Matt Clark (darts player)

Matthew Clark (born 4 April 1968) is an English darts player who competes for the Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) and formerly played for the British Darts Organisation (BDO). He uses the nickname "Superman" for his matches.

Matt Clark
Personal information
Nickname"Superman"
Born (1968-04-04) 4 April 1968
Dartford, England
Home townWalkden, Lancashire, England
Darts information
Playing darts since1988
Darts22g Elvan own design
LateralityRight-handed
Walk-on music"Superman Theme" by John Williams
Organisation (see split in darts)
BDO1996–2003, 2018–2019
PDC2003–2017, 2019-
Current world ranking102 8 (3 January 2021)[1]
BDO majors – best performances
World Ch'shipQuarter Final: 1996
World MastersLast 32: 1996, 1998
World Darts TrophyLast 32: 2002
Int. Darts LeagueLast 16 Group: 2003
Finder MastersLast 16 Group: 2000, 2001
PDC premier events – best performances
World Ch'shipLast 32: 2006
World MatchplayQuarter Final: 2008
Desert ClassicLast 16: 2006
UK OpenLast 32: 2006
US Open/WSoDLast 32: 2007, 2009
Other tournament wins
Canadian Open 1999
Mill Rythe Darts Festival 1995
Open Holland 2008
PDC Challenge Tour 2015
PDC World Championship Qualifiers 2013

Darting history

Matt Clark first started playing darts at the age of 19 at his local village pub,[2] and after a few years was playing for the Kent county team. At the age of 24 he began moving towards pro darts attending the Dutch Open where he made the quarter finals of the pairs and singles competitions. Clark appeared in the BDO World Darts Championship eight successive years, reaching the quarter-finals in 1996.

He switched to the PDC in 2004 and quickly reached the top 32 in the world rankings. He made his PDC World Darts Championship debut in 2006 and reached the second round, losing to eventual champion Phil Taylor. He entered the 2007 tournament as the number 31 seed, but lost in the first round to Mick McGowan. In 2008, Clark lost in the first round to Roland Scholten. Despite losing, Clark won more legs than Scholten, Clark winning 12 to Scholten's 10. However, he gained revenge on Scholten having qualified for the 2008 World Matchplay through the Players Championship Order of Merit and defeating him 10–4 in the first round. He continued to defeat veteran Peter Manley 13–6 in an upset and reached the quarter-finals, his best performance in the competition, before being defeated by defending champion James Wade, despite checking out at 161 which was the highest checkout of that year's tournament. Prior to the Matchplay Event Matt lost 3 stone in weight which forced him to change his throwing stance.

Clark suffered a first round exit in the 2009 PDC World Darts Championship, losing to Kevin Painter in a sudden leg death which Clark missed one dart at double 12 to win.

After losing his PDC Tour Card at the end of 2017, Clark decided to play the some of the BDO Tour and the PDC Challenge Tour. A final in the Luxembourg Open and a quarter-final in the Belfry Open were followed by an agonising loss in the BDO World Championship qualifiers when he was one win from qualifying. Clark also made a quarter-final on the Challenge Tour in 2018 before re-entering PDC UK Q-School in January 2019. A last 16 exit on day two put him in a good position to win back his Tour Card, and he did it by right on the third day, beating Gavin Carlin 5–2 in the final to seal a two-year PDC Tour Card. Matt Clark also took part in the PDC Home Tour, on Saturday 25th April 2020, missing out on winning his group by one leg. The other three players in his group consisted of Harry Ward, Martijn Kleermaker and Michael Smith.

World Championship Results

BDO

PDC

Career statistics
Key
W  F  SF QF #R RR Prel. DNQ DNP NH
(W) Won; (F) finalist; (SF) semifinalist; (QF) quarterfinalist; (#R) rounds 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1; (RR) round-robin stage; (Prel.) Preliminary round; (DNQ) Did not qualify; (DNP) Did not participate; (NH) Not held

Performance timeline
Tournament1995199619971998199920002001200220032004200520062007200820092010201120122013201420152016201720182019
BDO World Championship DNQ QF 1R 1R 1R 2R 2R 1R 1R No longer a BDO Member DNQ
World Masters Prel. 3R DNQ 3R 1R 2R 2R 2R No longer a BDO Member 3R DNP
Finder Darts Masters Not held RR RR DNP No longer a BDO Member DNP NH
World Darts Trophy Not held 1R DNP Not held
International Darts League Not held RR DNP Prel. Not held
PDC World Championship DNP DNQ 2R 1R 1R 1R 1R DNQ 1R DNQ
World Matchplay DNP DNQ 1R 1R DNQ QF DNQ
Las Vegas Desert Classic Not held DNQ 2R DNQ 1R DNQ Not held
UK Open Not held DNQ 3R 4R 4R 3R 3R 2R 3R 2R Prel. DNQ 1R 1R 3R DNQ 2R
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". PDC.tv. 3 January 2021. Retrieved 3 January 2021.
  2. Matt Clark's December 2006 report Archived 29 July 2008 at the Wayback Machine from Matt Clark's official website, retrieved 23 July 2008
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