Neil Duff

**Neil Duff** (born 22 July 1972) is an Irish professional darts player who currently plays in World Darts Federation (WDF) events. He is a World Champion, having won the 2022 WDF World Darts Championship. He also won several international World Darts Federation tournaments. In January 2022, he was number one in the World Darts Federation international ranking. He is the first ranking leader in history from Northern Ireland. Since January 2024, he again has been the leader of the World Darts Federation ranking.

## Career

Duff debut on international stage during 2006 World Masters, when he reached fourth round after defeat Eddie Cull, Paavo Myller and Rick Hofstra. In fourth round match he lost to Carl Lewis by 1–3 in sets. In the following years, Duff only participated in local tournaments. In 2015, he back to international stage during 2015 World Masters, but this time he lost in the second round. He also participated in 2015 WDF World Cup as a representative of Northern Ireland, but without significant success. Year ago, he advanced to fifth round of the 2016 World Masters, where he lost to Dean Reynolds. He also participated in 2016 WDF Europe Cup.

In 2017, he increasingly left Northern Ireland to compete in tournaments across Europe. After good results in Romanian Open, Scottish Open and British Classic, he again advanced to the 2017 World Masters. In sixth round match he lost to Mark McGeeney by 2–3 in sets. In 2019, Duff reached the quarter-finals of the 2019 World Masters after beating Dave Parletti and Gary Stone, before losing to John O'Shea by 1–4 in sets.

In 2020, he played very good at the Scottish Open and Isle of Man Classic. During Isle of Man Masters he advanced to final, where he lost to Thibault Tricole by 3–4 in sets. In 2021, Duff finally secured his first international title during England National Singles, where he beat Brian Raman in final match by 5–4 in legs. Thanks to this very successful year, Duff worked his way up the World Darts Federation rankings and was rewarded with his first WDF World Darts Championship qualification, as fifth seed. A few weeks before the World Cup, Duff secured his second title at the Slovak Masters with a 5–2 final victory over Moreno Blom.

At the 2022 WDF World Darts Championship he defeated Justin Thompson in second round match and managed a win against Nick Fullwell. In quarter-finals he beat Jim McEwan by 3–0 in sets and move into semi-finals. Duff reached the final with a 5–2 win over Richard Veenstra. There he was crowned as World Champion with a 6–5 final win against Thibault Tricole and also became the new leader of the World Darts Federation international ranking. In August 2022, Duff secured the title at the Pacific Masters and in November he won the Irish Classic. During the 2022 World Masters, he only advanced to the third round, where he lost to Jelle Klaasen.

In February 2023, Duff made his debut at the 2023 World Seniors Darts Championship, where he initially defeated Lisa Ashton. He then stayed without losing a set against Keith Deller before Robert Thornton proved too strong in the quarter-finals. On the World Seniors Darts Tour, Duff won an Open Series event at the end of March. Duff competed for the first time at the 2023 World Seniors Darts Masters, after a victory over David Cameron he was eliminated by Richie Howson in the second round match. He also takes part in MODUS Super Series.

In December, he played at the 2023 WDF World Darts Championship as a second seed. In the second round match he beat Moreno Blom, although the game itself was not convincing. In the third round he faced Martyn Turner and in a difficult match he eventually emerged victorious. Ultimately, he narrowly lost in the quarter-finals to Chris Landman. Duff did not exceed an average of 88 points throughout the tournament.

## World Championship results

### WDF

* 2022: **Winner** (beat Thibault Tricole 6–5) (sets)
* 2023: Quarter-finals (lost to Chris Landman 3–4)

### WSDT

* 2023: Quarter-finals (lost to Robert Thornton 1–3)