Dean Winstanley

Dean Winstanley (born 10 February 1981) is an English professional darts player.

Dean Winstanley
Personal information
NicknameOver the Top
Born (1981-02-10) 10 February 1981
Swinton, South Yorkshire, England
Home townBuxton, Derbyshire, England
Darts information
Playing darts since1983
DartsDean Winstanley 24g Winmau Signature
LateralityRight-handed
Walk-on music"Like a Prayer" by Madonna
Organisation (see split in darts)
BDO2008–2012, 2018–2019
PDC2012–2016, 2018, 2021 Q School
WDF2020-
BDO majors – best performances
World Ch'shipRunner Up: 2011
World MastersRunner Up: 2011
Finder MastersQuarter Finals: 2010, 2011
PDC premier events – best performances
World Ch'shipLast 16: 2015
World MatchplayLast 16: 2012
World Grand PrixLast 16: 2014
Grand SlamSemi Finals: 2012
European Ch'shipLast 32: 2014
UK OpenLast 16: 2014
Players Ch'ship FinalsQuarter Finals: 2014
Other tournament wins
Belgium Open 2010
British Classic 2011
Czech Open 2011
England Open 2010
German Open 2010

He first took up darts as a two-year-old, stopped playing at the age of 12, and then started playing again when he was 22.[1] He turned professional in 2008 and won his first event at the 2010 German Open.

Darts career

BDO

Winstanley won the German Open, England Open, and Belgium Open in 2010. As a result of his performances on the BDO circuit, he qualified for the 2010 Winmau World Masters as the fourth seed. He defeated Stewart Rattray in the last 16 before losing to Martin McCloskey in the quarter-finals.

Winstanley also qualified for the 2011 World Championship as the third seed. In the first round, he survived two match darts against Martin Atkins before winning 3–2. He then defeated Robbie Green 4–1 in the second, Stephen Bunting 5–1 in the quarter-final and Jan Dekker 6–2 in the semi-finals, thus making him one of a small number of players to have reached the final at his first attempt. He was defeated 7–5 by Martin Adams in the final, having led 4–3 and 5–4. Later that year, Winstanley reached the final of the World Masters, where he was beaten 7–2 in sets by Scott Waites.

Winstanley qualified for the 2011 Grand Slam of Darts. He topped his group with victories over Ted Hankey, Ian White and Raymond van Barneveld. In the second round, he lost 10–9 to Mark Walsh having narrowly missed three match darts at 9–8 in front and a further two in the deciding leg.

Winstanley was seeded 3rd for the 2012 World Championship. He defeated Joey ten Berge 3–1 in the first round, before being defeated 4–3 by Alan Norris in the second round having led 3–1.

PDC

It was announced at the end of the 2012 BDO World Championship that Winstanley had entered the rival PDC's 'Q School' He beat Matt Clark 6–1 on the third day to earn a PDC Pro Tour card after earlier beating Dave Ladley, Kevin Dowling, Mareno Michels and Simon Craven.[2] In April, he earned a place in the European Tour Event 1 in Vienna by defeating Gary Butcher in the UK qualifier.[3] He enjoyed wins over Paul Nicholson and Jim Walker in the event, before losing in the third round 3–6 to Richie Burnett.[4] Winstanley also qualified for the second European Tour event, with a win over Mark Jones in the UK qualifier.[5] He played Mark Walsh in the first round of the event in Berlin, coming back from 2–5 down to triumph 6–5.[6] In round two Winstanley was on the other end of a final leg decider, losing to Michael Mansell.[7]

Winstanley's first PDC major was the UK Open, where he lost to an in-form Terry Jenkins 3–9 in the last 32.[8] Winstanley's results during his first 6 months on the tour were good enough to seal a place in the World Matchplay due to his ranking on the ProTour Order of Merit.[9] He faced Gary Anderson in the first round and came back from 0–5 down to win 13–11 and set up a last 16 meeting with Ronnie Baxter.[10] There, Winstanley hit nine 180s, but only 25% of his doubles as he bowed out of the tournament with an 8–13 defeat.[11] His doubles continued to prove a weakness in his game as he missed two for the match in a 2–3 loss to Dave Chisnall in his debut performance in the World Grand Prix.[12]

