Tony O'Shea

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Tony O'Shea
O'Shea in 2005
Personal information
Nickname"Silverback"
Born (1961-05-09) 9 May 1961 (age 62)
Stockport, Cheshire, England
Home townStockport, Cheshire, England
Darts information
Playing darts since1979
Darts24g Target Signature
LateralityRight-handed
Walk-on music"Hey Baby" by DJ Ötzi preceded opening to "Baba O'Riley" by The Who
Organisation (see split in darts)
BDO1995-2020
WDF1995–
Current world ranking(WDF) 932 New entry (14 November 2023)[1]
WDF major events – best performances
World Ch'shipRunner-up: 2009, 2012, 2013
World MastersRunner-up: 2004, 2012
World TrophyRunner-up: 2002
Int. Darts LeagueRunner-up: 2005
Finder MastersSemi-final: 2002, 2003, 2008, 2010, 2014
PDC premier events – best performances
Grand SlamQuarter-final: 2009, 2013
WSDT major events – best performances
World Ch'shipLast 24: 2022
World MatchplayLast 20: 2022
World MastersSemi-final: 2022
Other tournament wins
TournamentYears
BDO International Open
Dutch Open
Isle Of Man Open
Jersey Classic
Northern Ireland Open
Polish Open
Romanian Open
Scottish Open
Swiss Open
Turkish Open
WDF World Cup Singles
WDF World Cup Pairs
WDF World Cup Team
Welsh Classic
Welsh Masters
2009
2012
2016
2014
2011
2012
2013
2009
2003
2009, 2017
2009
2011, 2013
2007, 2011
2009
2008
Other achievements
Clackmanam Open 2010
Dutch Pentathlon 2010
Six Nations Cup 2010
Winmau Darts Dazzler Batley 2010

Tony O'Shea (born 9 May 1961)[2] is an English professional darts player. His squat figure has resulted in the nickname "Silverback". O'Shea has reached the finals of seven British Darts Organisation (BDO) major darts tournaments, but to date has never won one. He also acted as a regular commentator for televised BDO coverage.

Darts career[edit]

BDO[edit]

In 2002, O'Shea made his debut at the BDO World Championship, narrowly losing to former Masters champion Colin Monk 3–2. O'Shea returned the following year and beat former champion Ted Hankey 3–2 in the first round, before once again being beaten by Monk 3–2 – this time in the deciding leg of the deciding set. Two years thereafter he reached the semi-finals after a winning streak defeating Gary Anderson, Gary Robson and Ted Hankey before he eventually went out against Mervyn King 5–1. Later that year he had his best chance to date of winning a major title, as he led King 5–3 in the final of the Winmau World Masters before King recovered to win 6–5.

O'Shea managed to achieve a televised nine-dart finish against Adrian Lewis during the International Darts League on 9 May 2007 which made the tournament the first in darts history to witness two perfect legs. The occasion was made even sweeter as he was celebrating his 46th birthday.

In the 2008 World Championship, O'Shea defeated Steve Farmer in the first round, but was defeated by Winmau World Masters champion Robert Thornton in the second round.

O'Shea won the 2008 Welsh Masters, only his second tournament victory. In the 2009 BDO World Championship, O'Shea defeated Anderson in the quarter-finals, his best friend Darryl Fitton in the semi-final, but was once again second-best in a major final as he lost to Hankey 7–6 in what Tony Green described as the best final since 1992.

O'Shea entered the 2009 Winmau World Masters as the number one seed but despite 3–0 wins over Dave Prins and eighth seed Joey ten Berge, he lost in the semi-finals to defending champion Martin Adams who successfully retained his title. O'Shea then won the WDF World Cup men's singles title with victory over ten Berge in the final, in what was arguably his most significant win to date.

O'Shea entered the 2010 BDO World Championship as the number one seed. He had a tough first round against World Masters runner up Robbie Green but came through it 3–2. He then saw off Stephen Bunting 4–0 to reach his fourth Quarter-final. He managed a 5–1 victory over Robert Wagner in the quarter finals and went on to meet Dave Chisnall in the semi-final who had beaten Fitton in the first round, former Masters champion Tony West in the second round, and defending champion Hankey in the quarter-final. O'Shea, despite taking the first two sets, was beaten 6–3 by Chisnall and saw his World Championship dream end for another year. Martin Adams went on to defeat Chisnall in the final.

