Ken MacNeil (born 16 December 1975) is a Canadian professional darts player who plays in World Darts Federation (WDF) events.

Ken MacNeil
Personal information
Nickname"Silver Dart"
Born (1975-12-16) 16 December 1975 (age 48)
Sydney, Nova Scotia, Canada
Home townEdmonton, Alberta, Canada
Darts information
Playing darts since1986
Darts22 Gram Shot
LateralityRight-handed
Walk-on music"You Ain't Seen Nothing Yet" by Bachman–Turner Overdrive
Organisation (see split in darts)
BDO2005–2009
PDC2009–2016
WDF2017–
Current world ranking(WDF) NR (14 November 2023)[1]
WDF major events – best performances
World MastersLast 128: 2006
PDC premier events – best performances
World Ch'shipLast 64: 2010
UK OpenLast 64: 2013
Other tournament wins
TournamentYears
Klondike Open2015

Career edit

MacNeil qualified for the 2010 PDC World Darts Championship by finishing fourth in the North American Order of Merit. In the preliminary round, he defeated Guyana's Norman Madhoo 4–2. In the first round, he lost 3–2 to Alan Tabern.[2]

He represented Canada with John Part in the 2012 PDC World Cup of Darts and together they reached the second round by defeating Hungary 5–3.[3] MacNeil then beat 15-time World Champion Phil Taylor in his singles match, but they would eventually succumb 3–2 to the English duo of Taylor and Adrian Lewis, having lost a sudden death leg.[4] In June MacNeil lost in the final of the Canadian Open to Terry Hayhurst.[5]

MacNeil entered Q School in an attempt to win a PDC Tour Card to play the full circuit in 2013 and 2014 and succeeded on the first day, defeating David Copley 6–2 in his final match.[6] He dedicated his success to his late father who had died a month earlier. MacNeil did not play in his third World Cup of Darts as Jeff Smith had overtaken him in the Order of Merit as Canada's second highest player behind John Part.[7] In May, he matched his best ever result in a PDC event by reaching the last 16 of the fourth Players Championship courtesy of wins over Wayne Jones, Nick Fullwell and Paul Nicholson, before losing 6–4 to Jamie Caven.[8] MacNeil lost 9–8 to Ronnie Baxter in the third round of the UK Open.[9] He did not play in a PDC event throughout the rest 2013 and the whole of 2014.[10]

MacNeil returned to Q School in January 2015 and was defeated in the final round on day three by Jason Wilson. However, after all four days had been completed he finished second on the Order of Merit to earn a new two-year tour card.[11] At the World Cup, MacNeil and Part lost 5–4 to New Zealand in the first round.[12] He qualified for a couple of European Tour events in 2015, but was knocked out in the first round of both.[10] In October at the 18th Players Championship, MacNeil defeated Wes Newton 6–2, Eddie Dootson 6–3, Jamie Caven 6–3 and Justin Pipe 6–1 to reach his first PDC quarter-final in over five years, where he was beaten 6–1 by Gary Anderson.[13]

MacNeil lost 6–3 in the opening round of the 2016 UK Open to Rob Cross.[14] He failed to get beyond the last 64 of an individual event this year.[10] However, with John Part at the World Cup, team Canada saw off Greece 5–2 in the first round.[15] Their second round match with Wales went to a doubles decider after Part beat Mark Webster, but MacNeil lost 4–0 to Gerwyn Price.[16] Canada won it 4–2 to move into the quarter-finals, which again went to a doubles match after Part beat Brendan Dolan and MacNeil lost 4–0 to Daryl Gurney. Northern Ireland would win the game 4–1.[17]

With his PDC tour card status now expired, MacNeil played in 2017 Q School, but didn't get past the last 64 on any of the four days.[18]

World Championship results edit

PDC edit

References edit

  1. ^ "WDF Men's Rankings Table". WDF. 14 November 2023. Retrieved 14 November 2023.
  2. ^ "2010 PDC World Championship Results". Darts Database. Retrieved 4 February 2012.
  3. ^ "Cash Converters World Cup RD1". PDC. 3 February 2012. Archived from the original on 6 February 2012. Retrieved 3 February 2012.
  4. ^ "Cash Converters World Cup Round Two Doubles Round-Up". PDC. 4 February 2012. Archived from the original on 7 February 2012. Retrieved 4 February 2012.
  5. ^ "2012 Canadian Open Player Prize Money". Darts Database. Retrieved 11 January 2013.
  6. ^ "Q School Set For Record Field". PDC. Archived from the original on 13 January 2013. Retrieved 11 January 2013.
  7. ^ "PDC Qualifying School Day One". PDC. Archived from the original on 20 January 2013. Retrieved 19 January 2013.
  8. ^ "Brilliant Double For Caven". PDC. Archived from the original on 20 October 2013. Retrieved 26 May 2013.
  9. ^ "Speedy Services UK Open - Friday". PDC. Retrieved 8 June 2013.
  10. ^ a b c "Ken MacNeil 2014". Darts Database. Archived from the original on 5 December 2014. Retrieved 21 November 2016.
  11. ^ "PDC Qualifying School Day Four". PDC. Retrieved 18 January 2015.
  12. ^ "bwin World Cup of Darts Day Two". PDC. Archived from the original on 15 July 2015. Retrieved 12 June 2015.
  13. ^ "2015 PDPA Players Championship Ireland Results". Darts Database. Retrieved 28 November 2015.
  14. ^ "2016 Coral UK Open Day One". PDC. Retrieved 31 October 2016.
  15. ^ "Betway World Cup of Darts Day Two". PDC. Retrieved 1 November 2016.
  16. ^ "Betway World Cup of Darts Round Two". PDC. Archived from the original on 28 October 2016. Retrieved 27 October 2016.
  17. ^ "Betway World Cup of Darts Quarter-finals". PDC. Archived from the original on 16 December 2016. Retrieved 27 October 2016.
  18. ^ "2017 PDC Qualifying School Day Four". PDC. Retrieved 24 January 2017.

External links edit