# Ricky Evans (darts player)

Richard Ian Evans (born 29 July 1990) is an English professional darts player who competes in Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) events. Nicknamed "Rapid" Ricky Evans due to his very fast throwing speed, he was a semi-finalist at the 2024 UK Open. Evans made the quarter-finals at the 2019 European Championship and has been the runner-up at four Players Championship events on the PDC Pro Tour, as well as at two European Tours.
In his youth career, Evans won two titles on the PDC Development Tour, and was the runner-up at the 2013 PDC World Youth Championship.

## Career

From 2007 to 2012 Evans attempted to qualify for each BDO World Championship but was unsuccessful. In 2011, Evans won a PDC Youth Tour event by beating David Coyne 4–1 in the final. He has played in the World Masters five times with his best finish coming in 2012 where he lost in the last 48 to James Wilson.
In 2013, Evans played in the Qualifying School to earn a tour card for the Professional Darts Corporation events and succeeded on the first day. Less than two months later he reached the quarter-finals of a PDC Pro Tour event for the first time by beating Gary Anderson 6–5 in the last 16 of the second UK Open Qualifier, before he lost 6–3 to Peter Wright. This saw him enter the UK Open in the second round stage where he was defeated 5–2 by Joe Cullen. Evans won through to the final of the World Under-21 World Championship which was played on the finals night of the Premier League Darts at the O2 Arena in London, with Evans losing 6–1 to Michael Smith. However, the result was enough to see him reach the Grand Slam of Darts for the first time, but he lost each of his Group E games to Raymond van Barneveld, Mervyn King and Tony O'Shea to finish bottom of the table.
Evans advanced to his first final in main PDC events at the 13th Players Championship of the year. He beat established players such as Gary Anderson, Ronnie Baxter, Jamie Caven and Ian White, before losing 6–3 against Brendan Dolan. Evans' successful debut season continued later in the month as he was a losing semi-finalist at the final Players Championship. He amassed £11,550 in ProTour events during the year which saw him qualify through the Order of Merit for his first PDC World Championship where he outplayed the experienced Baxter in the first round to win 3–0 in sets. Evans next faced 14th seed Mervyn King but ultimately fell to the veteran 4–2 in sets. After the match King praised Evans' performance and described him as "the future of our sport". Evans was ranked world number 56 after his debut season on the PDC tour.
He could not get beyond the last 128 in any of the six qualifiers for the 2014 UK Open, which resulted in his failure to qualify for the event. Evans' form improved as the year progressed by qualifying for the final two European Tour events. At the European Darts Grand Prix he beat Jelle Klaasen 6–3, but lost 6–5 against Vincent van der Voort in the second round and at the European Darts Trophy he was eliminated in the first round 6–5 by Klaasen. In November, Evans reached the last 16 for the only time this year at the 20th and final Players Championship where he lost 6–3 to Ian White.
At the second UK Open Qualifier of 2015, Evans progressed through to his first quarter-final in over a year where he lost 6–3 to Vincent van der Voort. He reached the third round of the UK Open for the first time by beating Mark Layton 5–3, but then lost 9–4 to James Wilson. A second quarter-final appearance this year came at the fifth Players Championship where, after defeating Colin Osborne, Andy Smith, Jamie Robinson and Devon Petersen, he lost 6–2 to Keegan Brown.
Evans won the qualifier for the 2016 World Championship with a 5–4 victory over Andy Boulton. He played 2010 runner-up Simon Whitlock in the first round and, having trailed 2–0 in sets and 2–0 in legs (surviving two match darts), Evans mounted a comeback to eventually win the match 3–2 with a 130 checkout. However, Evans lost 10 legs in a row in his second round match against Jamie Caven to be knocked out 4–0. A 9–5 victory over Andy Boulton saw Evans play in the fourth round of the UK Open for the first time, but he missed match darts against Darren Webster to lose 9–8 after leading 4–1 early on. A quarter-final appearance came at the seventh Players Championship event (lost 6–2 to Gerwyn Price) and he went one better at the 16th event to reach his first semi-final in nearly three years. He also missed double 12 for a nine darter during the day, before losing 6–4 to Steve West in the last four. These results have seen Evans qualify for the Players Championship Finals and he faced James Wade in the first round.
Evans' first round match with Michael Smith at the 2017 World Championship went to a deciding set in which he failed to win a leg to be beaten 3–2. He reached the semi-finals of the first UK Open Qualifier, but lost 6–4 to Adrian Lewis.
At the 2018 Dutch Darts Championship, Evans made his first PDC European Tour final, where he lost 8–5 to Ian White.
In 2019, he followed that up with another runner-up spot at Players Championship 6 before reaching his second European Tour final at the 2019 German Darts Championship, where he lost 8–6 to Daryl Gurney.
In March 2024, Evans reached his first premier event semi-final at the 2024 UK Open by defeating Rob Cross. He was defeated by Luke Humphries 11–2.