O'Shea won all three group games in the 2010 Grand Slam of Darts, defeating Vincent van der Voort 5–1, James Wade 5–1 and Justin Pipe 5–4. He then lost 10–7 to Terry Jenkins in the second round.

In contrast in 2010 where he was world number one, O'Shea came into the 2011 BDO World Championship as the number eight seed and suffered a shock first round loss to Ross Smith.

O'Shea was seeded at the 2012 BDO World Championship, O'Shea put his successful run in the tournament down to his work with professional sports mind coach and hypnotherapist Stephen McKibben from Belfast. He beat Steve West in the first round, hitting a 140 checkout and 142 checkout in consecutive legs at the end of the match, before defeating Ross Montgomery in the second round. He then beat defending champion Martin Adams 5–2 in the quarter-finals, hitting a 170 checkout in the fourth set and thanked mind coach Stephen McKibben for enabling him to at last beat Martin Adams in a major tournament. O'Shea followed this up with a 6–5 victory over Dutch débutant Wesley Harms to reach his second World Championship final, where he was defeated by another Dutch débutant, Christian Kist, 7–5. [3]

In October 2012, O'Shea reached his sixth major final at the 2012 Winmau World Masters, and was beaten by Stephen Bunting.

Tony O'Shea reached his third World Championship final in 2013 after a high quality run. He struggled badly in the final, losing to Scott Waites 7–1 with an average of 81.90. O'Shea became the first man to lose his first three BDO World Championship finals, and only the second player to lose his first three world finals in either the BDO or PDC after Peter Manley.

In 2018, he was not at the World Championships for the first time in his career.

World Championship results[edit]

BDO[edit]

WSDT[edit]

Career finals[edit]

BDO major finals: 7 (7 runners-up)[edit]

Legend
World Championship (0–3)
Winmau World Masters (0–2)
World Darts Trophy (0–1)
International Darts League (0–1)
Outcome No. Year Championship Opponent in the final Score[N 1]
Runner-up 1. 2002 World Darts Trophy Australia Tony David 0–6 (s)
Runner-up 2. 2004 Winmau World Masters England Mervyn King 6–7 (s)
Runner-up 3. 2005 International Darts League England Mervyn King 11–13 (s)
Runner-up 4. 2009 World Championship England Ted Hankey 6–7 (s)
Runner-up 5. 2012 World Championship Netherlands Christian Kist 5–7 (s)
Runner-up 6. 2012 Winmau World Masters England Stephen Bunting 4–7 (s)
Runner-up 7. 2013 World Championship England Scott Waites 1–7 (s)
  1. ^ (l) = score in legs, (s) = score in sets.

WDF major finals: 1 (1 title)[edit]

Outcome No. Year Championship Opponent in the final Score[N 1]
Winner 1. 2009 World Cup Singles Netherlands Joey ten Berge 7–3 (l)
  1. ^ (l) = score in legs, (s) = score in sets.

Performance timeline[edit]

Tournament 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019
BDO World Championship DNP 1R 2R SF 1R QF 1R 2R F SF 1R F F 1R 1R 1R 1R DNQ 1R
BDO World Trophy Not held 1R 1R 2R DNQ 2R DNQ
International Darts League Not held QF RR F RR SF Not held
World Darts Trophy Not held F 1R QF 1R 2R 1R Not held
World Masters QF 2R 2R 1R F 1R 4R QF SF SF 6R 3R F 5R 3R 1R 4R 6R 2R DNP
Finder Darts Masters DNP SF SF QF RR NH RR SF RR SF RR QF QF SF QF RR DNP RR NH
Grand Slam of Darts Not held DNQ QF 2R RR RR QF RR DNQ

Nine-dart finishes[edit]

Tony O'Shea televised nine-dart finishes
Date Opponent Tournament Method Prize
9 May 2007 England Adrian Lewis International Darts League 3 x T20; 3 x T20; T20, T19, D12 Opel Tigra Twin Top

References[edit]

  1. ^ "WDF Men's Rankings Table". WDF. 14 November 2023. Retrieved 14 November 2023.
  2. ^ Profile and stats on Darts Database
  3. ^ "Christian Kist beats favourite Tony O'Shea to win BDO world title at Frimley Green". The Telegraph. Telegraph Media Group. 15 January 2012. Retrieved 10 June 2012. (registration required)

External links[edit]