Martin Adams

Martin Adams (born 4 June 1956) is an English professional darts player.[1] Nicknamed "Wolfie", he is a three-time BDO World Champion and three-time World Masters champion. He represents Cambridgeshire at county darts level and was the captain of England from 1993 to 2013, the longest any player has held that role. From his debut in 1994, Adams made a record 25 consecutive World Championship appearances, before failing to qualify for the first time in 2019. Adams was diagnosed with prostate cancer in April 2016[2], but by the end of the year he was given the all-clear. As well as playing, he also acts as a regular pundit and commentator for televised coverage of BDO events.

Martin Adams
Personal information
Nickname	"Wolfie"
Born	(1956-06-04) 4 June 1956 Sutton, London, England
Home town	Deeping St James, Lincolnshire, England
Darts information
Playing darts since	1981
Darts	Engraved 22 Gram Datadart M3
Laterality	Right-handed
Walk-on music	"Hungry Like the Wolf" by Duran Duran
Organisation (see split in darts)
BDO	1988–
Current world ranking	(BDO) 18
BDO majors – best performances
World Ch'ship	Winner (3) 2007, 2010, 2011
World Masters	Winner (3) 2008, 2009, 2010
World Darts Trophy	Runner Up: 2004, 2006
Int. Darts League	Semi Final: 2003, 2005
Finder Masters	Winner (2) 1996, 2000
PDC premier events – best performances
World Matchplay	Semi Final: 2001
World Grand Prix	Quarter Final: 2001
Grand Slam	Last 16: 2015
Other tournament wins
Tournament	Years
Antwerp Open BDO International Open Belgium Open British Matchplay British Open British Pentathlon Denmark Open Dutch Open Finnish Open French Open German Gold Cup German Open Granite City Open Haaglanden World Top 16 Event Hal Open IDBT Open IDPA Lakeside Classic Italian Open Okells Jubilee Trophy Scania Open Scottish Open Sunparks Masters Swiss Open Welsh Open WDF Europe Cup Singles WDF Europe Cup Pairs WDF Europe Cup Team WDF World Cup Singles WDF World Cup Pairs WDF World Cup Team WDF World Rankings	2001, 2013 2010, 2014 1997, 1998, 2013 1996 1994, 2004 1994, 1996, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2004, 2008, 2009, 2011 2000 2010, 2011, 2015, 2016 1996, 2002 2002 2000, 2001, 2002 2001, 2007 2005, 2007 1999, 2000 2012, 2014, 2015 2014 2009 2018 2010 1999 2005 2000, 2009 1996, 1999 2014 1996 1996, 2002, 2008, 2010 1994, 1996, 1998, 2000, 2004 1995, 2001 1995, 2003, 2011 1995, 1999, 2001, 2007, 2011 2010

Darts career

Adams was born in Sutton, Surrey and started his darts career in pubs. He still plays pub darts, currently playing for Deeping Rugby Club in Market Deeping, Lincolnshire.[3] After being made redundant by Lloyds Bank, he turned professional in 1992.

Following the formation of the World Darts Council in 1993, all the players that left the British Darts Organisation were banned from playing county darts, leaving England searching for a new team and a new captain. Adams took over the role in 1993 and remained captain until March 2013, becoming the longest reigning England captain ever.

Adams has won many BDO Open events and twice won the WDF World Cup singles, but often missed-out on winning the biggest tournaments. He was sometimes the victim of great comebacks and also great collapses himself when he found himself in winning positions. In particular, his 5–4 defeat to Chris Mason in the 1999 World Championship quarter-finals, having led 4–1 and seen nine match-darts pass him by in the match, is always mentioned among the greatest matches in the history of the event. He also lost in the deciding set at the semi-final stage in both 1995 and 2002.

In the Grand Slam BDO events, other than the World Championship, Adams was runner-up on three occasions. He was beaten 6–4 in the 2004 Bavaria World Darts Trophy final by Raymond van Barneveld and lost the 2006 Bavaria World Darts Trophy final to Phil Taylor 7–2. He also lost to 17-year-old Dutch youngster Michael van Gerwen 7–5 in the 2006 Winmau World Masters final, having led 5–2 and despite averaging 107 for the first nine darts of each leg.

