FORGOTTEN DARTER: Jarkko Komula: 'Smiley' who never actually smiled

In this column, we regularly reminisce about Forgotten Darters from the past. Today it is the turn of Finn, Jarkko Komula.  

Jarkko Komula was born on 13 March 1976 in Oulu, Finland. He started participating in international tournaments in 1998, but it was not until 2001 that he really made his presence felt for the first time. And how! At the Winmau World Masters, he edged the virtually unbeatable John Walton in the Quarter-Finals that year. After beating Bob Taylor and Andy Fordham, Komula faced Raymond van Barneveld in the final. Barney' eventually proved too strong and won 4-2.

That good performance did earn Komula a first appearance at the BDO World Championship in early 2002. At Lakeside Country Club, he narrowly lost 3-2 to Ted Hankey in the first round. A year later, he again went straight out of the BDO World Championship, this time after a 3-1 defeat to Vincent van der Voort.

That same year, Komula did reach the semi-finals of the World Darts Trophy, a tournament organised in the Netherlands at the time, where both PDC and BDO players competed. After wins against Ted Hankey, James Wade and Tony West, he eventually lost 5-2 to Mervyn King.

In 2004, Komula finally won his first match at the BDO World Championship. However, after winning against Paul Hanvidge, he went down by the smallest of margins against Mervyn King in the second round. A year later, Komula again went down in the first round of the BDO World Championship, this time against Robert Wagner. That same year, he did win the WDF World Cup with the Finnish team.

Komula, who, although he hardly ever smiled, was nicknamed 'Smiley', subsequently switched to the PDC. There, he participated in the World Championship three more times, most recently in 2014, but never managed to get beyond the second round. He handed in his Tour Card in early 2015 and did not play any international tournaments after that.