BACK IN THE DAY WITH: Martin Phillips: for years a fixture at the Lakeside and one-time major winner
BDO
In this column, we always go back in time with a particular darter. Today we do so with Welshman Martin Phillips.
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Martin Phillips was born on April 30, 1960, in Dolgellau. He made his debut with the BDO in 1988 and managed to qualify for the World Championship for the first time three years later. At Lakeside Country Club, however, he went down 3-1 in the opening round against defending champion Phil Taylor.
A year later, Phillips was there again at the World Championship and this time with more success. In the first round, he defeated Dutchman Bert Vlaardingerbroek 3-1. In the second round he caused a huge sensation by sending five-time world champion Eric Bristow home 3-2. Eventually, he was defeated in the quarter-finals by Taylor again.
In 1993 and 1994 at the World Championships he went out in the second round each time against Bobby George. In 1994 and 1998 he became European Champion pair with respectively Eric Burden and Sean Palfrey and in 1997 also World Champion pair with Palfrey. However, Phillips was hardly active internationally during those years and it would take nine years until he managed to qualify for the World Championships again in 2003.
Semi-finals at BDO World Championship
At that 2003 World Championship it went wrong immediately in the opening round against John Walton and for the next three years he again failed to qualify for Lakeside. Phillips decided to return to playing more international tournaments and it paid off. At the 2010 World Championship, he defeated Dave Prins, Paul Carter and Scott Waites in succession. A meeting with Martin Adams followed in the semi-finals, but sadly for Phillips, the eventual world champion would prove too strong 6-4.
The following year, Phillips again managed to reach the semi-finals, but again Adams proved too strong, 6-4. Phillips subsequently participated in the World Championship five more times, most recently in 2019, but never advanced beyond the second round.
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Winmau World Masters 2014
Still, Phillips was quite successful after 2010. His wins included the Belgium Open and the German Masters in 2014, and the Romanian Open in 2018. But his biggest success came at the Winmau World Masters in 2014. There, Phillips defeated Jamie Hughes 7-3 in the final, good for the only major title of his career.
Phillips remained loyal to the BDO throughout his career, but was allowed to participate in the Grand Slam of Darts a year later thanks to his semi-final finish at the 2010 World Championship. There he finished second in a group with Adrian Lewis, Co Stompé and Vincent van der Voort. In the last sixteen, he eventually lost 10-8 to compatriot Mark Webster.
Phillips did not participate in any tournaments since 2019. The now 63-year-old Welshman is enjoying his well-deserved retirement.
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Kieran WoodDarts Journalist
Kieran Wood is a sports journalist based in Wales and has been active in journalism since 2022. He contributes to DartsNews.com, where he covers professional darts through news, match reports, analysis, and live coverage across the PDC calendar and major tournaments.
A key part of his work is on-site reporting from leading events. Kieran has covered the PDC World Darts Championship in person, reporting daily from the venue and providing first-hand insight from the tournament. During his coverage, he has conducted interviews with leading players including Luke Littler, Luke Humphries, and Gerwyn Price.
He is also one of the leading voices of the English-language Dartsnews Podcast, contributing regular analysis and discussion on developments across the professional darts circuit.
In his reporting, Kieran places strong emphasis on careful sourcing, editorial accuracy, and updating articles when new, verified information becomes available.
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- And why should he listen to you?Deduce635807-11-2026
- Ultimately it is a bye for whoever draws Barney. It will be another stroppy and sulky performance once he goes behind. Barney was excellent but really must completely call it a day now.richieburnettrocks07-11-2026
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- Probably i will receive a lot of backlash and hate for this reaction, but well, so be it. I am more than sick and tired of those lies of you Barry Hearn. How dare you defend yourself over the back of Fallon’s son! He has a disability and not an illness, so let me correct that for you! I know because I have the exact same disability. I have tried to reach out to Fallon in the past, and offered her to help her and her son, because I was struggling with the same problems, and I understood the boy. I wanted him to have finally someone who understood him. However she told me that she did not want my help, and I have respected Fallon’s choice. I have never asked Fallon for money. They don’t need money in that case. I only ever wanted the best for Fallon and Rory, but I have to be honest about the situation. Fallon should tell the true story and not be forced to tell lies. I don’t hate Fallon, and I don’t begrudge or envy a single penny that she gets, but this situation/case is just not fair. I hate the lies and the dishonesty and injustice. I don’t want Fallon to be hated because there is an unfair disadvantage created. Don’t proclaim your false lies over the back of Rory! I only stand for integrity and justice. I am precisely the one who always sticks up for Fallon. And you don't, you don't give a damn about them. You were never there for them, and now you only want to save your own position! You are just trying to talk your way out of your own bad behavior at the expense of someone with a disability. And to Fallon, I don’t know if this may ever reach you, and you read it, but I want you to know I love you and I love your son Rory very much, I am sorry how things developed and went. I hope you and Harriet are still friends. I am sorry if I were too persistent to you, or you experienced it that way, but it was never my intention. Please understand I have autism as well. As Barry Hearn would say, I am only just a human being too, and I also make mistakes and misjudge things sometimes. I promise you I did everything out of the deepest love and care for you and Rory. If I were you, I should just keep all the money, only please never be dishonest or tell lies anymore for Barry Hearn, or anyone else. I hope you have the best life, and I wish nothing more than the best for you. I have always loved the two of you. Farewell.Hiddo05-11-2026
- She is a professional. If darts is her income, she is a professional. Same as Adrian Lewis, Martin Adams. A tour card just means someone can play on the PDC tour. You could even make a case that Clayton wasn't a professional (until recently I believe) because he had employment elsewhere.BandB04-11-2026
- She's technically not a professional though as she doesn't hold a pro tour card.mr-pablo04-11-2026
- Such a shame that lakeside has been reduced to this. Fantastic venue,and previously a great tournament. Not any morerick6703-11-2026
- Seems to me that the top 16 players pick and choose whatever they want to play. Good,all the money will get spread out more. They get more money from exhibitions than tournaments so let them all withdrawrick6703-11-2026
- Play all legs and the winners split the pot. Luke gets the lot of he wins them all. If your occupation is darts player you can't enter, regardless of ability.BandB01-11-2026
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