Winstanley went into the last round of matches at the Grand Slam of Darts knowing a win over Simon Whitlock would secure his place in the knockout stages. He produced a superb performance to win 5–1 with a 100.63 average, before seeing off Arron Monk 10–5 and Kevin Painter 16–12 to reach his first PDC major semi-final.[13] He faced Michael van Gerwen who started the match exceptionally by leading 5–0 and 10–1 and Winstanley could never catch up as he lost 8–16.[14]

2013

His first year as a PDC player saw him finish 33rd on the ProTour Order of Merit after all 33 Players Championship, UK Open and European Tour Events had been played.[15] This was enough to see him qualify for the World Championship as the third highest non-qualified player.[16] The week before the tournament Winstanley practiced intensely with five-time world champion Raymond van Barneveld, playing two four- to six-hour sessions a day at the Ducthman's home with the players aiming to take out 5001 in 50 turns.[17] Winstanley beat Mervyn King 3–2 in his debut, recovering from 1–2 down in sets and 0–2 in legs in the decider, also surviving one match dart to eventually win the final set 6–4.[18] In his second round match, whilst trailing Vincent van der Voort 0–2 in sets and having won only one leg in the match, Winstanley hit his first televised nine-dart finish and the fifth in World Championship history. He eventually lost 2–4 having had darts at doubles to win both the fifth and sixth sets.[19] Winstanley won the Best Newcomer at the annual PDC dinner in January 2013.[20] His only quarter-final of 2013 came in May at the Players Championship One, where he lost 6–1 to Robert Thornton.[21] Winstanley suffered a surprise 4–5 defeat to qualifier Dave Weston in the first round of the UK Open.[22] Winstanley produced an encouraging 5–2 victory over Kim Huybrechts in his opening group game of the Grand Slam of Darts but followed it up with 5–1 and 5–3 defeats to Michael van Gerwen and Van der Voort to finish third and exit the tournament.[23]

2014

He qualified for the 2014 World Championship through the 2013 ProTour Order of Merit and fell 2–0 down to Richie Burnett in the first round, before missing one dart to square the match at two sets all and was instead beaten 3–1.[24][25] Winstanley was ranked world number 36 after the tournament.[26] He enjoyed a good run at the UK Open by beating Andy Boulton 9–2 and reigning BDO world champion Stephen Bunting 9–6, before losing to Kevin Painter 9–5 in the fifth round.[27] Later in the month he reached his first final since joining the PDC at the second Players Championship where he was beaten 6–1 by Michael van Gerwen.[28]

Winstanley earned a place in the European Darts Trophy, where he overcame Gino Vos, Jamie Caven, Ian White and Peter Wright en route to reach his first appearance in the semi-finals of a European tour event, but lost there again against Michael van Gerwen.[29] He defeated Michael Smith 2–1 in sets at the World Grand Prix, before being eliminated 3–1 by Van Gerwen in the second round.[30] A first round exit at the European Championship followed and Winstanley was knocked out of the Grand Slam in the group stage after failing to win any of his three games.[31] However, he found his form at the Players Championship Finals by averaging 103.94 in a 6–3 triumph over Simon Whitlock and then beat Jelle Klaasen 10–5 to play in his first major PDC quarter-final.[32] He took an early 3–0 lead over Vincent van der Voort, but went on to lose 10–8.[33]

