Rowby-John Rodriguez (born 27 March 1994) is an Austrian professional darts player currently playing in events of the Professional Darts Corporation (PDC).

Rowby-John Rodriguez
Personal information
Nickname"Little John"
Born (1994-03-27) 27 March 1994 (age 30)
Vienna, Austria
Home townVienna, Austria
Darts information
Playing darts since2010
DartsShot Signature
LateralityRight-handed
Walk-on music"Vamos a la playa" by Righeira
Organisation (see split in darts)
BDO2010–2013
PDC2013–
Current world ranking47 Decrease 1 (28 April 2024)[1]
WDF major events – best performances
World MastersLast 80: 2013
PDC premier events – best performances
World Ch'shipLast 64: 2015, 2016, 2017, 2019, 2022
World MatchplayLast 16: 2022
UK OpenLast 64: 2021, 2023. 2024
Grand SlamLast 16: 2021
European Ch'shipLast 16: 2015, 2022
PC FinalsLast 32: 2016
Other tournament wins
Austria National Championships 2010
Baltic Cup Open 2012
Carinthian Open 2011
PDC Challenge Tour 2013, 2021
PDC Development Tour 2015, 2018
Other achievements
2015 Breaks into the top 64 on the PDC Order of Merit for the first time

Career edit

In 2010, as a 16-year-old, Rodriguez won the Austrian National Championship by beating Franz Thaler 5–0 in the final.[2]

At the second event of Q School in January 2014 he stood one win away from joining the PDC but lost 5–3 to Gerwyn Price.[3] However, after all four events had been played Rodriguez had done enough to finish ninth on the Q School Order of Merit and earn a two-year tour card.[4] His first PDC major was the UK Open where he was knocked out 5–1 by Tony Randall in the first round.[5]

In May, Rodriguez reached the final of the PDC World Youth Championship where he lost 6–4 to Keegan Brown at the O2 Arena in London as part of the Premier League finals night. Reaching the final secured him a place in the 2014 Grand Slam of Darts.[6][7] Rodriguez was now Austria's number two player behind Mensur Suljović and they teamed up at the World Cup of Darts, but lost both their singles matches in the second round against the Belgium brothers of Kim and Ronny Huybrechts.[8] Rodriguez reached the quarter-finals of a Pro Tour event for the first time at the 14th Players Championship defeating the likes of Gary Anderson, Paul Nicholson and Jamie Caven, before losing 6–1 to Ian White.[9] His play throughout the year earned him a debut in the European Championship where he lost 6–2 to Robert Thornton in the opening round.[10] At the Grand Slam, Rodriguez beat world number three Adrian Lewis 5–2 in his opening group game before losing 5–1 to Dave Chisnall.[11] He went into his final group game knowing a win over Brown would see him qualify for the last 16 and, despite coming back from 3–0 down to level at 3–3, he lost 5–3.[12]

2015 season edit

Rodriguez made his debut at the 2015 World Championship after he qualified through the Pro Tour Order of Merit.[13] However, he ran into an in-form Raymond van Barneveld who hit finishes of 167 and 170 as he restricted Rodriguez to two legs during the match in a 3–0 defeat. Rodriguez averaged 79.22 which was over 20 points lower than his opponent's, but he still broke into the top 64 on the Order of Merit for the first time after the tournament concluded as he was ranked world number 58.[14][15] He won the opening Development Tour event of the year by beating Jamie Lewis 4–1 in the final.[16] Rodriguez and Suljović were eliminated in the last 16 of the World Cup for the second consecutive year, this time to Germany.[17] From the last 32 onwards he knocked out Kim Huybrechts, Wayne Jones and Mensur Suljović at the 14th Players Championship to play in his first PDC Pro Tour semi-final, where he lost 6–2 against Jelle Klaasen.[18] A 6–4 win over Christian Kist saw Rodriguez make the second round of the European Championship in which he could only average 73.43 against John Henderson in a 10–2 defeat.[19] After losing 5–3 to Robbie Green and beating Martin Phillips 5–2 at the Grand Slam, Rodriguez needed a win over Phil Taylor to qualify for the last 16, but he lost 5–2.[20]

2016 season edit

Rodriguez hit the first 170 finish of the 2016 World Championship, but lost each of the three sets played against Dave Chisnall in the first round by deciding legs.[21] He reached the quarter-finals of the first UK Open Qualifier, but was beaten 6–1 by Adrian Lewis and he lost 6–2 to Lee Evans in the second round of the main event.[22][23] Rodriguez was defeated in the final of three Development Tour events in 2016.[24]

