Paul Nicholson (darts player)
Encyclopedia
Paul Nicholson is a British
born darts
player, who holds Australian nationality. He aims to project the image of the 'bad boy of darts'
. He was drawn in Group H with Kevin Painter
, Darryl Fitton
and WDF number one Gary Anderson
. Nicholson caused a major surprise by beating Anderson 5-4 in his opening group game. This was despite constant booing from the crowd, who began chanting "Who Are You?" during his walk-on and after his first three darts which was a maximum 180, he put his finger to his mouth at the crowd which caused the crowd to boo him almost every time he threw his darts. Despite beating Anderson, losses to Fitton and Painter eliminated him at the group stage.
Nicholson earned qualification for the 2009 PDC World Darts Championship
through the DPA rankings. He destroyed Adrian Gray
in the first round, winning all nine legs for a three sets to nil victory. He then upset world number 6 Adrian Lewis
in the second round 4-3 and then came from 2 sets down to beat world number 11 Dennis Priestley
4-2 to advance to the quarter finals in another upset. In the quarter-finals, he lost to world number 3 at the time, James Wade
but his tournament performance lifted him into the top 50 on the PDC Order of Merit
.
After his performance in the World Championship, Nicholson decided to leave the DPA and play in the PDC Pro Tour in an attempt to qualify for the UK Open. After a slow start, his last 16 place in the Southern Regional finals ensured his qualification for the tournament. He faced Scottish
player Gary Anderson
in the second round and was victorious 6 legs to 4. He then however lost 9-7 to pub qualifier Ken Mather where afterwards Nicholson's relationship with the crowd soured further, claiming Mather's crowd has repeatedly shouted out while he was throwing. After the match as the crowd chanted "who are you" directed at Nicholson, he responded using profanity
towards the crowd which he was later fined for by the DRA.
Nicholson reached the semi-final of the PDPA Players Championship Barnsley 2, defeating Gary Mawson
, Mark Dudbridge
, John MaGowan
, Justin Pipe
and Denis Ovens
before losing out to Colin Osborne
the eventual winner. Nicholson did not enter to qualification procedure for the Las Vegas Desert Classic
and failed to qualify for the World Matchplay.
. He had to play the quarter-final, the semi-final and the final in the same day. In the quarter-final he defeated Adrian Lewis
9-7. He then caused a sensation by overcoming reigning champion Phil Taylor 10-9 in the semi-finals, and followed this up with a 13-11 victory over Mervyn King in the final. During the latter stages of the tournament, the crowd started to support Nicholson due to his efforts against higher ranked and more experienced opponents (in particular Taylor), and as a result he relaxed his behaviour leading many pundits such as Alan Warriner-Little
to suggest that he might give up the 'bad boy' image and just be himself. In March 2010, he moved into the top 16 of the PDC Order of merit for the first time. In the UK Open 2010, he beat Kirk Shepherd
9-6 in the third round, but lost 7-9 to Gary Anderson in the fourth round. On his World Matchplay debut, he lost 3-10 to Steve Beaton
in the first round.
At the 2011 UK Open, Nicholson won final-leg deciders against Gary Anderson in round 4, and Phil Taylor in round 5, to reach the quarter-finals. He lost 7-10 to eventual champion James Wade.
At the 2011 World Matchplay
, Nicholson defeated Colin Osborne
in the first round to secure a second-round match with Raymond van Barneveld
.
Taylor reacted angrily to Nicholson's comments, telling BBC Radio Stoke
, "I think he's very, very silly." Taylor added that Nicholson "has a big mouth and won't keep it shut". He played Taylor in an eagerly anticipated match at the 2011 European Darts Championships
and was beaten 10-7, despite being 7-6 ahead. He was then defeated at the World Grand Prix by Phil Taylor by 3 sets to nil.
wrestler CM Punk
by having X's marked on his hands and also lifted up a The Nexus scarf. However, he lost the match, 13-9. Then when he met Phil Taylor he once again mimicked CM Punk
during his walk-on, using his signature pose on one knee, shouting "It's clobberin' time" and punching the air. During Taylors walk-on, Nicholson sat Indian style on the stage, another trait of CM Punk
, in an attempt to anger Taylor.
Great Britain
Great Britain or Britain is an island situated to the northwest of Continental Europe. It is the ninth largest island in the world, and the largest European island, as well as the largest of the British Isles...
born 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 holds Australian nationality. He aims to project the image of the 'bad boy of darts'
2008-2009
Before joining the PDC Pro Tour, Nicholson was one of the top players in the Australian Grand Prix circuit, winning 15 titles in 2008. His performances led him to the top of the DPA rankings and earned him a spot in the 2008 Grand Slam of Darts2008 Grand Slam of Darts
The 2008 Grand Slam of Darts was the second staging of the darts tournament, the Grand Slam of Darts organised by the Professional Darts Corporation. The event took place from 15–23 November 2008 at the Wolverhampton Civic Hall...