2015

Winstanley secured narrow 3–2 and 4–3 wins over Wayne Jones and Darren Webster in the 2015 World Championship to reach the third round of the event for the first time.[34] He dropped the first two sets without winning a leg against Vincent van der Voort, but improved to trail 3–2. Winstanley missed one dart to take the tie into a final set and was instead defeated 4–2.[35] He lost 5–3 to William O'Connor in the second round of the UK Open.[36] Winstanley did not qualify for the rest of the PDC majors in 2015 and could not get past the last 16 in any Pro Tour event.[37]

2016

At 2–2 in sets and 4–4 in legs in their first round 2016 World Championship match, Ronny Huybrechts broke throw with a 164 finish with Winstanley waiting on 40 and then took out 104 to win in the next leg.[38] He lost 9–3 to Vincent van der Voort in the third round of the UK Open.[39] After this, Winstanley only reached the last 64 of five events and was beaten each time, eventually falling outside of the top 64 in the world.[40]

On 15 November 2016, Winstanley was fined £3,000 and suspended from the PDC until May 2017 for posting a live recording of an event showing inappropriate behaviour. [41] Having lost his PDC Tour Card, he was subsequently unable to enter the 2017 Q School.[42]

Personal life

Winstanley is a father of five.[43] He is married to darts player Lorraine Winstanley.

Career finals

BDO major finals: 2 (2 runners-up)
Legend
World Championship (0–1)
Winmau World Masters (0–1)
Outcome No. Year Championship Opponent in the final Score
Runner-up 1. 2011 World Championship Martin Adams 5–7 (s)
Runner-up 2. 2011 Winmau World Masters Scott Waites 2–7 (s)

    World Championship results

    BDO

    PDC

    Performance timeline

    PDC

    Tournament201120122013201420152016
    PDC World Championship BDO 2R 1R 3R 1R
    UK Open DNQ 4R 1R 5R 2R 3R
    World Matchplay DNQ 2R DNQ 1R DNQ
    World Grand Prix DNQ 1R DNQ 2R DNQ
    European Championship DNQ 1R DNQ
    Grand Slam of Darts 2R SF RR RR DNQ
    Players Championship Finals DNQ QF DNQ

    Nine-dart finishes
    See also: Nine-dart finish
    Dean Winstanley televised nine-dart finishes
    Date Opponent Tournament Method Prize
    23 December 2012 Vincent van der Voort PDC World Championship 3 x T20; 3 x T20; T20, T19, D12 £7,500

