Patrik Kovács (born 3 June 1996) is a Hungarian professional darts player who currently plays in World Darts Federation (WDF) events. He is a two-time Budapest Classic champion. He has represented Hungary three-time during the PDC World Cup of Darts tournaments.

Patrik Kovács
Personal information
Full namePatrik Kovács
Nickname"The Planer"
Born (1996-06-03) 3 June 1996 (age 27)[1]
Ózd, Hungary
Home townÓzd, Hungary
Darts information
Playing darts since2010
Darts20g One80
LateralityRight-handed
Walk-on music"Let's Get It Started" by Black Eyed Peas
Organisation (see split in darts)
BDO2012–2020
PDC2011, 2018–2021
WDF2012–
Current world ranking26 Increase 1 (14 November 2023)[2] (WDF)
WDF major events – best performances
World Ch'shipLast 48: 2023
Other tournament wins
Budapest Classic 2021, 2022
Budapest Masters 2021
Romanian Open 2022
Serbia Open 2022
WDF Virtual Cup 2020

Youth events

Hungarian Open 2011, 2012, 2013
Medal record
Men's Darts
Representing  Hungary
WDF Europe Cup Youth
Bronze medal – third place 2013 Keszthely Boys pairs

Career edit

At the age of 16, he took part in the PDC Development Tour for the first time, where he reached his first quarter-finals in 2011. In the following years, he competed only in national tournaments of international rank, where he three-time won the Hungarian Open youth's competition. In 2013, he was invited by the national federation to participate in the 2013 WDF Europe Cup Youth. In the singles competition he was eliminated in the second round, but in the pairs competition with András Borbényi they won a bronze medal.

In 2015, based on the national results, he was invited to participate in the senior 2015 WDF World Cup. In the singles competition he lost in the first round to Darius Labanauskas by 2–4 in legs. In the pairs and team competition he did not achieve success, dropping out in the first phase of both competitions. Nevertheless, Kovács took part in the 2016 PDC World Cup of Darts for the first time, where he reached the second round together with Nándor Bezzeg, defeating quite unexpectedly the representation of Thailand in the first round match. In the second round, they lost to Belgium in singles matches against Kim Huybrechts and Ronny Huybrechts.

In 2016, he also went to the Hungarian Classic final and played in the 2016 WDF Europe Cup where representing Hungary. However, he was knocked out again in the early stages of all competitions. In 2018, Kovács qualified for the 2018 International Darts Open, where he lost in the first round match to Steve Lennon by 1–6 in legs. It was also the year he transferred his commitment to Professional Darts Corporation tournaments. In November, he took part in the 2018 PDC World Youth Championship for the first time. In the group stage, he lost both matches against Keelan Kay and the eventual winner Dimitri Van den Bergh.

In 2019, Kovács played in his first PDC Q-School, once it went to the Last 32 phase. However, the lack of success brought him back to competing in World Darts Federation tournaments. His best achievement was his promotion to the Last 16 phase of the Apatin Open.[3] In the second half of the year, he reached his second quarter-finals on the PDC Development Tour. He won the Eastern Europe Qualifier for the 2019 PDC World Youth Championship, while he lost in the group-stage against the favored Keane Barry.

He also took part in the PDC Q-School in 2020, but again not successfully. In some World Darts Federation tournaments, Kovács made it to the Last 16 phase before qualifying for the 2020 PDC World Cup of Darts when he played for Hungary with János Végső. In the first round match they were defeated by José de Sousa and José Marquês from Portugal by 0–5 in legs. At the end of the year, he had a good chance to start in the PDC World Darts Championship, but lost in the Eastern Europe qualifying tournament to Boris Krcmar.

At the beginning of November 2020, Kovács participated in the WDF Virtual Cup. Kovács registered two ton-plus averages during the early stages of the competition, finishing third in his group due to losses against Dale Hughes and Ricardo Pietreczko. Hungarian recorded over 112 average in a match against Dameon Steffens, before beat Martin Heneghan and Sebastian Białecki to reach the semi-finals. Kovács subsequently denied Martin Adams in the semi-finals and finally beat Alan Soutar by 6-4 in legs to take the unique cup.[4]

In 2021, he once again became a representative of Hungary in the 2021 PDC World Cup of Darts with János Végső.[5] This time they fell again in the first round match, losing to Darius Labanauskas and Mindaugas Barauskas from Lithuania. In September, he took part in the 2021 Gibraltar Darts Trophy, but he lost to Rob Cross by 4-6 in legs.

In 2022, Kovács won the Budapest Classic and a little later he was successful at the Romanian Open.[6] At the Serbia Open, he won his third World Darts Federation title in this year. Outstanding performance in the region allowed him to gain a powerful ranking advantage, guaranteeing him a debut in the 2023 WDF World Darts Championship.

World Championship results edit

WDF edit

Performance timeline edit

Tournament 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023
WDF Ranked televised events
World Championship DNQ NH DNQ
World Masters DNQ NH DNQ
PDC Non-ranked televised events
World Cup of Darts 2R DNP 1R 1R DNP RR
World Youth Championship DNQ RR RR DNP

References edit

  1. ^ "Patrik Kovacs". mastercaller.com. Retrieved 15 September 2022.
  2. ^ "WDF Men's Rankings Table". WDF. 14 November 2023. Retrieved 14 November 2023.
  3. ^ "Patrick Kovacs". dartsdatabase.co.uk. Retrieved 15 September 2022.
  4. ^ "Hungarian Kovacs wins WDF Virtual Cup after staging remarkable comeback against Soutar". dartsplanet.tv. 13 November 2020. Retrieved 15 September 2022.
  5. ^ "Kovács and Végsö set to partner once more for Hungary at World Cup of Darts". dartsnews.com. 30 August 2021. Retrieved 15 September 2022.
  6. ^ "Kovacs and Borbely claim title as Forsmark does the double on WDF Hungary return". dartsplanet.tv. 17 March 2022. Retrieved 15 September 2022.