BACK IN THE DAY WITH: Ronnie Baxter: two World Championship finals, but never a world champion, following painful defeats to Raymond van Barneveld and Ted Hankey

In this series, we regularly look back at a ‘forgotten darts player’ from the past. Today, it is the turn of Ronnie Baxter. The Englishman became one of the most recognisable faces in professional darts during the 1990s and early 2000s. The Blackpool-born player had a distinctive, incredibly fast, almost robotic throwing action, earning him the nickname ‘The Rocket’. Baxter competed at the highest level for many years, reached finals on the biggest stages and defeated players such as Phil Taylor along the way. However, one major prize remained beyond his reach: a major televised title.

Baxter was born on 5 February 1961 in Blackpool. Before focusing fully on the PDC, Baxter made a name for himself in the BDO. He was already playing on the North American circuit during the 1980s, and when he subsequently became active in the BDO, it quickly became clear that he was a player capable of regularly reaching the latter stages of major open tournaments.

His honours during that period included three victories at the Isle of Man Open and two Welsh Open titles. Baxter also won the Syracuse Open, German Open, Denmark Open, Swiss Open, Finnish Open and Welsh Classic.

However, he initially had to be patient at the World Championship. Baxter made his World Championship debut in 1991 and won his opening match against Belgian player Bruno Raes. In the second round, he was beaten by Scottish legend Jocky Wilson.

Read also: Back in Time – Robbie Green: From early setbacks to a long career brought to an end by a knee injury.

A year later, Baxter showed that he had the scoring power to compete with the world's best. At the 1992 BDO World Championship, he recorded the second-highest average in the first round. Nevertheless, he failed to progress, as Bob Anderson beat him 3–1.

After missing the 1993 World Championship, Baxter returned in 1994 as the second seed. However, he failed to live up to that seeding, losing in the first round to John Part, who would go on to win the title.

Baxter was again absent from the World Championship in 1995, but returned strongly in 1996. For the first time, he reached the quarter-finals of the tournament, where he was eliminated by Richie Burnett.

In 1997, Baxter was seeded seventh at the World Championship. He again failed to progress beyond the second round, losing to Mervyn King. Later that year, however, he reached an important milestone by making the final of the Winmau World Masters, his first major final. Graham Hunt proved too strong for him.

In 1998, Baxter was once again the second seed at the BDO World Championship. Just as he had four years earlier, he was unable to make the most of his high seeding. This time, Peter Johnstone knocked him out in the first round.

The year 1999 would ultimately become one of the most important in Baxter's career. Once again, he was highly rated, and this time he fully lived up to expectations. Baxter reached the BDO World Championship final after defeating Richie Burnett, Kevin Painter, Roland Scholten and Andy Fordham.

Raymond van Barneveld awaited him in the final. For a long time, Baxter looked on course to win the world title. He took a 3–1 lead and later led 5–4. However, Van Barneveld managed to turn the match around completely. The Dutchman won the decisive legs to claim the title with a 6–5 victory.

For Baxter, it was one of the most painful defeats of his career. The world title had been within his grasp, but ultimately slipped away.

A year later, Baxter was given another opportunity. Once again, he reached the BDO World Championship final. This time, however, things went wrong much more quickly. Ted Hankey dominated the final and won by a commanding 6–0 margin. The match lasted just 46 minutes, making it the shortest World Championship final in the tournament's history.

Baxter had his final opportunity at Lakeside in 2001. He reached the quarter-finals once more, but Wayne Mardle brought his campaign to an end.

Alongside his individual achievements, Baxter also enjoyed considerable success as an international player. Representing England, he won five WDF World Cups and five WDF Europe Cups. He also competed in the British Internationals on ten occasions and won all ten editions.

In 2001, Baxter switched to the PDC. It was a period of significant change in professional darts, with increasing numbers of players making the move to the new darts organisation.

Baxter immediately demonstrated that he could compete at the highest level in the PDC as well. On his debut at the PDC World Championship in 2002, he reached the quarter-finals. To this day, that remains his best result at the PDC World Championship.

