Colin Osborne
Encyclopedia
Colin Osborne is an English
darts player
currently playing in Professional Darts Corporation
events.
events and he also managed to hit two perfect nine dart finish
es in 2005. The first one of these came in the Players Championship in the Isle of Wight
and a second one followed at the non-televised qualifying rounds for the 2005 World Matchplay.
On his World Championship debut in 2007, Osborne reached the quarter-finals where he was beaten 5-4 by Andy Jenkins
.
This great performance was followed by an even better one at the 2007 UK Open
, where he beat Michael van Gerwen
and Mervyn King as he reached the semi-final only to be beaten 11-10 in a thriller against Vincent van der Voort
. He followed this success with victory against James Wade
in Las Vegas
, only to lose to Peter Manley
in the second round.
Osborne suffered a surprising first round exit in the 2008 World Championship
, losing 3-1 to Dutchman Erwin Extercatte
. In the 2008 World Matchplay
, he beat King in the first round, but then lost in the next round to Phil Taylor. Osborne was 10-0 down before finally winning a leg, eventually losing 13-5 with Taylor averaging 109.
In the 2009 PDC World Championship
, Osborne beat South Africa
's Charles Losper
3-0 in the first round, before losing 4-1 to van der Voort in the second round.
2009 was a breakthrough year for Osborne, as he reached his first major final in the 2009 UK Open
. Having beaten Raymond van Barneveld
, Jamie Caven
and Kevin Painter
in the earlier rounds, he lost 11-6 to Taylor in the final. He also won the 2009 Championship League
, defeating Taylor 6-4 in the final, but a disappointing year in the other majors was compounded with a first-round loss to Simon Whitlock
in the 2010 World Championship
.
In 2010, Osborne reached the semi-finals of the Players Championship Finals
before losing to King. At the Grand Slam of Darts, Osborne lost his opening group match to Robert Thornton
before beating Whitlock and Dave Chisnall
to qualify for the knockout stages. He lost 10-3 to Gary Anderson
in the last 16. He then reached the third round of the 2011 World Championship
, and was 3-2 up against van Barneveld before losing 4-3.
Between 2005 and 2010, Osborne used the nickname The Wizard. He is also known in the circuit, most notably by commentator Sid Waddell as Ozzy, in reference to The Wizard of Oz
and to rock singer Ozzy Osbourne
. Due to the latter, he used the song Paranoid
by Ozzy's band Black Sabbath
as his walk-on. In 2011, he officially changed his nickname to 'Ozzy', following the emergence of Simon Whitlock, who is also nicknamed 'The Wizard'.
team. He is also a former yo-yo
champion and enjoys golf
and snooker
.
Osborne was born in Middlesbrough, but now lives in Derby with his wife Sarah and their two sons, Colin and Alfie. For about 18 months, Colin and Sarah were the landlords of the Greyhound pub, Village Street.
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
darts player
Darts
Darts is a form of throwing game where darts are thrown at a circular target fixed to a wall. Though various boards and games have been used in the past, the term "darts" usually now refers to a standardised game involving a specific board design and set of rules...
currently playing in Professional Darts Corporation
Professional Darts Corporation
The Professional Darts Corporation is a professional darts organization, established in the United Kingdom during 1992, when a group of leading professional players split from the British Darts Organisation to form what was initially called the World Darts Council...
events.
Darts career
Osborne has won two PDC Pro TourPDC Pro Tour
The PDC Pro Tour is a series of non-televised darts tournaments organised by the Professional Darts Corporation . They comprise Professional Dart Players Association Players Championships and UK Open Regional Finals.-Players Championships:...
events and he also managed to hit two perfect nine dart finish
Nine dart finish
A nine-dart finish is the ultimate checkout in the game of darts, constituting a perfect game. It is notoriously difficult to achieve, even by the game's top professionals...
es in 2005. The first one of these came in the Players Championship in the Isle of Wight
Isle of Wight
The Isle of Wight is a county and the largest island of England, located in the English Channel, on average about 2–4 miles off the south coast of the county of Hampshire, separated from the mainland by a strait called the Solent...
and a second one followed at the non-televised qualifying rounds for the 2005 World Matchplay.
On his World Championship debut in 2007, Osborne reached the quarter-finals where he was beaten 5-4 by Andy Jenkins
Andy Jenkins
Andy Jenkins is an English darts player who competes in Professional Darts Corporation events. Jenkins had trials for Southampton Football Club while at school.-BDO career:...
.
This great performance was followed by an even better one at the 2007 UK Open
2007 UK Open Darts
The 2007 Blue Square UK Open was the fifth year of the PDC darts tournament where, following numerous regional qualifying heats throughout Britain, players competed in a single elimination tournament to be crowned champion...
, where he beat Michael van Gerwen
Michael van Gerwen
Michael van Gerwen is a Dutch professional darts player, nicknamed Mighty Mike. He is the youngest player in history to win a major televised tournament in either the BDO or the PDC, winning the 2006 Winmau World Masters at the age of 17...
and Mervyn King as he reached the semi-final only to be beaten 11-10 in a thriller against Vincent van der Voort
Vincent van der Voort
Vincent van der Voort is a professional darts player.-Playing style:Vincent is well known for his spasmodic style and machine-gun speed of play which has gained him a reputation in both the BDO and the PDC for being one of the more erratic throwers in the darting world...