Having made his Lakeside debut in 1994 at the age of 37, Adams failed to progress beyond the semi finals of the World Championship until 2005 when he reached the final at the 12th attempt. He beat Davy Richardson 3–2, John Henderson 3–2, Ted Hankey 5–3 and Simon Whitlock 5–0 before losing 6–2 against van Barneveld in the final.

2007

Adams reached his second world final in 2007. He was number one seed for the second time in his career and put out Tony O'Shea, Co Stompé, Ted Hankey and Mervyn King in his run to the final where he faced qualifier Phill Nixon. The two oldest players in the tournament (they were both 50 years old) reached the final. Adams stormed into a 6–0 lead, before Nixon produced an incredible comeback to level the match. Just when it looked like Adams was heading for another dramatic defeat, having already missed four match darts, he went on to win all three legs in the final set to take the match 7–6 and finally claim the world title that he said he had been chasing for 14 years.

2008

In the draw for the 2008 BDO World Championships, Adams was again paired with Nixon in the first round. In the match, Adams beat Nixon 3–0. After the game, Adams was clearly emotional in an interview following his victory, citing the memories of the 2007 final as the reason (the first time he had won comfortably).[4] In the second round he came up against Martin Phillips. It was easy pickings for Adams, who cruised to a 4–0 victory with Phillips paying the price for many missed doubles. In the quarter-finals he played a fiercely fought match against Masters champion Robert Thornton, whom he led at one time 4–2. Thornton fought back to make it 4–4 but Adams eventually took control of his visible nerves to win 5–4. Adams went on to lose in the semi-finals to number-one seed Mark Webster, who eventually won the tournament.

Adams defeated Scott Waites in the World Masters final of 2008 to record his first Masters victory and his second major (after the 2007 Worlds), in another epic 7–6 encounter.

2009

At the 2009 World Championship, he reached the semifinal for the fifth successive year, where he was narrowly defeated by eventual champion Ted Hankey. Later that year, he won his second successive Masters title, once again by a 7–6 scoreline in the final, over Robbie Green after Green led by 6–3 and had a dart for the title. This win made Adams the first man to retain the Masters title since Bob Anderson in 1988. Adams joined Eric Bristow, Richie Burnett, Bob Anderson and John Walton as the fifth player to win them in the same season.[5]

2010

In the 2010 World Championship he beat a visibly nervous Anthony Fleet in the first round without losing a leg, followed by further comfortable victories over Daryl Gurney and Garry Thompson. In the semi-final he let a 5–1 lead slip over Welshman Martin Phillips before finally winning 6–4. He then defeated unseeded Dave Chisnall 7–5 in the final to win a second World Championship in a rematch of their first round match a year earlier.

In February 2010 he won the Dutch Open title for the first time in his long career. The England captain triumphed 3–1 over international team-mate Scott Waites in the men's singles final in Veldhoven.[6]

Adams won his third successive World Masters title in 2010 by defeating Stuart Kellett 7–3 in the final, becoming only the second player in history to win three consecutive World Masters titles, the other being Bob Anderson.

2011

Adams reached his fourth World Championship final in the 2011 tournament, defeating Tony West, John Walton, Ross Smith and Martin Phillips to get there. The match against Walton was especially memorable as it went to a sudden death leg, which Adams won despite Walton having the advantage of throw. Adams played Dean Winstanley in the final, the 3rd seed - marking the only time Adams played a seed in either the 2010 or 2011 World Championship - and won 7–5 to become the first player since Raymond van Barneveld to successfully defend the BDO World Championship.

Later in January, Adams successfully defended his Dutch Open crown, once again defeating Winstanley in a close final (3–2 in sets). Adams then reached the singles final at the WDF World Cup where he was defeated by Scott Waites, and also won the doubles event with Waites. At the 2011 World Masters, the three-time defending champion was beaten by eventual champion Waites 5–3 in the semi-finals.

2012-2014

Adams was the top seed at the 2012 World Championship. He beat Scott Mitchell and Gary Stone without dropping a set, but was defeated 5–2 in the quarter-final by former runner-up Tony O'Shea, who went on to reach the final.

