BACK IN THE DAY WITH: Jan Dekker, two-time semifinalist at the BDO World Chanpionship

In this column we go back in time to reflect on the career of a certain darter. Today we do so with Dutchman Jan Dekker.

Jan Dekker was born June 25, 1990, in Emmen, Netherlands. Dekker made his first appearance at the 2010 Winmau World Masters. He lost in the round of sixteen to Martin Adams.

A few months later he made his debut at the BDO World Championship. At Lakeside Country Club, he caused a resounding surprise in the opening round by sending 15th-seeded Scott Mitchell home 3-0. Victories against Stuart Kellett (4-1) and Garry Thompson (5-4) followed, allowing Dekker to reach the semifinals on his World Championship debut. In the semifinals he was defeated 6-2 by Dean Winstanley.

The following year Dekker went out in the opening round at the BDO World Championship, an average of over 96 was not enough to beat the future world champion Christian Kist. The following years Dekker became a regular on the BDO/WDF circuit with tournament victories at the British Classic, the BDO International Open and the Luxembourg Open.

In 2013 Dekker managed to reach the quarter-finals at the BDO World Championship, but against Richie George (son of darts legend Bobby George) he narrowly lost 5-4. A year later, after wins against Benito van de Pas, Geert De Vos and Martin Adams, he reached the semifinals of the BDO World Championship for the second time in his career. Despite a 4-2 and 5-4 lead, he eventually lost 6-5 to Alan Norris.

After a defeat in the first round of the 2015 BDO World Championship, 'Double Dekker' made the move to the PDC. However, there he never managed to match his successes from the BDO. At the World Championship he never got beyond the last 32 in four appearances. His best performance at a major was reaching the quarter-finals at the Players Championship Finals 2017, where he lost to Michael van Gerwen.

By the end of 2020, he had dropped outside the top-64 of the world rankings and thus lost his Tour Card. Dekker did try to win it back immediately a month later at Q-School, but was unsuccessful. Since then, we have not seen the corporate and real estate finance consultant at international tournaments.