQuarterfinalist#R
RR
Prel.
Lost in # round
Round-robin
Preliminary round
DQDisqualified
DNQDid not qualifyDNPDid not participateWDWithdrewNHTournament not heldNYFNot yet founded

PDC career finals

PDC major finals: 1 (1 title)

Legend
The Masters (1–0)
OutcomeNo.YearChampionshipOpponent in the finalScore[N 1]
Winner1.2023The Masters  Rob Cross 11–7 (l)

Notes

References

External links