BACK IN THE DAY WITH: Terry Jenkins: 9 major finals, but zero won

In this column, we regularly go back in time with a particular darter. Today we do so with Englishman Terry Jenkins.

Terry Jenkins was born on Sept. 26, 1963, in Ledbury. Jenkins, like most darters of his generation, began his career with the BDO. In 2003 he made his first appearance at a major tournament by reaching the quarterfinals of the Winmau World Masters. There he went down 3-1 against Raymond van Barneveld.

That same year, Jenkins switched to the PDC. In 2005, he qualified for the World Championship for the first time, where he lost 4-2 to Ronnie Baxter in the third round. 2005, however, was the year of his breakthrough at the PDC. That year, Jenkins won the Primus Masters and the Antwerp Open, among others.

First major finals

Jenkins also continued to make progression the following year. At the World Grand Prix, he reached the final of a PDC major for the first time, but Phil Taylor proved too strong 7-4. It did earn him a selection for the Premier League Darts in 2007. In the final of that tournament, he lost 16-6 to Phil Taylor. Jenkins steamed on and a few months later he also reached the final of the Las Vegas Desert Classic, where Raymond van Barneveld eventually blocked his way to the title 13-6. Third time lucky that year, Jenkins thought, but nothing could be further from the truth. Indeed, in the final of the World Matchplay, he had to lose 18-7 to James Wade.

In thirteen appearances at the World Championship, Jenkins never advanced beyond the semifinals (2011). But in the other majors, 'The Bull' continued to do extremely well in the years that followed. With the exception of the Masters and the Players Championship Finals, he reached the final at least once in every major. He would eventually play nine major finals, but lost all nine. Jenkins is therefore considered by many darts followers to be the best player ever who never won a major.

Antique collector

In addition to darts, Jenkins has always been a passionate collector of antiques. To such an extent, in fact, that it often interested him more than his darts career. The question can therefore be asked: what if he had put everything on his darts career? Presumably he would have won some majors, although of course that can never be said with certainty.

At the age of 55, Jenkins had had enough at the PDC and became a full-time antique dealer again. Nowadays, he is still occasionally active on the World Seniors Darts Tour, where he reached the semi-finals of the World Championship in 2022. He also still occasionally plays in WDF tournaments, such as the Belgium and Antwerp Open in 2022.