. He followed this success with victory against James Wade
James Wade
James Wade is an English professional darts player, currently playing in the Professional Darts Corporation . He became the youngest player ever to win a major PDC title at the World Matchplay in July 2007...
in Las Vegas
2007 Las Vegas Desert Classic
The 2007 Las Vegas Desert Classic was the sixth time that the Professional Darts Corporation stage the prestigious darts tournament...
, only to lose to Peter Manley
Peter Manley
Peter David Manley is an English professional darts player who plays in the Professional Darts Corporation. He is nicknamed One Dart as he is known for hitting doubles with his first dart...
in the second round.
Osborne suffered a surprising first round exit in the 2008 World Championship
2008 PDC World Darts Championship
The 2008 Ladbrokes.com World Darts Championship, sponsored by Ladbrokes, was the 15th World Championship organised by the Professional Darts Corporation since it separated from the British Darts Organisation...
, losing 3-1 to Dutchman Erwin Extercatte
Erwin Extercatte
Erwin Extercatte is a Dutch darts player who competes for the Professional Darts Corporation.Extercatte showed great promise in his first two years in the PDC, winning the Open Oust Nederland in 2004, followed by the 2005 Open Holland...
. In the 2008 World Matchplay
2008 World Matchplay Darts
The 2008 Stan James World Matchplay was the 15th annual staging of the tournament by the Professional Darts Corporation. The tournament took place from Sunday July 20 to Saturday July 26. It was staged at the Winter Gardens in Blackpool...
, he beat King in the first round, but then lost in the next round to Phil Taylor. Osborne was 10-0 down before finally winning a leg, eventually losing 13-5 with Taylor averaging 109.
In the 2009 PDC World Championship
2009 PDC World Darts Championship
The 2009 Ladbrokes.com World Darts Championship was the 16th World Championship organised by the Professional Darts Corporation since it separated from the British Darts Organisation....
, Osborne beat South Africa
South Africa
The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...
's Charles Losper
Charles Losper
Charles Losper is a darts player from South Africa. He is currently the highest ranked South African darts player on the PDC Order of Merit, ranked at number 71...
3-0 in the first round, before losing 4-1 to van der Voort in the second round.
2009 was a breakthrough year for Osborne, as he reached his first major final in the 2009 UK Open
2009 UK Open Darts
The 2009 Blue Square UK Open was the seventh year of the PDC darts tournament where, following numerous regional qualifying heats throughout Britain, players competed in a single elimination tournament to be crowned champion...
. Having beaten Raymond van Barneveld
Raymond van Barneveld
Raymond van Barneveld , nickname Barney is a professional darts player. He is a five time World Darts Champion, and two time UK Open Champion. From January to June 2008, he was the PDC world number one ranked player...
, Jamie Caven
Jamie Caven
Jamie Robert Caven is an English darts player. He uses the nickname Jabba for his matches and is sponsored by Unicorn....
and Kevin Painter
Kevin Painter
Kevin Painter is an English professional darts player who plays in Professional Darts Corporation tournaments, where he is known as "The Artist"...
in the earlier rounds, he lost 11-6 to Taylor in the final. He also won the 2009 Championship League
2009 Championship League
-Group two:Group two matches were played on 7 and 8 January 2009. Mark Allen was the second player to qualify for the winners group.-Matches:*Stephen Hendry 1–3 Joe Perry*Ali Carter 1–3 Ding Junhui*Peter Ebdon 1–3 Mark Allen...
, defeating Taylor 6-4 in the final, but a disappointing year in the other majors was compounded with a first-round loss to Simon Whitlock
Simon Whitlock
Simon Whitlock is an Australian professional darts player who plays in Professional Darts Corporation tournaments, although he did have a spell playing in the rival organisation, the British Darts Organisation. He uses the nickname The Wizard for his matches...
in the 2010 World Championship
2010 PDC World Darts Championship
The 2010 Ladbrokes.com World Darts Championship was the 17th World Championship organised by the Professional Darts Corporation since it separated from the British Darts Organisation....
.