## Playing style

Evans is known for his incredible dart throwing speed, and has been described by Sky pundit Wayne Mardle as the quickest player he's ever seen. Evans will usually throw three darts within three to five seconds of approaching the oche unless changing position or going for a double, a trait which has led to his nickname of 'Rapid'.
During the 2017 World Championship, Evans hit a 180 in just 2.16 seconds during his first round match against Michael Smith.

## World Championship results
### PDC

* 2014: Second round (lost to Mervyn King 2–4)
* 2016: Second round (lost to Jamie Caven 0–4)
* 2017: First round (lost to Michael Smith 2–3)
* 2019: First round (lost to Rowby-John Rodriguez 1–3)
* 2020: Third round (lost to Michael van Gerwen 0–4)
* 2021: Third round (lost to Michael van Gerwen 0–4)
* 2022: Second round (lost to Daryl Gurney 1–3)
* 2023: Second round (lost to Joe Cullen 1–3)
* 2024: Third round (lost to Daryl Gurney 2–4)
* 2025: Third round (lost to Robert Owen 2–4)

## Performance timeline

BDO
| Tournament | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 |
| BDO Ranked televised events ||||||
| Winmau World Masters | 1R | 3R | 3R | 2R | 4R |
PDC
| Tournament | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 |
| PDC Ranked televised events |||||||||||||||||
| World Championship | BDO | BDO | BDO | BDO | 2R | DNQ | 2R | 1R | DNQ | 1R | 3R | 3R | 2R | 2R | 3R | 3R |
| UK Open | 2R | BDO | BDO | 3R | DNQ | 3R | 4R | 3R | 4R | 4R | 5R | 5R | 6R | 4R | SF | 4R |
| World Matchplay | BDO | BDO | BDO | DNQ | DNQ | DNQ | DNQ | DNQ | DNQ | 1R | 1R | DNQ | DNQ | DNQ | DNQ | |
| World Grand Prix | BDO | BDO | BDO | DNQ | DNQ | DNQ | DNQ | DNQ | 1R | 1R | DNQ | DNQ | DNQ | DNQ | DNQ | |
| European Championship | BDO | BDO | BDO | DNQ | DNQ | DNQ | DNQ | DNQ | 2R | QF | DNQ | DNQ | DNQ | DNQ | DNQ | |
| Grand Slam | DNQ | DNQ | DNQ | RR | DNQ | DNQ | DNQ | DNQ | DNQ | DNQ | RR | DNQ | DNQ | DNQ | DNQ | |
| Players Championship Finals | BDO | BDO | BDO | DNQ | DNQ | DNQ | 1R | DNQ | 3R | 2R | 1R | 1R | 1R | 1R | 1R | |
| PDC Non-ranked televised events |||||||||||||||||
| World Series Finals | Not held | Not held | Not held | Not held | Not held | DNQ | DNQ | DNQ | DNQ | 1R | DNQ | DNQ | DNQ | 2R | DNQ | |
| World Youth Championship | NH | DNP | 2R | F | DNP | DNP | DNP | DNP | DNP | DNP | DNP | DNP | DNP | DNP | DNP | DNP |
| Career statistics |||||||||||||||||
