FORGOTTEN DARTERS: Colin Osborne: former major finalist who has been trying fruitlessly for several years to regain his Tour Card

In this column, we regularly reminisce about a "forgotten darter" from the past. Today it is the turn of Englishman, Colin Osborne.  

Colin Osborne was born on June 19, 1975, in Middlesbrough. In his youth he was a promising table tennis player, including being a member of the England national team.

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In 2005 he made his debut at the PDC and two years later he already played at the World Championships. In the opening round he caused a stunning surprise by sending 13th seed Kevin Painter home 3-0. Also 20th seed Wes Newton and fourth seed Roland Scholten had to bow to Osborne in the next rounds. Only in the quarter-finals was he finally stopped by Andy Jenkins, who proved too strong in a 5-4 thriller.

Later that year, Osborne again provided a shock at the UK Open by eliminating Michael van Gerwen and Mervyn King, among others. Finally, his adventure came to an end in the semifinals after an 11-10 defeat to Vincent van der Voort.

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Breakthrough

Having already won a Players Championship in 2008, 2009 was the year of definitive breakthrough for Osborne. At the UK Open he beat Raymond van Barneveld, Jamie Caven and then Kevin Painter in the semi-finals. In his first (and, as it turned out, only) major final of his career, he lost 11-6 to Phil Taylor.

Following that in 2009, Osborne won two Players Championships and also the Championship League, a tournament organized by the PDC at the time that could only be followed through the websites of various betting companies.

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Osborne was also a player to be reckoned with in subsequent years, reaching the semi-finals at the Players Championship Finals in 2010 and winning his fourth and, for now, last Players Championship in 2011.

However, the years 2014 and 2015 were particularly difficult for Osborne and by the end of 2015 he had lost his Tour Card. Since then, he has participated in Q-School every year, but without much success. He does, however, still appear regularly in action on the Modus Super Series.

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'The Wizard'

Another notable fact, early in his career he was nicknamed "The Wizard," just like fellow dart player Simon Whitlock. That made for a funny situation when Whitlock and Osborne met at the 2010 World Championship. In the end, it was Whitlock who won 'The battle of the Wizards.' Osborne later changed his nickname to "Ozzy," but a few years ago chose to go by "The Wizard" again anyway.

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