Phill Nixon
Encyclopedia
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.
After 20 years of attempting, 2007 was the first year Nixon had managed to qualify for the BDO World Darts Championship
. Bookmakers had him as a 150-1 shot to win the title, before the event had started. Nixon came through three separate qualifying competitions at county, national and international level to secure his Lakeside debut. He beat number 7 seed Darryl Fitton
, number 10 seed Martin Atkins
and number 15 seed Paul Hanvidge
to the reach the semi-finals and beat Dutchman Niels de Ruiter
the number 11 seed for a place in the final against top seed Martin Adams
.
He eventually lost 7-6 to Adams in the final but almost completed a great sporting comeback after looking beaten at 0-6 down at the interval. During the break whilst practising in the players lounge with a cigarette in one hand, Nixon was said to have stabbed himself deliberately in his legs to try and motivate himself. After the interval he found form and gradually reduced the deficit. Adams had been victim of some opponents producing dramatic comebacks in his previous 14 failed attempts at winning the world title and may have been vulnerable again. Adams missed four doubles to win the championship as Nixon gradually pulled back to level the match at 6-6, taking it to a final set. In the decider, Nixon missed a dart at double eight to win the first leg, and a further missed dart at double eighteen in the third leg gave Adams his chance to take his first world title. Nixon won £30,000 for his appearance in the final. After his run at Lakeside, he went on to reach the final of the Isle of Man Open (losing to Gary Robson) and the quarter-final of the Swiss Open.
On his return to Lakeside for the 2008 BDO World Championship
he was drawn to face Adams again, in a repeat of their final from twelve months earlier, but this time lost 0-3. His form remained steady during 2008, reaching the quarter-finals of the Dutch Open and British Open and his debut at the Grand Slam of Darts
saw him lose narrowly 4-5 to James Wade
in his first group game. He then thrashed Niels de Ruiter
, but allowed a 4-0 lead and a total of eight match darts slip and lost 5-4 to Pat Orreal
, failing to qualify for the knockout stages. Nixon was also knocked out at the Group Stage of the 2008 Grand Slam of Darts
, losing to Phil Taylor and Vincent van der Voort
but defeated Andy Jenkins
though it was too late for Nixon to qualify.
Despite reaching the quarter finals of the 2008 Dutch Open and British Open, he fell down the BDO rankings
and didn't automatically qualify for the 2009 World Championship
. He was back in his position from 2007 of having to win at least five matches to qualify for the event and lost to Henny van der Ster. He has also failed to qualify for the 2010
and 2011 World Championship
At the start of the tournament, Nixon's prime occupation was as a house husband
. Nixon began to concentrate on his darts to a greater degree when he was made redundant.
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 from Ferryhill
Ferryhill
Ferryhill is a town in south-central County Durham, England with a population of around 11,651 people, making it the 8th biggest town in the County. It is in the Durham County Unitary area...
, County Durham
County Durham
County Durham is a ceremonial county and unitary district in north east England. The county town is Durham. The largest settlement in the ceremonial county is the town of Darlington...
. He is best known for reaching the 2007 World Final
2007 BDO World Darts Championship
The 2007 Lakeside World Darts Championship was the 30th Championship and was held between January 6–14, 2007 at the Lakeside Country Club, Frimley Green, Surrey....
on his first appearance at the age of 50.
Darts career
Prior to his 2007 heroics, his best performances came in reaching the quarter-finals of the 2002 Winmau World Masters and the semi-final of the 2004 British Open.After 20 years of attempting, 2007 was the first year Nixon had managed to qualify for the BDO World Darts Championship
BDO World Darts Championship
The BDO World Darts Championship is a world championship competition in darts, organised by the British Darts Organisation . It began in 1978, and was the only world championship tournament until 1994...
. Bookmakers had him as a 150-1 shot to win the title, before the event had started. Nixon came through three separate qualifying competitions at county, national and international level to secure his Lakeside debut. He beat number 7 seed 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...