Adams had a difficult season in 2012-13, losing in his first match at the Masters 3–1 to Rune David before being eliminated in the group stage of Zuiderduin Masters without winning either of his matches. At the 2013 World Championship, Adams was beaten 3–2 by teenage débutante Jimmy Hendriks.

During this period of losing to Rune David and Jimmy Hendricks at the later end of 2012 and the earlier seasons of 2013, Adams had been very much focused on his personal life. He lost weight and gave up smoking. Adams eventually refound his form and, entering the newly formed preliminary stage at the 2014 BDO World Championship, Adams reached the quarter-finals with comfortable wins over David Cameron, Tony O'Shea (in which O'Shea failed to win a leg) and Ross Montgomery before losing 5–2 to Jan Dekker. Adams got back to world number two and won a number of key tournaments. At the 2014 Winmau World Masters, Adams narrowly missed out on reaching the final for the first time since 2010 as he let a 5–2 semi-final lead slip against Jamie Hughes, also missing 10 match darts in the ninth set.

2015

He opened his 2015 World Championship with a 3–1 victory over Jan Dekker, setting up a tie against Jim Widmayer in the second round. He whitewashed Widmayer 4–0 to advance to the quarter-final stage, where he would face Ross Montgomery. He comfortably beat Montgomery 5–1 to go through to the semi-finals, to play Glen Durrant, who he edged out 6–5 to reach the final. Adams had a near nine darter hitting the treble 20 7 times and hitting the treble 19 but missed the double 12, if he had hit it, he would have been the first person to hit a 9 darter at the BDO World Championship in 25 years since Paul Lim in 1990. In the final, he was narrowly defeated by Scott Mitchell 7–6 in a deciding set.

In November 2015, Adams made his first PDC tournament appearance since 2007, at the 2015 Grand Slam of Darts, where topped his group with three wins of out of three, with victories against Ian White and two former BDO World Champions in Jelle Klaasen and Steve Beaton.[7] In the last 16, Adams faced Kim Huybrechts where he narrowly lost 10-9. Adams rallied from 6-3 and 9-7 deficits to force a decisive leg which Huybrechts won on a 13 darter. In his post-match interview, Adams praised the crowds and said he would likely return to the tournament next year if invited.[8].

2016

Adams was the number two seed going into the 2016 World Championship, but was handed a tough first round draw against Canadian Jeff Smith, who had reached the semi finals the previous year. Ultimately, Adams was whitewashed for the first time ever at Lakeside, suffering a 3 sets to nil defeat. He recovered from this setback by winning the Dutch Open just a few weeks later, beating Danny Noppert in the final.

At the 2016 Grand Slam of Darts, Adams was grouped with Michael van Gerwen. Brendan Dolan and Max Hopp. He lost all three matches and finished bottom of the group. To date, this marks his last appearance at a PDC televised tournament.

2017

Adams was the 5th seed for the 2017 World Championship, and was drawn to face the winner of a preliminary round match, which Ryan Joyce won beating Dennis Nilsson. Adams narrowly defeated Joyce 3 sets to 2 in a close encounter to set up a rematch again Jeff Smith, who had whitewashed him the previous year. Adams was able to avenge his loss with a convincing 4-1 over the Canadian. He would eventually go out at the quarter-finals stage to 4th seed Jamie Hughes, in a thrilling 5-4 defeat.

2018

Adams qualified for the 2018 World Championship, but was not seeded and thus was handed a difficult first round draw against the number two seed Mark McGeeney. Despite a gallant effort, Adams would lose 3 sets to 2 in a close match.

Adams failed to qualify for the 2019 World Championship, making it the first that he would miss the event since making his debut in 1994. It ended a run of 25 consecutive appearances. He did, however, win his first ranking tournament for nearly three years by clinching the Italian Open.

Stance on the Professional Darts Corporation

Adams played in three major PDC television events in 2000–2001, which were the 2000 World Matchplay (losing to Shayne Burgess in the first round), the 2001 World Matchplay (losing to Phil Taylor in the semi finals), and the 2001 World Grand Prix (losing to John Lowe in the quarter finals). Adams also won a non-televised Players Championship tournament, the 1999 Scania Open, where he beat Phil Taylor in the final.