Rodriguez and Mensur Suljović eliminated Italy and Singapore to ensure Austria played in their first World Cup quarter-final, where Suljović was whitewashed by Phil Taylor and Rodriguez lost 4–1 to Adrian Lewis.[25] A couple of quarter-finals out of the 20 Players Championship events qualified him for the Finals and he beat Ronny Huybrechts 6–4, before being thrashed 6–0 by Joe Cullen in the second round.[26]

2017 season edit

Rodriguez squared his first round match with Dave Chisnall at the 2017 World Championship at two sets apiece, but lost all three legs of the decider.[27] Austria played England in the quarter-finals of the 2017 World Cup for the second successive year. Mensur Suljović thrashed Adrian Lewis 4–0 and Rodriguez lost 4–1 to Chisnall, before Austria were defeated 4–2 in the decisive doubles match.[28]

2022 European Darts Matchplay edit

Rodriguez made his first final at a Euro Tour tournament by beating Danny Noppert, Gerwyn Price, Gabriel Clemens, Nathan Aspinall and Madars Razma at the 2022 European Darts Matchplay in Trier.[29] In the final he met Luke Humphries, who already won three Euro Tour tournaments earlier that year. Rodriguez missed a match dart in the deciding leg, after which the Englishman won with 8-7.

World Championship results edit

PDC edit

Performance timeline edit

Tournament 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023
PDC Ranked televised events
PDC World Championship DNP DNQ 1R 1R 1R DNQ 2R 1R DNQ 2R 1R
UK Open DNP 1R DNQ 2R DNQ 1R 2R 4R 3R 4R
World Matchplay DNQ 2R DNQ
European Championship DNP 1R 2R DNQ 2R DNQ
Grand Slam of Darts DNP RR RR DNQ 2R DNQ
Players Championship Finals DNP DNQ 2R DNQ 1R DNQ 1R 1R 1R
Non-major televised events
PDC World Cup of Darts DNP 2R 2R QF QF DNP QF F 2R RR
World Series of Darts Finals NH 2R Did not qualify
PDC World Youth Championship 2R F 2R QF 2R RR DNP
BDO Ranked televised events
BDO World Championship DNQ Not a BDO player NH
Winmau World Masters 3R No longer a BDO player NH
Career statistics
Year-end ranking N/A 58 41 41 59 72 88 71 65 51 49


PDC European Tour

Season 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13
2014 GDC
DNP
DDM
DNP
GDM
DNP
ADO
DNP
GDT
DNP
EDO
DNP
EDG
3R
EDT
DNP
2015 GDC
DNQ
GDT
1R
GDM
1R
DDM
2R
IDO
3R
EDO
2R
EDT
3R
EDM
QF
EDG
1R
2016 DDM
2R
GDM
DNQ
GDT
1R
EDM
2R
ADO
2R
EDO
DNQ
IDO
DNQ
EDT
DNQ
EDG
DNQ
GDC
2R
2017 GDC
DNQ
GDM
3R
GDO
DNQ
EDG
DNQ
GDT
DNQ
EDM
DNQ
ADO
1R
EDO
DNQ
DDM
2R
GDG
DNQ
IDO
DNQ
EDT
DNQ
2018 EDO
DNQ
GDG
1R
GDO
DNQ
ADO
DNQ
EDG
DNQ
DDM
1R
GDT
DNQ
DDO
DNQ
EDM
DNQ
GDC
DNQ
DDC
2R
IDO
DNQ
EDT
DNQ
2019 EDO
DNQ
GDC
DNQ
GDG
DNQ
GDO
DNQ
ADO
DNQ
EDG
DNQ
DDM
3R
DDO
DNQ
CDO
1R
ADC
QF
EDM
DNQ
IDO
DNQ
GDT
DNQ
2020 BDC
1R
GDC
DNQ
EDG
DNQ
IDO
DNQ
2021 HDT
DNQ
GDT
DNQ
2022 IDO
DNQ
GDC
DNQ
GDG
DNQ
ADO
2R
EDO
2R
CDO
QF
EDG
QF
DDC
DNQ
EDM
F
HDT
WD
GDO
DNQ
BDO
DNQ
GDT
2R
2023 BSD
DNQ
EDO
DNQ
IDO
DNQ
GDG
DNQ
ADO
1R
DDC
DNQ
BDO
DNQ
CDO
1R
EDG
DNQ
EDM
DNQ
GDO
DNQ
HDT
3R
GDC
DNQ