, number 10 seed Martin Atkins
Martin Atkins (darts player)
Martin Atkins is an English darts player. His nickname is "The Assassin". His most notable achievement is beating former BDO World Champion Jelle Klaasen to win the Finnish Open on 11 March 2006...
and number 15 seed Paul Hanvidge
Paul Hanvidge
Paul Albert Hanvidge is a Scottish darts player who lives in Barrhead, Glasgow. His best achievement is twice reaching the quarter finals of the Lakeside World Championship.-Darts career:...
to the reach the semi-finals and beat Dutchman 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...
the number 11 seed for a place in the final against top seed Martin Adams
Martin Adams
Martin Adams is an English international darts player. Nicknamed Wolfie or Mr BDO, he is BDO world ranked number one, three-time and reigning BDO World Champion and three-time World Masters champion...
.
He eventually lost 7-6 to Adams in the final but almost completed a great sporting comeback after looking beaten at 0-6 down at the interval. During the break whilst practising in the players lounge with a cigarette in one hand, Nixon was said to have stabbed himself deliberately in his legs to try and motivate himself. After the interval he found form and gradually reduced the deficit. Adams had been victim of some opponents producing dramatic comebacks in his previous 14 failed attempts at winning the world title and may have been vulnerable again. Adams missed four doubles to win the championship as Nixon gradually pulled back to level the match at 6-6, taking it to a final set. In the decider, Nixon missed a dart at double eight to win the first leg, and a further missed dart at double eighteen in the third leg gave Adams his chance to take his first world title. Nixon won £30,000 for his appearance in the final. After his run at Lakeside, he went on to reach the final of the Isle of Man Open (losing to Gary Robson) and the quarter-final of the Swiss Open.
On his return to Lakeside for the 2008 BDO World Championship
2008 BDO World Darts Championship
*Michael Rosenauer was originally drawn to face Mark Webster, but chose to withdraw from the event to compete in the 2008 PDC World Championship. Jones had won the standby play-off at Bridlington prior to the World Masters-Statistics:- Women's Championship :...
he was drawn to face Adams again, in a repeat of their final from twelve months earlier, but this time lost 0-3. His form remained steady during 2008, reaching the quarter-finals of the Dutch Open and British Open and his debut at the 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...
saw him lose narrowly 4-5 to 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 his first group game. He then thrashed 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...
, but allowed a 4-0 lead and a total of eight match darts slip and lost 5-4 to Pat Orreal
Pat Orreal
Patrick Orreal is an Australian 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...
, failing to qualify for the knockout stages. Nixon was also knocked out at the Group Stage of the 2008 Grand Slam of Darts
2008 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...
, losing to Phil Taylor and 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...
but defeated 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:...
though it was too late for Nixon to qualify.
Despite reaching the quarter finals of the 2008 Dutch Open and British Open, he fell down the BDO rankings
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...
and didn't automatically qualify for the 2009 World Championship
2009 BDO World Darts Championship
The 2009 Lakeside World Professional Darts Championship was the 32nd World Championship organised by the British Darts Organisation. Mark Webster was the defending men's champion having won the title for the first time in last year's final against Simon Whitlock, but he was eliminated convincingly...
. He was back in his position from 2007 of having to win at least five matches to qualify for the event and lost to Henny van der Ster. He has also failed to qualify for the 2010
2010 BDO World Darts Championship
The 2010 Lakeside World Professional Darts Championship was the 33rd World Championship organised by the British Darts Organisation, and the 25th staging at the Lakeside Country Club at Frimley Green. Ted Hankey was the defending men's champion having won the title for the second time in the...
and 2011 World Championship
2011 BDO World Darts Championship
The 2011 Lakeside World Professional Darts Championship was the 34th World Championship organised by the British Darts Organisation, and the 26th staging at the Lakeside Country Club at Frimley Green...
Outside darts
Phill is married to Suzanne (born 1969), they had been married for three years (together for eleven) at the time of his world final appearance in 2007. They have two children, although Phill has eight in total.At the start of the tournament, Nixon's prime occupation was as a house husband
Homemaker
Homemaking is a mainly American term for the management of a home, otherwise known as housework, housekeeping or household management...
. Nixon began to concentrate on his darts to a greater degree when he was made redundant.