When eligibility rules for entry into PDC television tournaments changed at the start of 2002, Adams was unable to compete in them as he decided to remain a BDO player. After the 2001 World Matchplay, it would be over five years before Adams faced Taylor in a match again, in the final of the 2006 World Darts Trophy (a BDO major), where Adams lost 2-7 in the final of the Dutch competition which invited five PDC players that year.[9][10]

Since the 2001 World Grand Prix and the subsequent change in the eligibility rules for entry into PDC television tournaments from 2002 onwards, Adams did not compete in a PDC event again until 14 years later. When the Grand Slam of Darts began in 2007, Adams turned down the invitation to compete in the PDC event and continued to decline the offer to compete in subsequent years. The PDC's Board of Directors ruled that Adams will no longer be eligible for invitations into the tournament in future.[11] Adams brushed off their decision, saying that it would simply save him the time in having to refuse them.[12] Commentators at the 2009 Grand Slam confirmed that they had once again unsuccessfully invited him to that year's event.

Rumours of a possible appearance at the 2011 Grand Slam began following an interview with BBC commentator David Croft just before the 2011 BDO World Championship. Adams said that "he had held discussions with the BDO and certain political issues had been sorted regarding the other side of the game" when asked by Croft about whether in theory a match could take place with the winner of the respective PDC World Championship.[13] Despite the rumour, Adams never competed at the 2011 Grand Slam.

However, Adams was invited to the 2015 Grand Slam. In Adams' debut at the Grand Slam, he went undefeated in the three group matches of the first round but lost 9-10 (best of 19) in his second round match with Kim Huybrechts.

World Championship results

BDO

• 1994: Quarter Final (lost to Magnus Caris 2–4)
• 1995: Semi Final (lost to Raymond van Barneveld 4–5)
• 1996: Quarter Final (lost to Steve Beaton 1–4)
• 1997: 1st Round (lost to Roger Carter 1–3)
• 1998: 1st Round (lost to Robbie Widdows 2–3)
• 1999: Quarter Final (lost to Chris Mason 4–5)
• 2000: 1st Round (lost to Steve Coote 2–3)
• 2001: 2nd Round (lost to Ronnie Baxter 1–3)
• 2002: Semi Final (lost to Tony David 4–5)
• 2003: 2nd Round (lost to Bob Taylor 1–3)
• 2004: 1st Round (lost to Ritchie Davies 2–3)
• 2005: Runner-up (lost to Raymond van Barneveld 2–6)
• 2006: Semi Final (lost to Raymond van Barneveld 2–6)
• 2007: Winner (defeated Phill Nixon 7–6)
• 2008: Semi Final (lost to Mark Webster 4–6)
• 2009: Semi Final (lost to Ted Hankey 4–6)
• 2010: Winner (defeated Dave Chisnall 7–5)
• 2011: Winner (defeated Dean Winstanley 7–5)
• 2012: Quarter Final (lost to Tony O'Shea 2–5)
• 2013: 1st Round (lost to Jimmy Hendriks 2–3)
• 2014: Quarter Final (lost to Jan Dekker 2–5)
• 2015: Runner-Up (lost to Scott Mitchell 6–7)
• 2016: 1st Round (lost to Jeff Smith 0–3)
• 2017: Quarter Final (lost to Jamie Hughes 4–5)
• 2018: 1st Round (lost to Mark McGeeney 2–3)
• 2020: 1st Round (lost to Scott Waites 2–3)

Career finals

BDO major finals: 17 (9 titles, 8 runners-up)

Legend

World Championship (3–2)

Winmau World Masters (3–1)

British Matchplay (1–0)

World Darts Trophy (0–2)

Zuiderduin Masters (2–3)