| Year-end ranking | NR | NR | NR | 56 | 54 | 55 | 48 | 60 | 49 | 28 | 30 | 41 | 48 | 46 | 45 | |
PDC European Tour
| Season | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 |
| 2013 | UKM DNQ | EDT DNQ | EDO DNQ | ADO DNQ | GDT DNQ | GDC 1R | GDM 1R | DDM DNQ |
| 2014 | GDC DNQ | DDM DNQ | GDM DNQ | ADO DNQ | GDT DNQ | EDO DNQ | EDG 2R | EDT 1R |
| 2015 | GDC DNQ | GDT DNQ | GDM DNQ | DDM 2R | IDO DNQ | EDO DNQ | EDT DNQ | EDM DNQ | EDG 1R |
| 2016 | DDM 1R | GDM DNQ | GDT DNQ | EDM DNQ | ADO DNQ | EDO DNQ | IDO 1R | EDT 2R | EDG DNQ | GDC DNQ |
| 2017 | GDC DNQ | GDM 1R | GDO DNQ | EDG DNQ | GDT DNQ | EDM DNQ | ADO DNQ | EDO DNQ | DDM DNQ | GDG DNQ | IDO DNQ | EDT 1R |
| 2018 | EDO DNQ | GDG DNQ | GDO DNQ | ADO DNQ | EDG 1R | DDM 1R | GDT DNQ | DDO 3R | EDM DNQ | GDC 2R | DDC F | IDO DNQ | EDT 2R |
| 2019 | EDO DNQ | GDC F | GDG 3R | GDO DNQ | ADO 2R | EDG 2R | DDM 3R | DDO 2R | CDO 2R | ADC QF | EDM 3R | IDO 3R | GDT DNQ |
| 2020 | BDC DNQ | GDC DNQ | EDG DNQ | IDO DNQ |
| 2021 | HDT DNQ | GDT DNQ |
| 2022 | IDO DNQ | GDC 2R | GDG DNQ | ADO QF | EDO DNQ | CDO 3R | EDG DNQ | DDC DNQ | EDM DNQ | HDT DNQ | GDO DNQ | BDO DNQ | GDT DNQ |
| 2023 | BSD 1R | EDO DNQ | IDO DNQ | GDG DNQ | ADO 1R | DDC DNQ | BDO 2R | CDO DNQ | EDG 2R | EDM DNQ | GDO 2R | HDT DNQ | GDC DNQ |
| 2024 | BDO DNQ | GDG DNQ | IDO DNQ | EDG DNQ | ADO 1R | BSD DNQ | DDC DNQ | EDO DNQ | GDC DNQ | FDT DNQ | HDT DNQ | SDT DNQ | CDO DNQ |
| 2025 | BDO DNQ | EDT | IDO | GDG | ADO | EDG | DDC | EDO | BSD | FDT | CDO | HDT | SDT | GDC |
PDC Players Championships
| Season | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 | 31 | 32 | 33 | 34 |
| 2013 | WIG 1R | WIG 3R | WIG 2R | WIG 1R | CRA 1R | CRA 1R | BAR 1R | BAR 1R | DUB 1R | DUB 2R | KIL Prel. | KIL 1R | WIG F | WIG 1R | BAR 2R | BAR SF |
| 2014 | BAR 1R | BAR 3R | CRA 1R | CRA 1R | WIG 1R | WIG 1R | WIG 2R | WIG 1R | CRA 1R | CRA 1R | COV 1R | COV 1R | CRA 1R | CRA 1R | DUB 3R | DUB 2R | CRA 1R | CRA 2R | COV 1R | COV 4R |
| 2015 | BAR 1R | BAR 2R | BAR 2R | BAR 1R | BAR QF | COV 3R | COV 1R | COV 3R | CRA 1R | CRA 2R | BAR 1R | BAR 2R | WIG 1R | WIG 1R | BAR 3R | BAR 1R | DUB 3R | DUB 1R | COV 4R | COV 2R |
| 2016 | BAR 3R | BAR 4R | BAR 3R | BAR 3R | BAR 1R | BAR 2R | BAR QF | COV 3R | COV 2R | BAR 2R | BAR 1R | BAR 3R | BAR 1R | BAR 1R | BAR 1R | BAR SF | DUB 3R | DUB 1R | BAR 1R | BAR 1R |
| 2017 | BAR 1R | BAR 1R | BAR 1R | BAR 1R | MIL 3R | MIL 1R | BAR 2R | BAR 3R | WIG 1R | WIG 2R | MIL 2R | MIL 2R | WIG 1R | WIG 1R | BAR 1R | BAR 2R | BAR 1R | BAR 2R | DUB 1R | DUB 2R | BAR 1R | BAR 1R |
