OTHER INFO: Dave Whitcombe is a veteran of the sports and a legend of the darts game, who won the World Masters twice back in 1982 and 1985; after a hiatus of a few years he is now back to the world of professional darts and was able to successfully qualify for the 2006 World Championship. Dave, who was a single child, started playing darts on his parents’ coiled paper dartboard and became quite good at it by the time he was 12. By the age of 18, Dave was playing on the Kent Doubles board and was picked up to play for Kent when he was only 20. Whitcombe helped in the formation of PDPA Professional Darts Players Association and the intention was to promote more televised programmes. However, when this led to a split in the organisations, Dave became disillusioned by it all and went into a semi-retirement of which he came out recently.

Things were looking good until he was diagnosed first with a tennis elbow, which took a year to be treated and after that surfaced a tumour in his right index finger, which needed to be operated upon.

Today Dave runs a pub at Sittingbourne, Kent in partnership with his wife, who is his biggest supporter.

NAME:  Dave Whitcombe

NICKNAME:  None

DATE OF BIRTH: 27th June 1954

PLACE OF BIRTH: Chatham, Kent, England

RESIDES: Sittingbourne, Kent, England

HEIGHT:  not stated

MARITAL STATUS: Lives with wife Delphine at the Gore Court Arms, Sittingbourne, Kent.

SPONSORS: Unicorn Darts

PROFESSIONAL ORGANISATION:  He played for the British Darts Organisation from 1979 to 1992. After the split he became disillusioned with the game and stopped playing, but he made a comeback in 2004 playing for the Professional Darts Corporation in 2004

TYPE OF DARTS USED:  Unicorn

HOBBIES AND INTERESTS: This right-handed darts player displayed his vast knowledge of the game when he authored the book ‘How to Play Darts’ in 1981. Dave took a break from his darting career and became a publican and enjoy many music festivals before he made a comeback in 2004.

TITLES: Dave’s very first major was the Marlboro Masters. He reached the World Championship twice, but lost to Eric Bristow (1984 and 1986) and has twice won the title of the Winmau World Masters (1982 and 1985). He won the News of the World Championship in 1989; the Swedish Open three times (1985, 1987 and 1990) and the Finnish Open in 1985 as well as the Dunlop Masters, the Blackthorn Masters and the Autumn Gold tournaments.

The year 2005 was simply incredible for Lewis beginning with his sponsorship by dart manufacturing giant, Unicorn, and then continuing as he went on to became the second man to conquer both the UK Open Scottish Regional as well as the Scotland PDPA Players Championship in same weekend.

Following this terrific run, he made it to the World Championship in 2006 and progressed to the quarter-finals, but lost 5-3 to Peter Manley in a controversial match in which he alleged Peter of distracting him while he was aiming at the bulls’ eye on a couple of occasions. At the recent World Championships, he qualified for the quarter-finals in 2006, but lost to Peter Manley 3-5, while he got beaten by Andy Jenkins 3-4 in the third round, in 2007. He succeeded in qualifying for the quarter-finals in 2008, but once again he could not capitalize on the opportunity as he lost to Kevin Painter 2-5. The year 2009 has not been great for him either, as he was defeated by Paul Nicholson 3-4 in the second round.

He is considered to be one of the biggest threats to the leading dart players and the critics believe in his skills to a great extent. Lewis has already outsmarted the world champions in the past and it is expected that the young man will achieve further success in the upcoming events with his sheer skill and talent.

Click here t TITLES:  In the short amount of time that Montgomery has been a professional darts player, he has risen very quickly through the ranks, ending the 2008 season as the 6th ranked player in the world and the 7th ranked British Darts Organization player.

His 2007 season began slowly with a last 32 showing at the International Darts League series. It picked up as he reached the last 16 in the World Masters tournament in 2007. Montgomery with tournament wins at both the EDO English Open as well as the British Classic in 2008.