Outcome	No.	Year	Championship	Opponent in the final	Score[N 1]
Winner	1.	1996	British Matchplay	Steve Beaton	3–2 (s)
Winner	2.	1996	Zuiderduin Masters	Mervyn King	4–2 (s)
Winner	3.	2000	Zuiderduin Masters	Steve Beaton	5–4 (s)
Runner-up	1.	2004	World Darts Trophy	Raymond van Barneveld	4–6 (s)
Runner-up	2.	2005	World Darts Championship	Raymond van Barneveld	2–6 (s)
Runner-up	3.	2005	Zuiderduin Masters	Mervyn King	4–5 (s)
Runner-up	4.	2006	World Darts Trophy	Phil Taylor	2–7 (s)
Runner-up	5.	2006	Winmau World Masters	Michael van Gerwen	5–7 (s)
Winner	4.	2007	World Darts Championship	Phill Nixon	7–6 (s)
Winner	5.	2008	Winmau World Masters	Scott Waites	7–6 (s)
Winner	6.	2009	Winmau World Masters	Robbie Green	7–6 (s)
Runner-up	6.	2009	Zuiderduin Masters	Darryl Fitton	2–5 (s)
Winner	7.	2010	World Darts Championship	Dave Chisnall	7–5 (s)
Winner	8.	2010	Winmau World Masters	Stuart Kellett	7–3 (s)
Winner	9.	2011	World Darts Championship	Dean Winstanley	7–5 (s)
Runner-up	7.	2015	World Darts Championship	Scott Mitchell	6–7 (s)
Runner-up	8.	2015	Zuiderduin Masters	Glen Durrant	2–5 (s)

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

Performance timeline

Tournament	1988	1989	1990	1991	1992	1993	1994	1995	1996	1997	1998	1999	2000	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006	2007	2008	2009	2010	2011	2012	2013	2014	2015	2016	2017	2018
BDO World Championship	DNQ						QF	SF	QF	1R	1R	QF	1R	2R	SF	2R	1R	F	SF	W	SF	SF	W	W	QF	1R	QF	F	1R	QF	1R
Winmau World Masters	DNP		3R	DNP	QF	1R	SF	SF	2R	4R	SF	1R	4R	4R	4R	4R	QF	SF	F	QF	W	W	W	SF	5R	5R	SF	SF	5R	1R	4R
British Professional	1R	Not held
Finder Darts Masters	Not held												W	QF	QF	QF	RR	F	NH	QF	RR	F	SF	SF	RR	RR	QF	F	QF	RR	RR
World Darts Trophy	Not held														2R	QF	F	SF	F	QF	Not held
International Darts League	Not held															SF	QF	SF	QF	RR	Not held
BDO World Trophy	Not held																										QF	1R	2R	QF	DNQ
World Matchplay	NYF						DNP						1R	SF	Non-PDC
World Grand Prix	Not held										DNP			QF	Non-PDC
Grand Slam of Darts	Not held																			DNP								2R	RR	DNQ
News of the World	DNP			Not held						SF	Not held

Performance Table Legend
DNP	Did not play at the event	DNQ	Did not qualify for the event	NYF	Not yet founded	L#	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

High averages

See also: High dart average

Martin Adams televised high averages

Average	Date	Opponent	Tournament	Stage	Score	Ref.
110.52	7 December 2007	Steve Coote	2007 Zuiderduin Masters	Group stage	5-0 (L)

References

1. Lamont, Tom (4 January 2009). "How I got my body". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 22 November 2009.
2. "BDO Legend has prostate cancer". BBC Sport. Retrieved 13 January 2017.
3. The Publican - Home - What I love about pubs: Martin Adams
4. Jacob, Gary (7 January 2008). "Water gates open after Martin Adams swiftly topples Phil Nixon". The Times. London. Retrieved 12 May 2010.
5. "Other Sport... - Darts - Darts results". BBC Sport. BBC. 12 October 2000. Retrieved 6 September 2009.
6. BBC - Martin Adams adds 2010 Dutch Open title to honours
7. "SINGHA Beer Grand Slam - Tuesday". PDC. 10 November 2015. Retrieved 10 November 2015.
8. "SINGHA Beer Grand Slam - Thursday". PDC. 12 November 2015. Archived from the original on 14 November 2015. Retrieved 13 November 2015.
9. Phil Taylor "Powers" over Martin Adams
10. Darts Database Head-to-Head v Phil Taylor darts database
11. PDC ruling Archived 1 August 2009 at the Wayback Machine
12. "Adams bites back at the other half". Peterborough Evening Telegraph. 12 February 2009. Retrieved 22 November 2009.
13. Martin 'Wolfie' Adams ready to defend Lakeside crown David Croft Interview bbc.co.uk

External links

• Wolfie Darts Official website
• Profile on Darts Database