FORGOTTEN DARTERS: Rick Ney, the first American in a major final

In this column, we regularly reminisce about a 'forgotten darter' from the past. Today it is the turn of American Rick Ney.  

Richard 'Rick' Ney was born on 21 May 1961 in Philadelphia. He started playing darts in 1975 and managed to qualify for the BDO World Championship for the first time in 1984. In the opening round, he beat Belgian Luc Marreel 2-1, but in the second round, later world champion Eric Bristow was too strong 4-1.

Ney won the WDF World Cup in 1985 and a year later he reached the final of the News of the World Darts Championship, one of the first majors in darts. In the end, he went down 2-0 against Bobby George. Ney thus became the first American to reach the final of a major.

In 1986 Ney failed to qualify for the BDO World Championship, but a year later he was there again. At the Lakeside Country club, he was too strong for Terry O'Dea in the first round, 3-1, but just like three years earlier, he could do nothing against Eric Bristow in the second round.

A year later, Ney achieved his best result at the BDO World Championship. After wins against Magnus Caris, Chris Johns and Dennis Hickling in succession, he went down 5-0 in the semi-finals against later world champion Bob Anderson.

In 1989, Ney was there one last time at the BDO World Cup, after a win in his opening match against Leo Laurens, he lost 3-0 to Dave Whitcombe in the second round. Ney did play some international tournaments in the following years, but left the BDO in 1991.

0n 9 April 2017, the sad news arrived that Ney had lost his life in a motorbike accident. He was 55 years old.