However, one of his most famous PDC-era performances actually came earlier, when he was still a BDO player. Baxter made a huge impression at the 1998 World Matchplay. In the quarter-finals, he faced defending champion Phil Taylor. Trailing 9–5, Baxter produced an impressive comeback to defeat Taylor 13–10. It was the performance that firmly established Ronnie Baxter's name on the major televised stage.

Baxter continued his run to the final, where Rod Harrington awaited him. What followed was a classic encounter. Baxter held the advantage for much of the match, but Harrington refused to let him pull away. In the end, Harrington won 19–17. Baxter even had a match dart at double 20 but was unable to take it.

Baxter remained a regular contender against the world's best at major PDC tournaments for many years. In 2002, he reached the final of the Las Vegas Desert Classic. Phil Taylor was his opponent once again, and Baxter again fell short of a major televised title.

His high position in the world rankings also earned him a place in the 2006 Premier League Darts. Baxter finished fifth.

However, there were also periods in his career when he struggled to maintain his best level consistently. In 2006 and 2007, for example, he suffered surprisingly early exits at the PDC World Championship. Nevertheless, his reputation remained intact. Baxter had the scoring power, experience and speed to cause problems for any opponent.

Another remarkable achievement was that Baxter hit four competitive nine-darters during his career, in qualifiers or tournaments. The last came at the Desert Classic in 2008. None of those nine-darters, however, was hit on television.

One of the most memorable matches of Baxter's PDC career came at the 2009 World Championship. After victories over Marko Kantele and Denis Ovens, he reached the third round, where he faced Raymond van Barneveld.

The match developed into a genuine thriller. It was eventually decided in a sudden-death leg in the seventh set.

Baxter hit the bullseye in the deciding leg and earned the right to throw first. The Englishman then had two match darts at double 8 but failed to convert either. Van Barneveld capitalised, bringing Baxter's World Championship campaign to an end.

A few months later, Baxter enjoyed another career highlight, this time on home soil. At the 2009 World Matchplay in the Winter Gardens in Blackpool, he received tremendous support from the home crowd.

Baxter defeated Jelle Klaasen and then Alan Tabern. James Wade awaited him in the quarter-finals, but Baxter produced a superb performance to beat him 16–10.

Terry Jenkins stood between him and the final. This time, Baxter could not repeat his heroics and lost 17–12. Nevertheless, reaching the semi-finals was one of the finest achievements of his career.

Read also: Back in Time – Kevin Painter: The man who came one leg away from eternal fame in a legendary World Championship final against Phil Taylor.

Baxter enjoyed another strong campaign at the 2010 World Championship. He defeated Haruki Muramatsu before sweeping Gary Anderson aside with a 4–0 victory. Colin Lloyd was also unable to stop him in the third round, as Baxter won 4–1.

Raymond van Barneveld awaited him in the quarter-finals. This time, the Dutchman proved far too strong, winning 5–0.

Nevertheless, Baxter's performances were enough to lift him to sixth in the world rankings. As a result, he automatically qualified for the 2010 Premier League.

He impressed there as well. For much of the season, Baxter occupied a top-four position and was a serious contender for a place in the play-offs. Ultimately, he narrowly missed out. An 8–2 defeat to Van Barneveld left Baxter in fifth place, level on points with fourth-placed Mervyn King.

In 2012, Baxter appeared to be entering another strong period. In June, he won the seventh Players Championship event of the season. In the final, he defeated reigning world champion and then world number two Adrian Lewis 6–3. It was Baxter's first ranking title in ten months.

Not long afterwards, he reached another Players Championship final, but this time Dave Chisnall proved too strong. Baxter's good performances earned him a place at the World Matchplay. Although he had fallen outside the world's top 16, he secured qualification through the ProTour.

Another memorable chapter followed in Blackpool. Baxter defeated Chisnall, Dean Winstanley and Justin Pipe to reach the semi-finals of the tournament. There, he faced Phil Taylor once again.