In 2010, Osborne reached the semi-finals of the Players Championship Finals
2010 Players Championship Finals
The 2010 Players Championship Finals was the second edition of the PDC tournament, the Players Championship Finals, which sees the top 32 players from the 2009 PDC Players Championship Order of Merit taking part...
before losing to King. At the Grand Slam of Darts, Osborne lost his opening group match to Robert Thornton
Robert Thornton (darts player)
Robert Thornton is a Scottish darts player who competes in Professional Darts Corporation events after his switch from the BDO in May 2008. He won the prestigious Winmau World Masters in November 2007.-BDO career:...
before beating Whitlock and Dave Chisnall
Dave Chisnall
Dave Chisnall is an English professional darts player who plays in Professional Darts Corporation events.- Personal Life :In September 2011 his girlfriend Michaela gave birth to his first daughter...
to qualify for the knockout stages. He lost 10-3 to Gary Anderson
Gary Anderson (darts player)
Gary Anderson is a Scottish professional darts player from Eyemouth, Scottish Borders, currently playing in the Professional Darts Corporation, and a former BDO and WDF world number one. His nickname is The Flying Scotsman...
in the last 16. He then reached the third round of the 2011 World Championship
2011 PDC World Darts Championship
The 2011 Ladbrokes.com World Darts Championship was the 18th World Championship organised by the Professional Darts Corporation since it separated from the British Darts Organisation.Phil Taylor was the defending champion, having won the 2010 tournament...
, and was 3-2 up against van Barneveld before losing 4-3.
Between 2005 and 2010, Osborne used the nickname The Wizard. He is also known in the circuit, most notably by commentator Sid Waddell as Ozzy, in reference to The Wizard of Oz
The Wizard of Oz (1939 film)
The Wizard of Oz is a 1939 American musical fantasy film produced by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. It was directed primarily by Victor Fleming. Noel Langley, Florence Ryerson and Edgar Allan Woolf received credit for the screenplay, but there were uncredited contributions by others. The lyrics for the songs...
and to rock singer Ozzy Osbourne
Ozzy Osbourne
John Michael "Ozzy" Osbourne is an English vocalist, whose musical career has spanned over 40 years. Osbourne rose to prominence as lead singer of the pioneering English heavy metal band Black Sabbath, whose radically different, intentionally dark, harder sound helped spawn the heavy metal...
. Due to the latter, he used the song Paranoid
Paranoid (song)
"Paranoid" is a song by the British heavy metal band Black Sabbath, featured on their second album Paranoid . It is the first single from the album, while the B-side is the song "The Wizard". It reached number 4 on the UK Singles Chart and number 61 on the Billboard Hot 100...
by Ozzy's band Black Sabbath
Black Sabbath
Black Sabbath are an English heavy metal band, formed in Aston, Birmingham in 1969 by Ozzy Osbourne , Tony Iommi , Geezer Butler , and Bill Ward . The band has since experienced multiple line-up changes, with Tony Iommi the only constant presence in the band through the years. A total of 22...
as his walk-on. In 2011, he officially changed his nickname to 'Ozzy', following the emergence of Simon Whitlock, who is also nicknamed 'The Wizard'.
Outside darts
Osborne is a former representative of the English table tennisTable tennis
Table tennis, also known as ping-pong, is a sport in which two or four players hit a lightweight, hollow ball back and forth using table tennis rackets. The game takes place on a hard table divided by a net...
team. He is also a former yo-yo
Yo-yo
The yo-yo in its simplest form is an object consisting of an axle connected to two disks, and a length of twine looped around the axle, similar to a slender spool...
champion and enjoys golf
Golf
Golf is a precision club and ball sport, in which competing players use many types of clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a golf course using the fewest number of strokes....
and snooker
Snooker
Snooker is a cue sport that is played on a green baize-covered table with pockets in each of the four corners and in the middle of each of the long side cushions. A regular table is . It is played using a cue and snooker balls: one white , 15 worth one point each, and six balls of different :...
.
Osborne was born in Middlesbrough, but now lives in Derby with his wife Sarah and their two sons, Colin and Alfie. For about 18 months, Colin and Sarah were the landlords of the Greyhound pub, Village Street.
World Championship Performances
- 2007 (PDC) - Quarter-finals lost to Andy JenkinsAndy JenkinsAndy Jenkins is an English darts player who competes in Professional Darts Corporation events. Jenkins had trials for Southampton Football Club while at school.-BDO career:...
4-5 - 2008 (PDC) - First Round lost to Erwin ExtercatteErwin ExtercatteErwin Extercatte is a Dutch darts player who competes for the Professional Darts Corporation.Extercatte showed great promise in his first two years in the PDC, winning the Open Oust Nederland in 2004, followed by the 2005 Open Holland...
1-3 - 2009 (PDC) - Second Round lost to Vincent van der VoortVincent van der VoortVincent van der Voort is a professional darts player.-Playing style:Vincent is well known for his spasmodic style and machine-gun speed of play which has gained him a reputation in both the BDO and the PDC for being one of the more erratic throwers in the darting world...
1-4 - 2010 (PDC) - First Round lost to Simon WhitlockSimon WhitlockSimon Whitlock is an Australian professional darts player who plays in Professional Darts Corporation tournaments, although he did have a spell playing in the rival organisation, the British Darts Organisation. He uses the nickname The Wizard for his matches...
1-3 - 2011 (PDC) - Third Round lost to Raymond van BarneveldRaymond van BarneveldRaymond van Barneveld , nickname Barney is a professional darts player. He is a five time World Darts Champion, and two time UK Open Champion. From January to June 2008, he was the PDC world number one ranked player...
3-4
External links
- Colin Osborne Official Website
- Colin Osborne profile sponsor's website