| 2018 | BAR 1R | BAR 4R | BAR 2R | BAR 4R | MIL 1R | MIL 4R | BAR 2R | BAR 4R | WIG 1R | WIG 1R | MIL QF | MIL QF | WIG QF | WIG 1R | BAR 2R | BAR 2R | BAR 3R | BAR 1R | DUB 3R | DUB 4R | BAR QF | BAR 4R |
| 2019 | WIG 3R | WIG 1R | WIG 3R | WIG 1R | BAR 4R | BAR F | WIG 4R | WIG 1R | BAR 3R | BAR 1R | BAR 4R | BAR 2R | BAR 4R | BAR 3R | BAR 3R | BAR 2R | WIG 2R | WIG 1R | BAR 1R | BAR 1R | HIL 1R | HIL 4R | BAR 1R | BAR 1R | BAR 1R | BAR 1R | DUB 2R | DUB 1R | BAR 1R | BAR 1R |
| 2020 | BAR 2R | BAR 2R | WIG 1R | WIG 1R | WIG 1R | WIG 4R | BAR 3R | BAR 4R | MIL 4R | MIL 3R | MIL 3R | MIL 3R | MIL 1R | NIE 1R | NIE 4R | NIE 3R | NIE 3R | NIE 1R | COV 2R | COV 3R | COV 1R | COV 4R | COV 2R |
| 2021 | BOL 3R | BOL 2R | BOL 3R | BOL 2R | MIL 3R | MIL 3R | MIL 1R | MIL 2R | NIE 1R | NIE 1R | NIE 2R | NIE 3R | MIL 3R | MIL 1R | MIL 2R | MIL 2R | COV 1R | COV 3R | COV 3R | COV 1R | BAR 1R | BAR 1R | BAR 1R | BAR 2R | BAR 1R | BAR 3R | BAR 4R | BAR 2R | BAR 3R | BAR 2R |
| 2022 | BAR 2R | BAR 1R | WIG 1R | WIG 3R | BAR 3R | BAR F | NIE 3R | NIE 1R | BAR 2R | BAR 1R | BAR 3R | BAR 2R | BAR 1R | WIG 3R | WIG 3R | NIE 3R | NIE 1R | BAR 1R | BAR 1R | BAR 2R | BAR 3R | BAR 1R | BAR 1R | BAR 2R | BAR 2R | BAR 1R | BAR 1R | BAR 1R | BAR 1R | BAR 1R |
| 2023 | BAR 1R | BAR 1R | BAR 1R | BAR 1R | BAR 2R | BAR 1R | HIL 1R | HIL 2R | WIG 1R | WIG 2R | LEI 1R | LEI 2R | HIL 1R | HIL 3R | LEI 2R | LEI 3R | HIL 2R | HIL 4R | BAR 3R | BAR 2R | BAR 1R | BAR 1R | BAR 1R | BAR 1R | BAR 3R | BAR 2R | BAR 1R | BAR QF | BAR 2R | BAR 2R |
| 2024 | WIG 2R | WIG 3R | LEI 2R | LEI 1R | HIL 1R | HIL 1R | LEI 2R | LEI 4R | HIL 2R | HIL 2R | HIL 1R | HIL 4R | MIL 4R | MIL 1R | MIL 1R | MIL F | MIL 1R | MIL 1R | MIL 1R | WIG 1R | WIG 1R | MIL 1R | MIL 1R | WIG 2R | WIG 1R | WIG 1R | WIG 1R | WIG 1R | LEI 1R | LEI 1R |
| 2025 | WIG 2R | WIG 1R | ROS 1R | ROS 2R | LEI | LEI | HIL | HIL | LEI | LEI | LEI | LEI | ROS | ROS | HIL | HIL | LEI | LEI | LEI | HIL | HIL | MIL | MIL | MIL | HIL | HIL | LEI | LEI | LEI | WIG | WIG | WIG | WIG | WIG |
Key
Performance Table Legend :
| W | Won the tournament | F | Finalist | SF | Semifinalist | QF | Quarterfinalist | #R RR Prel. | Lost in # round Round-robin Preliminary round | DQ | Disqualified |
| DNQ | Did not qualify | DNP | Did not participate | WD | Withdrew | NH | Tournament not held | #R RR Prel. | Lost in # round Round-robin Preliminary round | NYF | Not yet founded |