OTHER INFO:  Though Montgomery is currently one of the top professional darts players in the world, he did not begin his career as an athlete with visions of darts grandeur on his mind. After achieving a great amount of success as a football player, Montgomery was forced to retire due to injuries suffered while playing.

Once retired from football, Montgomery turned his attentions to darts and quickly became one of the most brilliant new players in the game. Though he has achieved moderate success with his local teams as well as in several tournaments, Montgomery is still working diligently to achieve his career goals of winning the honour of tournament champion on the world stage at either the World Masters or the World Championships at Lakeside, though his preferable outcome would be to gain both titles.

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NAME:  Ross Montgomery

NICKNAME:  The Boss

DATE OF BIRTH:  16th October 1962

PLACE OF BIRTH:  Greenhills, East Kilbride, Scotland

RESIDES:  Greenhills, East Kilbride, Scotland

HEIGHT:  6’ 1”

MARITAL STATUS:  married to wife Dorothy

SPONSORS:  none currently, though he is still looking for sponsorship for the current season

PROFESSIONAL ORGANISATION:  Montgomery has been a member of the British Darts Organization since his first professional appearance in 2003. He also plays for the Calderwood Inn in the Rutherglen – East Kilbride Darts League as well as the Roadhouse team in the Glasgow Premier League.

TYPE OF DARTS USED:  22g Tungsten

HOBBIES AND INTERESTS:  While Montgomery’s main professional interest is the game of darts, in his personal life he is very dedicated to his family, particularly to his wife Dorothy who he met when she was a cheerleader for the American football team, Montgomery, while he played for the Glasgow Diamonds.

Though he was forced to retire at an early age from professional American football, Montgomery still quite enjoys participating in regular recreational football games. In addition to playing, Montgomery is also an avid fan of both football and American football, following both closely during the season. Montgomery regularly participates in recreational darts games with friends and is also a very large fan of music as reflected by his choice of walk on music, “Breathe” performed by The Prodigy. 

He was also the 2008 UK Open Winner and was awarded the PDC Young Player of the Year in 2006. He also boasts about three 9-dart finishes during a calendar year in 2006, which is an unparalleled feat to date. He had an extremely successful run from 2006-08 and he was also chosen as the PDC Player of the Year in 2007.

In 2001 Wade reached the British Classic final, but lost to John Walton. However, the following year he managed to win the Swiss Open and in 2003 he made his debut in television during the Lakeside World Championship, although in the first round he lost to Dennis Harbour 2-3. During 2003, he participated in several other BDO Open events and he managed to reach the Norway Open final, the Belgian Open semi-finals and the Dutch Open quarter-finals.

The year 2004 is considered to be the turning point in his life as he made the most important decision of his career when he decided to shift to the PDC, even after qualifying for most of the upcoming BDO tournaments next year.


The 2006 World Match-play victory was one of the most sensational events in his career as he achieved glory after a series of close fights. He knocked out former World Championship finalist, Kevin Painter, 13-9 and even displayed fantastic recovery skills by making a dramatic comeback from 1-5 “down-and-out-situation” against Roland Scholten. He went on to secure the victory in tiebreaker as he finished 19-17.

OTHER INFO: Considered at one point to be one of the greatest darts players ever, Mervyn King, popularly known as The King began playing darts at the age of 12 and thereafter established himself as an illustrious darts player in the British Darts Organization. However, he now plays for the rival Professional Darts Corporation, more popularly known as the PDC and has risen to the sixth ranking in the world darts scene, just after two years of joining the PDC. He debuted in the World Professional Darts Championship in 1997 where he hit thirty 180s during this whole tournament, which was a new record at that time. He reached the semi-finals, but lost 5-3 to Les Wallace.

