BACK IN TIME WITH: Corey Cadby - mega-talented, major finalist, but off the board issues curtailed career

In this column, we regularly go back in time with a particular darter. Today we do so with the Australian, Corey Cadby.

Corey Cadby was born on March 18, 1995, in Devonport. In 2016, he won no fewer than seven tournaments of the DPA Grand Prix Circuit domestically, securing himself a starting ticket to the World Darts Championship. Prior to that Worlds debut, he had already shown his immense talent at the Perth Darts Masters. In the opening round he defeated none other than Phil Taylor 6-2, averaging over 103 in the process. One round later, he lost to Peter Wright.

At the World Youth Championship later that year, he defeated Dimitri Van den Bergh in the semifinals. In the final, he was 6-2 too strong for Dutchman Berry van Peer. At 21, Cadby crowned himself youth world champion. As such, expectations were high for his World Championship debut. In the preliminary round the Chinese Sun Qiang posed no problem, but then Cadby went down in the next match to Joe Cullen;

In 2018, Cadby failed to qualify for the Worlds, though he did head to Q-School a few weeks later. On the opening day, he defeated Callan Rydz in the final, capturing a two-year PDC Tour Card. 'King Cadby' was clearly on a roll and a month later won his first PDC title by winning the fifth qualifying tournament for the UK Open. In the final, he defeated Rob Cross with a fabulous average of 108.77.

A month later, Cadby caused a sensation at the UK Open. In a special edition, due to poor weather conditions there were only a handful of spectators at Butlins in Minehead, Cadby finally broke through on the big stage. After wins against the likes of Martin Schindler, Gerwyn Price and Robert Owen, Cadby suddenly found himself in a major ranking final. A first major victory was a step too far though as Gary Anderson proved too strong for Cadby in the final, 11-7.

Cadby, meanwhile, had grown into a player all the top players took notice of, but in addition to darts, he regularly made the media for his antics off the board. In the meantime, Cadby had accumulated a criminal record and was having trouble getting a visa to travel to the UK. It thus became almost impossible to keep his Tour Card and eventually Cadby himself decided to surrender his Tour Card in early 2020.

In the following years we heard little from Cadby, so it was a surprise when he suddenly showed up for Q-School in early 2023. He proved to have lost none of his immense talent and captured his Tour Card on the second day by flooring Karel Sedlacek in the final with an average of well over 100.

Consequently, many darts followers were looking forward to Cadby's return to the Pro Tour, but it ultimately did not come to that. Unfortunately, he did not participate in any PDC tournaments in 2023 and the PDC stripped him of his Tour Card early this year.

So it remains to be seen whether Cadby gets his personal problems resolved and, if so, whether he will ever make another attempt to capture a Tour Card. He is still only 29 and could, in ability wise at least, is still more than capable of having a lengthy career at the top.