. He was drawn in Group H with 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"...
, Darryl Fitton
Darryl Fitton
Darryl Fitton is an English professional darts player currently playing in BDO events. He is nicknamed The Dazzler and comes to the stage dancing to the Madness song "One Step Beyond" wearing sunglasses. It is one of the most popular walk-ons with the audience...
and WDF number one 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...
. Nicholson caused a major surprise by beating Anderson 5-4 in his opening group game. This was despite constant booing from the crowd, who began chanting "Who Are You?" during his walk-on and after his first three darts which was a maximum 180, he put his finger to his mouth at the crowd which caused the crowd to boo him almost every time he threw his darts. Despite beating Anderson, losses to Fitton and Painter eliminated him at the group stage.
Nicholson earned qualification for the 2009 PDC World Darts 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....
through the DPA rankings. He destroyed Adrian Gray
Adrian Gray
Adrian Gray is an English darts player. Previously using the nickname '3 Styler', he is now known as 'The Conqueror'. Adrian made his televised debut at the 2003 UK Open...
in the first round, winning all nine legs for a three sets to nil victory. He then upset world number 6 Adrian Lewis
Adrian Lewis
Adrian Lewis is an English professional darts player for the Professional Darts Corporation who is the reigning PDC World Darts Champion...
in the second round 4-3 and then came from 2 sets down to beat world number 11 Dennis Priestley
Dennis Priestley
Dennis Priestley is an English professional darts player. He has won two world championships, and was the first player to win both the BDO and WDC world championships, in 1991 and 1994 respectively...
4-2 to advance to the quarter finals in another upset. In the quarter-finals, he lost to world number 3 at the time, 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...
but his tournament performance lifted him into the top 50 on the PDC Order of Merit
PDC order of merit
The PDC Order of Merit is a world ranking system used by one of the darts organisations, the Professional Darts Corporation . Following the 2007 PDC World Darts Championship it superseded a world ranking system based on points being awarded for performances in ranking tournaments.-Previous world...
.
After his performance in the World Championship, Nicholson decided to leave the DPA and play in the PDC Pro Tour in an attempt to qualify for the UK Open. After a slow start, his last 16 place in the Southern Regional finals ensured his qualification for the tournament. He faced Scottish
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
player 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 second round and was victorious 6 legs to 4. He then however lost 9-7 to pub qualifier Ken Mather where afterwards Nicholson's relationship with the crowd soured further, claiming Mather's crowd has repeatedly shouted out while he was throwing. After the match as the crowd chanted "who are you" directed at Nicholson, he responded using profanity
Profanity
Profanity is a show of disrespect, or a desecration or debasement of someone or something. Profanity can take the form of words, expressions, gestures, or other social behaviors that are socially constructed or interpreted as insulting, rude, vulgar, obscene, desecrating, or other forms.The...
towards the crowd which he was later fined for by the DRA.
Nicholson reached the semi-final of the PDPA Players Championship Barnsley 2, defeating Gary Mawson
Gary Mawson
Gary Mawson is a Canadian-born American darts player, who currently resides in North Royalton, Ohio, United States. He moved from Niagara Falls to Ohio to further increase his chances of success on the growing American darts circuit. He uses the nickname The Mauler for his matches...
, Mark Dudbridge
Mark Dudbridge
Mark Daniel Dudbridge is an English professional darts player.-Darts career:He started playing in his very early teens, citing Dennis Priestley as one of his heroes...
, John MaGowan
John MaGowan
John MaGowan is a Northern Irish darts player who competes in Professional Darts Corporation events. He is nicknamed Mr. Magoo.-BDO career:...
, Justin Pipe
Justin Pipe
Justin Pipe is an English darts player currently playing in Professional Darts Corporation events.Pipe first emerged at the 2008 UK Open as a pub qualifier. He defeated Geoff Wylie and Lionel Sams before losing 3-9 to James Wade in the third round...
and 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...
before losing out to Colin Osborne
Colin Osborne
Colin Osborne is an English darts player currently playing in Professional Darts Corporation events.-Darts career:Osborne has won two PDC Pro Tour events and he also managed to hit two perfect nine dart finishes in 2005...
the eventual winner. Nicholson did not enter to qualification procedure for the Las Vegas Desert Classic
Las Vegas Desert Classic
The Las Vegas Desert Classic was a darts tournament, organised by the Professional Darts Corporation and was held each year in July from 2002 until 2010...
and failed to qualify for the World Matchplay.
2010
In 2010, Nicholson claimed his first PDC title, The Totesport Player's Championship2010 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...