    References
    1. "Profile for Dean Winstanley". Lakesideworlddarts.com. 10 February 1981. Retrieved 21 January 2012.
    2. "Qualifying School Day Three". Planet Darts. Professional Darts Corporation. 21 January 2012. Archived from the original on 23 January 2012. Retrieved 21 January 2012.
    3. "European Tour 1 – UK Qualifier". Planet Darts. Professional Darts Corporation. 13 April 2012. Archived from the original on 17 April 2012. Retrieved 24 April 2012.
    4. "2012 PDC European Tour Vienna Results". Darts Database. Retrieved 29 April 2012.
    5. "2012 PDC European Tour Berlin UK Qualifier Results". Darts Database. Retrieved 29 May 2012.
    6. "German Darts Champs Day One". Professional Darts Corporation. Archived from the original on 25 June 2012. Retrieved 22 June 2012.
    7. "German Darts Champs Day Two". Planet Darts. Professional Darts Corporation. Archived from the original on 26 June 2012. Retrieved 23 June 2012.
    8. "Speedy Services UK Open RD4". Planet Darts. Professional Darts Corporation. Archived from the original on 11 June 2012. Retrieved 11 June 2012.
    9. "Betfair World Matchplay Field". Planet Darts. Professional Darts Corporation. Archived from the original on 11 July 2012. Retrieved 8 July 2012.
    10. "Betfair World Matchplay – Night Four". Planet Darts. Professional Darts Corporation. Archived from the original on 26 July 2012. Retrieved 25 July 2012.
    11. "Betfair World Matchplay – Night Six". Planet Darts. Professional Darts Corporation. Archived from the original on 28 July 2012. Retrieved 26 July 2012.
    12. "PartyPoker.com WGP – Monday". Planet Darts. Professional Darts Corporation. Archived from the original on 10 October 2012. Retrieved 9 October 2012.
    13. "2012 Grand Slam Of Darts Results". Darts Database. Retrieved 16 November 2012.
    14. "William Hill Grand Slam Semi-Finals". Professional Darts Corporation. Retrieved 19 November 2012.
    15. "ProTour Order of Merit". Professional Darts Corporation. Retrieved 4 December 2012.
    16. "2013 PDC World Championship Qualifiers". Darts Database. Retrieved 4 December 2012.
    17. "Raymond van Barneveld is Back with a Bang". Express.co.uk. Northern & Shell. Retrieved 18 December 2012.
    18. "Ladbrokes WDC Day Five". Professional Darts Corporation. Archived from the original on 31 December 2012. Retrieved 18 December 2012.
    19. "Ladbrokes WDC Day Ten". Planet Darts. Professional Darts Corporation. Archived from the original on 31 December 2012. Retrieved 23 December 2012.
    20. "MvG's Awards Treble As Taylor Scoops Top Honour". Professional Darts Corporation. Archived from the original on 6 January 2013. Retrieved 4 January 2012.
    21. "Six Of The Best For Thornton!". Professional Darts Corporation. 4 May 2013. Archived from the original on 6 May 2013. Retrieved 4 May 2013.
    22. "Speedy Services UK Open - Thursday". PDC. Retrieved 8 June 2013.
    23. "2013 Grand Slam Of Darts Results". Darts Database. Retrieved 8 December 2013.
    24. "2014 PDC World Championship Qualifiers". Darts Database. Retrieved 8 December 2013.
    25. "Ladbrokes World Championship Day One". PDC. 14 December 2013. Archived from the original on 16 December 2013. Retrieved 14 December 2013.
    26. "Order of Merit on 2 January 2014". PDC. Archived from the original on 8 January 2015. Retrieved 2 January 2014.
    27. "2014 UK Open Results". Darts Database. Retrieved 10 March 2014.
    28. "Players Championship 2 Latest". PDC. Archived from the original on 16 March 2014. Retrieved 16 March 2014.
    29. "Smith's European Darts Trophy Joy". PDC. Retrieved 22 September 2014.
    30. "2014 World Grand Prix Results". Darts Database. Retrieved 7 December 2014.
    31. "Dean Winstanley 2014". Darts Database. Archived from the original on 7 December 2014. Retrieved 7 December 2014.
    32. "Cash Converters PCF Day Two". PDC. Archived from the original on 3 December 2014. Retrieved 7 December 2014.
    33. "Super Anderson's Minehead Glory". PDC. Archived from the original on 5 December 2014. Retrieved 7 December 2014.
    34. "William Hill World Championship Day Eight". PDC. Archived from the original on 29 December 2014. Retrieved 28 December 2014.
    35. "William Hill World Championship Day Ten". PDC. Retrieved 30 December 2014.
    36. "Coral UK Open - Friday Afternoon". PDC. Archived from the original on 8 March 2015. Retrieved 7 March 2015.
    37. "Dean Winstanley 2015". Darts Database. Archived from the original on 18 January 2016. Retrieved 5 December 2015.
    38. "William Hill World Championship Day Six". PDC. Archived from the original on 24 December 2015. Retrieved 23 December 2015.
    39. "2016 Coral UK Open Day One". PDC. Retrieved 20 November 2016.
    40. "Dean Winstanley 2016". Darts Database. Archived from the original on 20 November 2016. Retrieved 20 November 2016.
    41. http://www.thedra.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/DRA-Hearings-2016-for-website.pdf
    42. "2017 PDC Qualifying School Day Four". PDC. Retrieved 24 January 2017.
    43. "Dean Winstanley marches into quarter-finals at Lakeside". BBC Sport. 5 January 2011. Retrieved 21 January 2012.
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