James Hurrell

**James Hurrell** (born 7 July 1984) is a English cricketer and professional darts player who currently plays in Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) and World Darts Federation (WDF) events. WDF World Cup and WDF Europe Cup medalist. In January 2022, he became the leader of the World Darts Federation ranking and held this position until November 2022. He has appeared in the WDF World Darts Championship.

## Career

Hurrell began his international career in 2010, when he took part in the 2010 World Masters. He lost his debut match in first round against Jan Dekker. His first big success came with 2012 Dutch Open, when he reached semi-final and was defeated by the eventual winner Tony O'Shea. In 2014, he advanced to two finals of international tournaments. In the final match of the Isle of Man Classic he lost to Scott Waites, and in the final match of the Polish Open he lost to Alan Norris. In the meantime, he took part in the World Masters, where he did not pass the first round. In 2013, Alan Soutar turned out to be better, and in 2014 he lost to Jeff Smith.

He started 2015 with the final of the Romanian Open, where he lost to Jamie Hughes. A few months later, he won the first title in his career, winning the Finnish Open by defeating Daniel Larsson. In the 2015 World Masters he reached the fifth round, where he lost to defending champion Martin Phillips. At the end of the season, he took part in the 2015 Zuiderduin Masters invitational tournament, but was eliminated in the group-stage by Jim Williams and Danny Noppert.

He started the next season with his debut in the 2016 BDO World Darts Championship, but lost to Larry Butler in preliminary round match. In 2016, Hurrell won the Police Masters and participate as an England team member in the 2016 WDF Europe Cup. Together with his colleagues, he won the gold medal in the team competition. In the 2016 World Masters he advanced to the fifth round, where he lost to Mark McGeeney. At the Jersey Classic he threw a nine-dart finish in the match against Daniel Day. Few weeks later during the 2017 BDO World Darts Championship he lost again to Mark McGeeney.

In next season, Hurrell has been back-to-back Police Masters champion, where he beat Krzysztof Ratajski by 6–5 in legs. He took this momentum and defeated Scott Waites in the first round match of the 2017 BDO World Trophy. In second round match he lost to Wesley Harms. At the BDO International Open he beat Jamie Hughes and celebrated another major title in this year. At the 2017 World Masters. he reached the quarter-finals for the first time, where he lost to Gabriel Clemens. Due to illness, he skipped 2018 BDO World Darts Championship. In 2018 BDO World Trophy he lost in the first round match to defending champion Peter Machin.

After a long lack of success, he made it to the final at the Welsh Open in 2021. At the Irish Open and Italian Open he went to the semi-finals and the final of the Italian Grand Masters where he lost to Richard Veenstra. Hurrell confidently qualified for the 2022 WDF World Darts Championship and after Brian Raman won the PDC Tour Card in January 2022, he became the leader of the international World Darts Federation ranking. At the championship he won an opening game against John Desreumaux and beat Ryan de Vreede in second round. In the quarter-finals he had no chance against Cameron Menzies. During the 2022 WDF Europe Cup, he was one of the leaders of his national team. He won two gold medals in the team competition and overall classification.

A little later, Hurrell won the Scottish Open, in October he won the Belfry Open and in November he won the Italian Grand Masters. In 2023, threw a nine-dart finish and won the last PDC Challenge Tour tournament of this season, secured his first Professional Darts Corporation title. He also takes part in MODUS Super Series. At the end of September, he took part in the 2023 WDF World Cup, where he only won the silver medal in the team competition. Overall, the entire tournament was not a success for the England men's team. He qualified for the 2023 WDF World Darts Championship.

## World Championship results

### WDF

* 2016: Preliminary round (lost to Larry Butler 2–3) (sets)
* 2017: First round (lost to Mark McGeeney 1–3)
* 2022: Quarter-finals (lost to Cameron Menzies 0–4)
* 2023: Second round (lost to Dennis Nilsson 2–3)