Lionel Sams
Encyclopedia
Lionel Jeffrey Sams is an English
darts
player who plays in Professional Darts Corporation
tournaments. He uses the nickname The Lion for his matches.
Sams made his television darts debut on Anglia Television
in 1986 at the Ladbrokes
Festival (British Matchplay). He reached the final, but lost to Terry O'Dea. He then had some minor tournament victories including the Camber Sands Singles (1988) and Kent Open (1988 and 1989) but it was a long time before he made any impact on the darts circuit.
in a match against Ronnie Baxter
in Montreal in May 2002 - there was no prize for the achievement but players passed round a hat to collect $400. He qualified for the PDC World Championship
for the first time in 2004 and beat Roland Scholten
before losing to Simon Whatley in the last 16.
Sams consistently reached the last 16 of tournaments on the PDC circuit - which helped him maintain a world ranking
inside the top 32. He had been seeded 16 in 2006 and 22 in 2007 for the World Championship as a result.
Sams did enjoy success at the West Tyrone Open in February 2007 by winning the singles and the doubles event, with Sean MaGowan.
During 2009, he reached two quarter finals on the PDC Pro Tour
, but ended the year with only £6,100 in total prize money, with a further decline in 2010 picking up just £600 in total prize money as he entered less events and then failed to get passed the last 64 stage of any Pro Tour Event. His PDC ranking fell to near 100 at the start of 2011 and he chose to decline a Pro Tour card for the year effectively ending his PDC career.
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
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...
player who plays 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...
tournaments. He uses the nickname The Lion for his matches.
Sams made his television darts debut on Anglia Television
Anglia Television
Anglia Television is the ITV franchise holder for the East Anglia franchise region. Although Anglia Television takes its name from East Anglia, its transmission coverage extends beyond the generally accepted boundaries of that region. The station is based at Anglia House in Norwich, with regional...
in 1986 at the Ladbrokes
Ladbrokes
Ladbrokes plc is a British based gambling company. It is based in Rayners Lane in Harrow, London owned by Bhavin Kakaiya. From 14 May 1999 to 23 February 2006, when it owned the Hilton hotel brand outside the United States, it was known as Hilton Group plc...
Festival (British Matchplay). He reached the final, but lost to Terry O'Dea. He then had some minor tournament victories including the Camber Sands Singles (1988) and Kent Open (1988 and 1989) but it was a long time before he made any impact on the darts circuit.
PDC career
His career turned for the better after joining the PDC. He hit a perfect nine-dart legNine 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...
in a match against Ronnie Baxter
Ronnie Baxter
Ronnie Baxter is an English darts player. He uses the nickname The Rocket for his matches. Baxter is known for his fast, robotic throwing action...
in Montreal in May 2002 - there was no prize for the achievement but players passed round a hat to collect $400. He qualified for the PDC World Championship
PDC World Darts Championship
The PDC World Darts Championship is a world championship competition for the sport of darts, organised by the Professional Darts Corporation . It was introduced following a dispute in 1994 with the British Darts Organisation, which has run its own world championship since 1978...
for the first time in 2004 and beat Roland Scholten
Roland Scholten
Roland Scholten is a Dutch professional darts player who plays for the Professional Darts Corporation and formerly for the British Darts Organisation. He is nicknamed Tripod or The Flying Dutchman and uses Hey Ya by Outkast as his walk-on. He is currently ranked 45th in the PDC...
before losing to Simon Whatley in the last 16.
Sams consistently reached the last 16 of tournaments on the PDC circuit - which helped him maintain a world ranking
Darts world rankings
Darts world rankings are a system which should determine a list of the best dart players in the world based on their performances in tournaments...
inside the top 32. He had been seeded 16 in 2006 and 22 in 2007 for the World Championship as a result.
Sams did enjoy success at the West Tyrone Open in February 2007 by winning the singles and the doubles event, with Sean MaGowan.
Career decline
Sams record at the World Championship has been poor since reaching the last 16 in 2004 and he lost his first match at each of the 2005, 2006 and 2007 Championships. He has also failed to achieve success in the other televised tournaments having yet to reach the quarter-final stage of any of the majors. He slipped outside the top 32 towards the end of 2007, and as a result he inadvertently failed to enter himself for the qualifying rounds for the 2008 World Championship - missing out on the tournament for the first time since 2003. He has failed to qualify for the PDC World Championship since 2007.During 2009, he reached two quarter finals on the PDC Pro Tour
PDC 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:...
, but ended the year with only £6,100 in total prize money, with a further decline in 2010 picking up just £600 in total prize money as he entered less events and then failed to get passed the last 64 stage of any Pro Tour Event. His PDC ranking fell to near 100 at the start of 2011 and he chose to decline a Pro Tour card for the year effectively ending his PDC career.