# Ryan Searle (darts player)

Ryan Searle (born 21 October 1987) is an English professional darts player who competes in Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) events, where he is currently ranked world number nineteen. Nicknamed "Heavy Metal", Searle has won six ranking titles in PDC Players Championship events. He reached his first major final at the 2021 Players Championship Finals, finishing as runner-up after losing to Peter Wright 11–10.

## Career

Searle reached the last 16 of the 2013 BDO World Masters after a controversial win over Richie George when his winning dart at double 10 did not actually hit the target, but referee Nick Rolls called 'game shot', ending the leg and giving Searle the match.
In 2016, he finished second on the PDC Challenge Tour Order of Merit, thanks to winning two events along the way, which meant he automatically gained a PDC Tour Card.
Searle reached the fourth round of the 2019 PDC World Darts Championship on his debut. He defeated Stephen Burton, Mensur Suljović and William O'Connor before losing to Michael Smith 1–4. In the following year, he reached the third round, where he led Gary Anderson 3–1 but was eventually defeated 3–4. In the 2020 season, Searle won his first Pro Tour title by beating world number one Michael van Gerwen 8–6 in the final of event 3.
Searle made his first appearance in a PDC major quarter-final at the 2021 World Grand Prix, following victories over Dimitri Van den Bergh and Luke Humphries. He lost to Stephen Bunting in the quarter-finals, by a score of 3–1 in sets.
Searle hit a first televised nine-dart finish at the 2023 Grand Slam of Darts in a final group match victory over Nathan Rafferty.
In January 2024, it was announced that Searle had left Loxley Darts at the end of his 3-year deal. Shortly afterwards, on 17 January, it was announced that he had signed with Harrows Darts, which coincided with the release of his new signature darts, shirt and merchandise. The same year, he was one of the participants at the Masters. However, he lost in the first round to Dirk van Duijvenbode.
On the 2024 PDC Pro Tour, Searle was runner-up in the opening two Players Championship events of the season, losing to Luke Littler 8–7 and Gary Anderson 8–5 in the respective finals. The following week at Players Championship 3, he defeated Anderson 8–7 in a repeat of the previous event's final to win his first event in a year.

## Personal life

Searle has astigmatism, and often cannot even see where his darts land.

## World Championship results
### PDC

* 2019: Fourth round (lost to Michael Smith 1–4)
* 2020: Third round (lost to Gary Anderson 3–4)
* 2021: Fourth round (lost to Stephen Bunting 3–4)
* 2022: Fourth round (lost to Peter Wright 1–4)
* 2023: Third round (lost to José de Sousa 3–4)
* 2024: Third round (lost to Joe Cullen 2–4)
* 2025: Third round (lost to Ryan Joyce 3–4)

## PDC career finals
### PDC major finals: 1 (1 runner-up)

* Legend
* Players Championship Finals (0–1)
| Outcome | No. | Year | Championship | Opponent in the final | Score |
| Runner-up | 1. | 2021 | Players Championship Finals | Peter Wright | 10–11 (l) |
* ↑ (l) = score in legs, (s) = score in sets.

