Pat Orreal
Encyclopedia
Patrick Orreal is an Australia
n darts
player who plays for the Professional Darts Corporation
.
Orreal qualified for the inaugural Grand Slam of Darts
for reaching the final of the PDC Australian Open where he lost to Glen Power. The result meant that Power had initially qualified for the event but was forced to withdraw due to visa problems and Orreal replaced him. He reached the last 16 of the 2007 Grand Slam of Darts
, defeating Niels de Ruiter
and Phill Nixon
to finish second in his group before losing to Jelle Klaasen
10-9. Orreal's 5-4 victory over Nixon remains the only occasion in Grand Slam history that a player has recovered from 4-0 down to win 5-4.
In February 2008, it was announced that Orreal was to join the PDC full-time but failed to recapture his form from the Grand Slam, winning prize money in only one of his first ten events and failed to qualify for the UK Open. He then reached the semi-final of the Australian Open Players Championship, achieving wins against lady player Mellisa Sinnott, Barry Jouannet
, Denis Ovens
and Warren French
before losing to Paul Nicholson
. He then suffered a first round exit from the Oceanic Masters, a tournament where the winner wins a place in the PDC World Darts Championship
.
Orreal soon departed from the Pro Tour and returned to the AGP circuit.
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
n 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 for the 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...
.
Orreal qualified for the inaugural Grand Slam of Darts
Grand Slam of Darts
The Grand Slam of Darts is a darts tournament organised by the Professional Darts Corporation and is known as the William Hill Grand Slam of Darts for sponsorship purposes. The PDC also invites the best performing players from its rival the British Darts Organisation...
for reaching the final of the PDC Australian Open where he lost to Glen Power. The result meant that Power had initially qualified for the event but was forced to withdraw due to visa problems and Orreal replaced him. He reached the last 16 of the 2007 Grand Slam of Darts
2007 Grand Slam of Darts
The 2007 Grand Slam of Darts was the inaugural staging of the darts tournament, the Grand Slam of Darts, held by the Professional Darts Corporation. The tournament invited the best performing players from the PDC and its rival the British Darts Organisation...
, defeating Niels de Ruiter
Niels de Ruiter
Niels de Ruiter is a Dutch darts player. On the darts circuit his nickname is The Excellent Dude, which is a reference from the film Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure...
and Phill Nixon
Phill Nixon
Phillip Nixon is an English darts player from Ferryhill, County Durham. He is best known for reaching the 2007 World Final on his first appearance at the age of 50.-Darts career:...
to finish second in his group before losing to Jelle Klaasen
Jelle Klaasen
Jelle Klaasen is a Dutch professional darts player who plays in the Professional Darts Corporation and is the youngest darts player to win the World Darts Championship. His nickname is The Matador. He lives in Breda, North Brabant, Netherlands...
10-9. Orreal's 5-4 victory over Nixon remains the only occasion in Grand Slam history that a player has recovered from 4-0 down to win 5-4.
In February 2008, it was announced that Orreal was to join the PDC full-time but failed to recapture his form from the Grand Slam, winning prize money in only one of his first ten events and failed to qualify for the UK Open. He then reached the semi-final of the Australian Open Players Championship, achieving wins against lady player Mellisa Sinnott, Barry Jouannet
Barry Jouannet
Barry Jouannet, Jr. is an Australian darts player. He is nicknamed China.Jouannet is twice a winner of the Oceanic Masters, earning himself a place in the PDC World Darts Championship. In 2004, he lost in the first round to Scotland's Alex MacKay. In 2005, he lost again in round one, this time to...
, Denis Ovens
Denis Ovens
Denis Ovens is an English darts player currently ranked number 29 in the PDC Order of Merit. He is nicknamed The Heat and is now based in Stevenage. Ovens is widely regarded as one of the most consistent players in the circuit, though he has as yet failed to convert his form from the circuit to...
and Warren French
Warren French
Warren French is a New Zealand darts player. He lives in Ashburton and uses the nickname Frog for his matches.French reached the final of the 2006 New Zealand Open, losing to former world champion Tony David. He played in the 2007 PDC World Darts Championship, losing 3-1 in the first round to James...
before losing to Paul Nicholson
Paul Nicholson (darts player)
Paul Nicholson is a British born darts player, who holds Australian nationality. He aims to project the image of the 'bad boy of darts'- 2008-2009 :...
. He then suffered a first round exit from the Oceanic Masters, a tournament where the winner wins a place in the PDC World Darts 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...
.
Orreal soon departed from the Pro Tour and returned to the AGP circuit.