. He had to play the quarter-final, the semi-final and the final in the same day. In the quarter-final he defeated Adrian Lewis
Adrian Lewis
Adrian Lewis is an English professional darts player for the Professional Darts Corporation who is the reigning PDC World Darts Champion...
9-7. He then caused a sensation by overcoming reigning champion Phil Taylor 10-9 in the semi-finals, and followed this up with a 13-11 victory over Mervyn King in the final. During the latter stages of the tournament, the crowd started to support Nicholson due to his efforts against higher ranked and more experienced opponents (in particular Taylor), and as a result he relaxed his behaviour leading many pundits such as Alan Warriner-Little
Alan Warriner-Little
Alan Warriner-Little is an English professional darts player. He currently lives in Crosby, Cumbria and plays with the nickname The Iceman...
to suggest that he might give up the 'bad boy' image and just be himself. In March 2010, he moved into the top 16 of the PDC Order of merit for the first time. In the UK Open 2010, he beat 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...
9-6 in the third round, but lost 7-9 to Gary Anderson in the fourth round. On his World Matchplay debut, he lost 3-10 to Steve Beaton
Steve Beaton
Steve Beaton is an English professional darts player for the Professional Darts Corporation...
in the first round.
2011
In the 2011 World Championship, Nicholson continued his poor run of form, only reaching the second round. He won his first title since January 2010 by wining the Crawley Players Championship (1) by defeating Adrian Lewis 6-4. He also came through a tough semi final clash with Gary Anderson defeating him 6-5.At the 2011 UK Open, Nicholson won final-leg deciders against Gary Anderson in round 4, and Phil Taylor in round 5, to reach the quarter-finals. He lost 7-10 to eventual champion James Wade.
At the 2011 World Matchplay
2011 World Matchplay (darts)
The 2011 World Matchplay was the 18th annual staging of the World Matchplay, organised by the Professional Darts Corporation. The tournament took place from 16–24 July...
, Nicholson defeated Colin Osborne
Colin Osborne
Colin Osborne is an English darts player currently playing in Professional Darts Corporation events.-Darts career:Osborne has won two PDC Pro Tour events and he also managed to hit two perfect nine dart finishes in 2005...
in the first round to secure a second-round match with 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...
.
Feud with Phil Taylor
In the 2011 UK Open, Nicholson defeated Taylor in the last 16, and supposedly waved goodbye to him. While being interviewed at that year's World Matchplay, Nicholson spoke of Taylor's reaction and stated that when they meet again, if Phil doesn't bring his 'A' game he will "put him to bed". Nicholson defended the gesture saying that he was 'I was waving bye-bye to the demons which had dogged me in too many televised tournaments'. The comments garnered much media attention.Taylor reacted angrily to Nicholson's comments, telling BBC Radio Stoke
BBC Radio Stoke
BBC Radio Stoke is a BBC Local Radio station in England, for the area of North and Mid Staffordshire, north east Shropshire and South Cheshire. The station began broadcasting programmes on 14 March 1968 as BBC Radio Stoke-on-Trent....
, "I think he's very, very silly." Taylor added that Nicholson "has a big mouth and won't keep it shut". He played Taylor in an eagerly anticipated match at the 2011 European Darts Championships
2011 European Championship (darts)
The 2011 European Championship was the fourth edition of the PDC tournament, the European Championship, which allowd the top European players to compete against the highest ranked players from the PDC Order of Merit. The tournament took place from July 28 to 31, featuring a field of 32 players and...
and was beaten 10-7, despite being 7-6 ahead. He was then defeated at the World Grand Prix by Phil Taylor by 3 sets to nil.
CM Punk Association
During his walk-on for the Barneveld match, Nicholson mimicked WWEWorld Wrestling Entertainment
World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc. is an American publicly traded, privately controlled entertainment company dealing primarily in professional wrestling, with major revenue sources also coming from film, music, product licensing, and direct product sales...
wrestler CM Punk
CM Punk
Phillip Jack "Phil" Brooks , better known by his ring name CM Punk, is an American professional wrestler currently signed to WWE and working on its Raw brand currently serving his second title reign as WWE Champion....
by having X's marked on his hands and also lifted up a The Nexus scarf. However, he lost the match, 13-9. Then when he met Phil Taylor he once again mimicked CM Punk
CM Punk
Phillip Jack "Phil" Brooks , better known by his ring name CM Punk, is an American professional wrestler currently signed to WWE and working on its Raw brand currently serving his second title reign as WWE Champion....
during his walk-on, using his signature pose on one knee, shouting "It's clobberin' time" and punching the air. During Taylors walk-on, Nicholson sat Indian style on the stage, another trait of CM Punk
CM Punk
Phillip Jack "Phil" Brooks , better known by his ring name CM Punk, is an American professional wrestler currently signed to WWE and working on its Raw brand currently serving his second title reign as WWE Champion....
, in an attempt to anger Taylor.