Personal life edit

Rodriguez is of Filipino descent. His older brother, Roxy-James Rodriguez, is a former professional darts player who reached the last 16 of the European Darts Trophy in 2014.[30] His younger brother, Rusty-Jake Rodriguez, is also a darts player and made his PDC European Tour debut in the 2017 Austrian Darts Open.[31]

References edit

  1. ^ "PDC Order of Merit". PDPA. 28 April 2024. Retrieved 28 April 2024.
  2. ^ "2010 Austria National Championships Results". Darts Database. Retrieved 20 June 2014.
  3. ^ "2014 PDC Tour Card Qualifying School Results". Darts Database. Retrieved 20 June 2014.
  4. ^ "2014 PDC Qualifying School Day Four". PDC. Archived from the original on 19 January 2014. Retrieved 20 June 2014.
  5. ^ "Coral UK Open - Friday Afternoon". PDC. Retrieved 20 June 2014.
  6. ^ "Keegan Brown claims world youth champion darts crown". BBC Sport. Retrieved 23 May 2014.
  7. ^ "Unicorn World Youth Joy For Brown". PDC. Retrieved 20 June 2014.
  8. ^ "bwin World Cup of Darts Second Round". PDC. Retrieved 20 June 2014.
  9. ^ "Mighty Mike Claims Crawley Crown". PDC. Retrieved 15 October 2014.
  10. ^ "888.com European Championship Day One". PDC. Retrieved 24 October 2014.
  11. ^ "SINGHA Beer Grand Slam Day One". PDC. Archived from the original on 8 November 2014. Retrieved 8 November 2014.
  12. ^ "SINGHA Beer Grand Slam - Monday". PDC. Archived from the original on 11 November 2014. Retrieved 10 November 2014.
  13. ^ "William Hill World Champs Field". PDC. Retrieved 1 December 2014.
  14. ^ "William Hill World Championship Day Five". PDC. Archived from the original on 22 December 2014. Retrieved 22 December 2014.
  15. ^ "Order of Merit on 5 January 2015". PDC. Archived from the original on 8 January 2015. Retrieved 11 January 2015.
  16. ^ "Coventry Crowns For Rodriguez & Van Peer". PDC. Retrieved 5 December 2015.
  17. ^ "bwin World Cup of Darts Quarter-Finals". PDC. Retrieved 13 June 2015.
  18. ^ "ProTour Joy For Klaasen In Wigan". PDC. Retrieved 5 December 2015.
  19. ^ "Unibet European Championship Day Two". PDC. Archived from the original on 3 December 2015. Retrieved 5 December 2015.
  20. ^ "2015 Grand Slam Of Darts Results". Darts Database. Retrieved 5 December 2015.
  21. ^ "William Hill World Championship Day Six". PDC. Archived from the original on 24 December 2015. Retrieved 25 December 2015.
  22. ^ "Lewis Powers To Wigan Title". PDC. Retrieved 26 November 2016.
  23. ^ "2016 Coral UK Open Day One". PDC. Retrieved 26 November 2016.
  24. ^ "Rowby-John Rodriguez 2016". Darts Database. Archived from the original on 26 November 2016. Retrieved 26 November 2016.
  25. ^ "2016 PDC World Cup of Darts Results". Darts Database. Retrieved 26 November 2016.
  26. ^ "2016 Players Championship Finals Results". Darts Database. Retrieved 26 November 2016.
  27. ^ "William Hill World Championship Day Eight". PDC. Archived from the original on 22 December 2016. Retrieved 23 December 2016.
  28. ^ "Dutch Delight In Betway World Cup of Darts". PDC. Archived from the original on 12 June 2017. Retrieved 13 June 2017.
  29. ^ Pdc.tv/news Humpries vs Rodriguez Retrieved on 15 July 2022
  30. ^ "European Darts Trophy Draw & Qualifiers". PDC. Archived from the original on 21 October 2014. Retrieved 15 October 2014.
  31. ^ "2017 Austrian Darts Open day one". PDC. Retrieved 27 January 2018.

External links edit