Jim Williams (darts player)

Jim Williams
Personal information
Nickname"The Quiff"
Born (1984-07-27) 27 July 1984 (age 40)
Cardiff, Wales
Home townPresteigne, Wales
Darts information
Playing darts since2004
Darts25 Gram signature One80 darts
LateralityRight-handed
Walk-on music"Tubthumping" by Chumbawamba
Organisation (see split in darts)
BDO2012–2020
PDC2021–
WDF2012–2021
Current world ranking46 Steady (24 November 2024)[1]
WDF major events – best performances
World Ch'shipRunner-up: 2020
World MastersSemi-final: 2018
World TrophyWinner (1): 2019
Finder MastersRunner-up: 2017
PDC premier events – best performances
World Ch'shipLast 32: 2023, 2024
UK OpenLast 64: 2022
Grand SlamGroup Stage: 2018, 2019, 2021
PC FinalsLast 64: 2022, 2023
Other tournament wins
Antwerp Open2015, 2017
BDO International Open2018
Belfry Open2018
Bruges Open2018
England Masters2018
England Open2019
French Open2017
Northern Ireland Open2018
PDC Challenge Tour2020, 2021
Scottish Open2020
Swiss Open2017
Turkish Open2015
WDF World Cup Singles2015
WDF World Cup Team2019
MAD Darts Welsh Belt Winner2020
UKDA National Singles Champion2023, 2024

Players Championships

Players Championship (BAR) 2022

Jim Williams (born 27 July 1984) is a Welsh professional darts player who plays in Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) events.

Career

In October 2012, Williams first rose to prominence at the 2012 Winmau World Masters in Hull. There he beat four players in the preliminary rounds to reach the main stage, most notably defeating reigning Lakeside World Champion Christian Kist 3–2 in his final match. Once on stage, he beat established campaigners Jan Dekker 3–1 and Ross Montgomery 3–2 to reach the quarter-finals, before losing out to eventual champion Stephen Bunting by 3 sets to 1.

In February 2013, he came closest to winning his first BDO ranking title, beating Jan Dekker and Remco van Eijden to reach the Scottish Open final, before losing 5–4 to Wesley Harms. In April, he made it to the semi-finals of the German Open, beating Paul Jennings and Richie George, but lost to champion Geert De Vos. One week later, he defeated Glen Durrant, Tony Eccles and John Walton to reach the last 4 of the Polish Open, but was beaten by Jeffrey de Graaf. In the Autumn, he lost to Tony O'Shea in the semis of the Romanian Open, and a fourth semi-final placing in 2013 came at the Northern Ireland Open. Add to that three further quarter final results last year and it amounts to a seeding place at Williams' first Lakeside. Williams made his debut at Lakeside in 2014 as the sole Welsh representative in the men's competition, and hoped to emulate countrymen Leighton Rees, Richie Burnett and Mark Webster by becoming BDO World Champion, but lost in the first round to Dave Prins.

In 2015, on the tour, Williams had some successful tournament runs, including a Final at the German Masters, losing out 6–4 to Wesley Harms. A last-8 in his home Welsh Open before eventually losing out to eventual winner Glen Durrant 4–0. Then a semi-final at the Polish Open, losing out to eventual winner Darius Labanauskas. Another final at the England national after defeating World number one Glen Durrant and Berkshire's Jason Heaver in the semi-final, he eventually lost out 6–5 to Cambridgeshire's Dennis Harbour. Another Quarter-final at Belgian Open where he lost out 4–2 the eventual winner Jeffrey de Graaf. Then his first ranking event title came at the Antwerp Open where he beat Brian Dawson in the quarters Fabian Roosenbrand in the semi-final before defeating Sven Verndock 2–0 in sets to become the 2015 Antwerp Open Champion. Also in 2015, Williams became Welsh individuals champion defeating Wayne Warren 2–0 in sets in the final. He also collected his first Welsh cap in the six nations of darts, and has been called up to represent Wales at the World cup in Turkey. In October, he went on to reach the final of the English classic, defeating Darryl Fitton 5–4 in the semi-final before going on to lose 6–2 to good friend Glen Durrant in the final. He then went on to the World Masters in Hull, losing out in the last 32 3 sets to 1 to Darius Labanauskas. He then went on to the Turkish Open, completing the singles and pairs double, winning the pairs with fellow countryman Martin Phillips, and then going on to defeat Phillips in the singles final 6 legs to 5 to become the 2015 Turkish Open Champion.