His only first round defeat so far came when he was defeated by Andy Fordham in 1999. He displayed top form while he played the World Championship between 2002 and 2004. He did reach the finals twice but unfortunately he lost 4-6 and 3-6 to Tony David in 2002 and to Andy Fordham in 2004 respectively. He also lost in the semi-final of 2003 to Raymond van Barneveld. He lost in the second round to André Brantjes in 2005 and to Jelle Klaasen in 2006. Again, in 2007, he suffered defeat, this time at the semi-finals losing to Martin Adams. Although his rankings are below his previous form, he is still the man to beat in any tournament.

NAME:  Mervyn King

NICKNAME:  The King

DATE OF BIRTH:  15th March 1966

PLACE OF BIRTH:  Ipswich, Suffolk, England

RESIDES:  Bradwell, Norfolk, England

HEIGHT:  5’ 9”

MARITAL STATUS: single

SPONSORS:  totally into sport, Datadart, Manorfield Cars

PROFESSIONAL ORGANISATION: King was a member of the British Darts Organization from 1995 to 2007. He was still under a contract from BDO for the 2008 tournament, when he made a rather controversial switch to the Professional Darts Corporation in February 2007. Still a member of PDC, his recent stint at the 2009 World Championship, elevated him to sixth position in the PDC Order of Merit.

TYPE OF DARTS USED:  22g Datadart (Own Design)

HOBBIES AND INTERESTS:  He is very much into cars and also golfing.

TITLES: King has won on several Open titles since he first emerged onto the darts scene back in 1995. However it was in 2004 in Bridlington, only after a long wait, he claimed his first Grand Slam when he defeated Tony O’Shea and won the Winmau World Masters.

First at the International Darts League he defeated O’Shea in the finals, 13-11 in the legs. Second was Dutch Grand Masters held on 11th December 2005, where he beat Adams 5-4 in the finals He clinched his very first PDC Pro-Tour title in April 2008 at the Scottish Players Championship in Glasgow.

In his recent competition at the 2009 World Championship, he reached the semi finals before being truly beaten by Phil Taylor, 6-2.

OTHER INFO:  Boulton has been playing darts for eighteen years with his professional debut being as a member of his county team of Cheshire eight years ago. Boulton enjoys MC-ing at his county matches as he is still a very active member of the team. He also competes in doubles matches with darts player, Ian White. As a team, the two are known as A + E or The Paramedics. They have been playing together for many years and also perform in exhibition tournaments as well as singles competitive events. In addition to maintaining his website, Boulton also posts videos of his karaoke exploits to YouTube for his fans to enjoy, including some videos that include White and other English teammates singing following their partners exhibition matches.

Boulton and White play in exhibition matches several times a year and Boulton makes an effort to ensure that these matches are fun for all and include the audience in the occasion. In both his professional and exhibition matches, Boulton is well known for his fantastic sense of humour. This skill is one that he uses to, not only, amuse and delight his audience, but also in the maintenance of his website and his rapport with his colleagues and friends.

Boulton maintains an active roster of tournaments and is scheduled to appear in many different competitions, mostly in the UK, over the course of this season with hopes to return to the world stage in the World Championship series tournaments in the near future.

NAME:  Robert Wagner

NICKNAME: The Magician

DATE OF BIRTH:  14th June 1965

PLACE OF BIRTH:  Austria

RESIDES:  Norway

HEIGHT: 5’ 11”

MARITAL STATUS:  not married

SPONSORS:  none currently

PROFESSIONAL ORGANISATION:  Wagner has been a member of the British Darts Organization since his first professional competition in 2002.

TYPE OF DARTS USED:  22g DataDart Silver Shadow

HOBBIES AND INTERESTS:  Outside of darts, Wagner is an avid bodybuilder. His affinity for exercise and weightlifting stems from his previous career as a professional bodybuilder prior to his taking up darts as a full time occupation. As a fitness enthusiast, Wagner is interested in many different sports with his favourite of these being football, which he follows closely while in season.

He is also a large fan of both music and films and enjoys keeping up with not only vintage music, but also current hits. His walk on tune for the 2008 season was “Just for Tonight” performed by the band, One Night Only.