## Performance timeline

BDO
| Tournament | 2011 | 2013 | 2015 |
| World Masters | 1R | 6R | 3R |
PDC
| Tournament | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 |
| World Championship | DNQ | DNQ | 4R | 3R | 4R | 4R | 3R | 3R | 3R |
| World Masters | DNQ | DNQ | DNQ | DNQ | DNQ | 2R | 1R | 1R | 2R |
| UK Open | 4R | DNQ | 4R | 4R | 5R | 6R | 4R | 4R | 5R |
| World Matchplay | DNQ | DNQ | DNQ | DNQ | 1R | 1R | QF | 2R | |
| World Grand Prix | DNQ | DNQ | DNQ | 1R | QF | 1R | 2R | 1R | |
| European Championship | DNQ | DNQ | DNQ | DNQ | 2R | 2R | 1R | 2R | |
| Grand Slam | DNQ | RR | DNQ | RR | DNQ | RR | 2R | DNQ | |
| Players Championship Finals | 1R | 2R | 1R | 2R | F | 3R | 3R | 1R | |
| Career statistics ||||||||||
| Year-end ranking | 85 | 50 | 52 | 38 | 16 | 15 | 20 | 19 | |
PDC European Tour
| Season | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 |
| 2017 | GDC 1R | Did not qualify | Did not qualify | Did not qualify | Did not qualify | Did not qualify | Did not qualify | Did not qualify | DDM 1R | Did not qualify | Did not qualify | Did not qualify |
| 2018 | Did not qualify | Did not qualify | Did not qualify | Did not qualify | Did not qualify | Did not qualify | Did not qualify | Did not qualify | Did not qualify | Did not qualify | DDC 2R | IDO QF | EDT DNQ |
| 2019 | Did not qualify | Did not qualify | Did not qualify | Did not qualify | ADO 2R | EDG 3R | Did not qualify | Did not qualify | Did not qualify | Did not qualify | Did not qualify | Did not qualify | Did not qualify |
| 2020 | BDC 2R | Did not qualify | Did not qualify | Did not qualify |
| 2021 | HDT DNQ | GDT 2R |
| 2022 | IDO 1R | GDC 3R | GDG 3R | ADO 2R | EDO QF | CDO 3R | EDG 3R | DDC 3R | EDM 2R | HDT 2R | GDO 2R | BDO 3R | GDT 3R |
| 2023 | BSD SF | EDO 2R | DNQ | DNQ | ADO QF | DDC 3R | BDO 2R | CDO 3R | EDG 2R | EDM 3R | GDO 3R | HDT 2R | GDC 2R |
| 2024 | BDO QF | GDG 3R | IDO QF | EDG 2R | ADO 2R | BSD QF | DDC QF | EDO QF | GDC 3R | FDT QF | HDT SF | SDT F | CDO 2R |
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 |
| 2017 | BAR 2R | BAR 2R | BAR 1R | BAR 1R | MIL 1R | MIL 1R | DNP | DNP | WIG 2R | WIG QF | MIL 4R | MIL 1R | WIG 2R | WIG 2R | BAR 4R | BAR 3R | BAR 2R | BAR SF | DUB 4R | DUB 1R | BAR 1R | BAR 2R |
| 2018 | BAR 1R | BAR 3R | BAR 1R | BAR 2R | MIL SF | MIL 1R | BAR 2R | BAR 1R | WIG 1R | WIG 1R | MIL 1R | MIL 1R | WIG 1R | WIG 1R | BAR 1R | BAR 1R | BAR 3R | BAR F | DUB 1R | DUB 2R | BAR 1R | BAR 1R |
| 2019 | WIG 3R | WIG QF | WIG 1R | WIG 1R | BAR QF | BAR 1R | WIG QF | WIG 1R | BAR 4R | BAR 3R | BAR 1R | BAR 2R | BAR 3R | BAR 2R | BAR 3R | BAR 1R | WIG 1R | WIG 2R | BAR 2R | BAR 3R | HIL 1R | HIL 3R | BAR 1R | BAR 2R | BAR 1R | BAR 1R | DUB 1R | DUB 1R | BAR 1R | BAR 2R |
| 2020 | BAR 2R | BAR 3R | WIG W | WIG 3R | WIG 1R | WIG 1R | BAR 1R | BAR 3R | MIL 3R | MIL 1R | MIL 3R | MIL 2R | MIL 1R | NIE 2R | NIE 3R | NIE 2R | NIE SF | NIE 1R | COV 1R | COV 1R | COV QF | COV 4R | COV 1R |
| 2021 | BOL 3R | BOL 1R | BOL 3R | BOL 3R | MIL QF | MIL 3R | MIL 1R | MIL 3R | NIE 1R | NIE 3R | NIE 2R | NIE 4R | MIL 3R | MIL 1R | MIL F | MIL 1R | COV 1R | COV SF | COV 1R | COV 4R | BAR 1R | BAR W | BAR QF | BAR QF | BAR 4R | BAR F | BAR 1R | BAR F | BAR QF | BAR 1R |
| 2022 | BAR F | BAR 2R | WIG 2R | WIG 1R | BAR 2R | BAR 2R | DNP | DNP | BAR 3R | BAR 3R | BAR W | BAR F | BAR 2R | Did not participate | Did not participate | Did not participate | Did not participate | BAR 2R | BAR SF | BAR 2R | BAR 1R | BAR SF | BAR 1R | BAR 1R | BAR 1R | BAR 2R | BAR 1R | BAR 1R | BAR 3R | BAR 2R |
| 2023 | BAR W | BAR 1R | BAR 2R | BAR F | BAR 1R | BAR F | DNP | DNP | WIG 4R | WIG 1R | LEI 1R | LEI 2R | DNP | DNP | LEI SF | LEI 2R | DNP | DNP | BAR 3R | BAR 4R | BAR 4R | BAR 1R | BAR 4R | BAR 3R | BAR 2R | BAR 2R | BAR QF | BAR DNP | BAR QF | BAR 3R |
| 2024 | WIG F | WIG F | LEI W | LEI 4R | HIL 2R | HIL 2R | LEI 4R | LEI 2R | Did not participate | Did not participate | Did not participate | Did not participate | MIL 1R | MIL 3R | MIL 2R | MIL 2R | MIL QF | MIL F | MIL 1R | WIG QF | WIG 2R | DNP | DNP | WIG 3R | WIG 1R | WIG 2R | WIG SF | WIG 4R | LEI DNP | LEI SF |
| 2025 | WIG 1R | WIG SF | ROS 4R | ROS W | LEI 3R | LEI 1R | HIL 2R | HIL QF | 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 |
Performance Table Legend :
| W | Won the tournament | F | Finalist | SF | Semifinalist | QF | Quarterfinalist | #R RR L# | Lost in # round Round-robin Last # stage | DQ | Disqualified |
| DNQ | Did not qualify | DNP | Did not participate | WD | Withdrew | NH | Tournament not held | #R RR L# | Lost in # round Round-robin Last # stage | NYF | Not yet founded |

## Nine-dart finishes

Ryan Searle televised nine-dart finishes :
| Date | Opponent | Tournament | Method | Prize |
| 13 November 2023 | Nathan Rafferty | Grand Slam | 3 x T20; 3 x T20; T20, T19, D12 | £10,000 |