In 2019, Williams attempted to secure a PDC tour card. After failing to get a tour card, which would have allowed Williams to compete within the Professional Darts Corporation, he told Dartsnews.com: "I am definitely staying with the BDO. I will possibly do a few PDC Challenge Tours but I’m not sure to be honest." [2] In 2020, he reached the BDO World Championship final, but lost to Wayne Warren 7 sets to 4. This turned out to be the last ever BDO World Championship final, as the organization went into liquidation later that year. After failing to secure a PDC tour card for both the 2020 and 2021 PDC Pro Tour, Williams finally earned a tour card for the 2022 season by winning the 2021 PDC Challenge Tour, which also earned him a place in both the 2021 Grand Slam of Darts, and the 2022 PDC World Darts Championship.

PDC

He qualified for his first PDC World Championship after winning the UK Challenge Tour, where he was beaten by Joe Cullen in the last 64. In only his 6th attempt he won a Pro Tour Event in which he beat Ricky Evans in the final 8-6 to pick up £12,000. In the 2024 PDC World Championship, he knocked out Peter Wright in the second round, before being knocked out by Raymond van Barneveld.

World Championship performances

BDO

PDC

Career finals

BDO major finals: 3 (1 title, 2 runners-up)

Legend
World Championship (0–1)
Zuiderduin Masters (0–1)
BDO World Trophy (1–0)
Outcome No. Year Championship Opponent in the final Score[N 1]
Runner-up 1. 2017 Zuiderduin Masters Netherlands Danny Noppert 3–5 (s)
Winner 1. 2019 BDO World Trophy Netherlands Richard Veenstra 8–6 (l)
Runner-up 2. 2020 World Darts Championship Wales Wayne Warren 4–7 (s)
  1. ^ (l) = score in legs, (s) = score in sets.

Performance timeline

BDO

Tournament 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020
BDO World Championship DNQ 1R DNQ 2R 2R QF SF F
BDO World Trophy NH 2R DNQ 1R 1R SF W NH
Winmau World Masters QF 3R 2R 5R 6R QF SF 2R NH
Finder Darts Masters DNP SF RR F SF NH

PDC

Tournament 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024
PDC World Championship Non-PDC 2R 3R 3R
UK Open DNQ 4R 4R 3R
Grand Slam of Darts RR RR DNQ RR DNQ
Players Championship Finals DNQ 1R 1R 1R
Non-ranked televised events
PDC World Cup of Darts Did not qualify 2R
Career statistics
Year-end ranking - - 160 93 59 40

PDC European Tour

Season 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13
2022 IDO
DNP
GDC
DNQ
GDG
1R
ADO
2R
EDO
DNQ
CDO
DNQ
EDG
1R
DDC
WD
EDM
DNQ
HDT
3R
GDO
2R
BDO
DNQ
GDT
1R
2023 BSD
DNQ
EDO
2R
IDO
DNQ
GDG
3R
ADO
WD
DDC
2R
BDO
DNQ
CDO
DNQ
EDG
DNQ
EDM
DNQ
GDO
DNQ
HDT
DNQ
GDC
DNQ
2024 BDO
DNQ
GDG
DNQ
IDO
DNQ
EDG
DNQ
ADO
DNQ
BSD
DNQ
DDC
DNQ
EDO
DNQ
GDC
DNQ
FDT
DNQ
HDT
2R
SDT
1R
CDO
DNQ
Performance Table Legend
DNP Did not play at the event DNQ Did not qualify for the event NYF Not yet founded #R lost in the early rounds of the tournament
(WR = Wildcard round, RR = Round robin)
QF lost in the quarter-finals SF lost in the semi-finals F lost in the final W won the tournament

References

  1. ^ "PDC Order of Merit". PDPA. 24 November 2024. Retrieved 24 November 2024.
  2. ^ "Nearly 6,000 players enter the BDO's Dutch Open but no Jim Williams or Scott Waites". metro.co.uk. Retrieved 27 January 2019.