Tony Eccles
| Tony Eccles | |
|---|---|
| Personal information | |
| Nickname | The Viper |
| Born |
8 January 1970 Middlesbrough, England |
| Home town |
Hartlepool England |
| Darts information | |
| Playing darts since | 2000 |
| Darts | 22g Winmau |
| Laterality | Right-handed |
| Walk-on music | Rock This Party (Everybody Dance Now) by Bob Sinclar |
| Organisation (see split in darts) | |
| BDO | 2000-2007, 2012-2014 |
| PDC | 2007-2011 |
| BDO majors - best performances | |
| World Ch'ship | Quarter Final: 2007, 2014 |
| World Masters | Last 32: 2006, 2013 |
| World Darts Trophy | Quarter Final: 2004 |
| Int. Darts League | Last 16 Group: 2007 |
| Zuiderduin Masters | Semi Final: 2005 |
| PDC premier events - best performances | |
| World Ch'ship | Last 16: 2008 |
| World Matchplay | Last 16: 2008 |
| World Grand Prix | Last 16: 2008 |
| Desert Classic | Last 32: 2007 |
| UK Open | Last 32: 2010 |
| Players Ch'ship Finals | Last 32: 2009, 2010, 2011 |
| Other tournament wins | |
| Tournament | Years |
| British Classic British Open British Pentathlon Dutch Open England Open German Gold Cup Norway Open Revesby Workers Club Open Scottish Open Swedish Open Tyne and Wear Open |
2013 2002 2005 2005 2005 2007 2006, 2007 2010 2012 2005, 2006 2008, 2013 |
Tony Eccles (born 8 January 1970 in Middlesbrough) is a former darts player. He used the nickname The Viper. He played for both the British Darts Organisation and the Professional Darts Corporation . He twice reached the quarter finals of the BDO World Darts Championship and is a former winner of the Dutch Open, British Open and British Pentathlon. He is currently serving a 16-year prison sentence for indecent assault on a schoolgirl.
He made his debut in the World Championship in 2002 but only won one match in his first five visits to Lakeside. Having lost to Wayne Jones (2002), Erik Clarys (2003) and John Walton (2004) he notched his first ever win at the World Championship against Tony David in 2005, before falling to Vincent van der Voort in the second round.
A first round loss again followed to Per Laursen in 2006, but his best run at the event came in 2007 when he progressed to the quarter finals before losing 4-5 to Mervyn King. Tony led King 3-0 but found himself 4-3 down before taking the match into the deciding set, which he lost.
He has had some success in some British Darts Organisation Open events away from the television cameras.
In 2005 he won the Dutch Open, England Open and Sweden Open and in 2006 took the Norway Open and successfully defended his Sweden Open title. He has maintained a high world ranking as a result of these performances, which helped him to be seeded five for the World Championship in 2006 and four in 2007.
In April 2007 he won the Norway Open for the second successive year.
On the eve of the UK Open in June 2007, Eccles announced that he would be switching to compete on the PDC circuit. At the time of his switch he was ranked number 2 in the WDF and number 4 in the BDO world rankings and began his PDC career placed 151st in their Order of Merit. He made his debut to the World Championship in 2008, losing to Adrian Lewis 4-3 in the third round having led 2-0 and missing darts to lead 3-0. In the 2009 PDC World Darts Championship, Eccles, the number 30 seed, faced Dutchman Remco van Eijden. Eccles took a 2-0 lead before van Eijden, who played in the BDO World Darts Championship twelve months previously, came back to level at two sets all before Eccles eventually took the match with a 3-2 win to progress to the second round. He was then beaten by third seed James Wade.
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