Mark Stephenson is an English

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...

 events. He was formerly an official, working as a marker.

Stephenson fell one game short of qualifying for the 2007 PDC World Darts Championship

2007 PDC World Darts Championship

The 2007 Ladbrokes.com PDC World Darts Championship was the 14th World Championship organised by the Professional Darts Corporation since it separated from the British Darts Organisation. The tournament began on Monday 18 December 2006 and the final was played on Monday 1 January 2007...

, losing to Alan Tabern

Alan Tabern

Alan Tabern is an English darts player for the Professional Darts Corporation, where he is also known as "The Saint" and "Tabby"...

. He then fell two rounds short in qualifying for the 2008 PDC World Darts 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 to Kirk Shepherd

Kirk Shepherd

Kirk Shepherd is a darts player who competes in Professional Darts Corporation events, and lives in Birmingham, England. He is the youngest player ever to reach a final of the World Professional Darts Championship...

 who eventually qualified and went on to reach the final. Stephenson finally qualified for the World Championship at the third time of asking, beating Jason Clark

Jason Clark

Jason Clark is an London-Scottish darts player who plays in Professional Darts Corporation events. He is not a full-time professional, he manages his own flooring supply and fitting company. Despite being born and raised in London, he represents Scotland as his family are entirely Scottish...

, Gary Welding and then Ray Farrell

Ray Farrell

Ray Farrell is a Northern Irish darts who currently plays for the Professional Darts Corporation.Farrell reached the final of the 1985 Winmau World Masters, having beaten Bobby George, Jan Erik Paulsen, Steve Gittins and Tony Payne along the way before he was eventually beaten by Dave Whitcombe...

 to earn one of the eight qualifying spots. He faced five-time world champion and the number 2 seed 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...

 in the first round, losing 3 sets to nil.

External links

• Profile and stats on Darts Database