Baxter made a disastrous start and fell 6–0 behind. However, he refused to give up. He fought his way back to 8–6, bringing the tension back into the match. Ultimately, Taylor proved too strong and won 17–10. Thanks to his impressive run, Baxter climbed back to 14th in the world rankings.

At the end of 2012, he also qualified for the Players Championship Finals. He beat Paul Nicholson 6–5 in the first round, but Simon Whitlock was ruthless in the next, winning 10–1 with an average of no less than 110.

Baxter remained competitive in 2013. At the World Championship, he faced Kevin Painter in the second round. Baxter fought back from 3–1 down to level the match at 3–3, but just as he looked poised to win the deciding set, Painter struck back.

Baxter also performed strongly in the UK Open Qualifiers that year. He lost in the quarter-finals three times and in the semi-finals once, finishing ninth on the UK Open Order of Merit.

At the main tournament, he defeated Ken MacNeil, Lee Palfreyman and Jelle Klaasen in succession. Van Barneveld was once again his opponent in the quarter-finals.

Baxter recovered from 3–0 down to take a 7–4 lead. However, the Dutchman turned the match around once again. Van Barneveld moved ahead 9–8 before Baxter forced a deciding leg. The Englishman had a match dart but missed, allowing Van Barneveld to hit double 8 and survive once more.

After that, the decline in Baxter's results began to become more apparent. In 2014, he still reached the semi-finals of the German Darts Championship, where Gary Anderson beat him 6–4. He also reached the quarter-finals of five Players Championship events that year, but did not progress further.

At the 2015 World Championship, Baxter beat Daryl Gurney but could not find his best form against Robert Thornton. His checkout percentage was just 17 per cent, and Thornton won 4–0.

That year, Baxter missed the World Matchplay for the first time in a long while, ending a run of 17 consecutive appearances at the prestigious tournament. Even more painfully, he failed to qualify for the 2016 World Championship. For the first time since 1995, his name was absent from a World Championship, whether in the BDO or the PDC.

Baxter continued to try to return to the highest level. In 2016, he reached the semi-finals of the eighth Players Championship event of the season, defeating players including Kim Huybrechts and Simon Whitlock along the way. Gerwyn Price ended his run in the semi-finals.

That result still earned Baxter a place at the Players Championship Finals, but he lost to Daryl Gurney in the first round.

After the 2017 World Championship, Baxter stood 73rd in the Order of Merit. He therefore had to attend Q School to try to regain his PDC Tour Card. On the final day, he lost 5–0 to Kirk Shepherd in the final round, but his performances across the entire Q School were enough for him to finish third on the Order of Merit. This earned him a two-year Tour Card.

The following seasons proved difficult. In 2017, a fourth-round appearance at the UK Open and qualification for the German Darts Masters were among his few highlights. In 2018, Baxter also reduced his schedule, playing in only 12 of the 22 Players Championship events.

By the end of 2018, he had fallen outside the world's top 64 and lost his PDC Tour Card.

In 2022, Baxter came out of darts retirement to compete at the World Seniors Darts Matchplay. However, he lost his opening match to Terry Jenkins. A year later, he took part in the World Seniors Championship, but again exited in the first round, losing 3–0 to Kevin Painter.

Baxter averaged around 75 in both matches and subsequently decided that he had done enough. They proved to be his final competitive tournament appearances.

Ronnie Baxter will ultimately not be remembered as a world champion or as the winner of one of the biggest televised tournaments. He simply fell short at the decisive moments too often.

However, that tells only part of the story. Baxter was a fixture at the very top of international darts for many years. He reached two BDO World Championship finals, made the World Matchplay final, reached the final of the Las Vegas Desert Classic and reached the latter stages of major PDC tournaments on multiple occasions.

He defeated Phil Taylor on the big stage, fought legendary battles with Raymond van Barneveld and impressed against players who would later go on to win major titles themselves. He also hit multiple nine-darters and collected a long list of international titles.

His fast throwing action made him instantly recognisable, his nickname ‘The Rocket’ perfectly suited his playing style, and his home town of Blackpool provided the backdrop for some of the most memorable moments of his career.

Perhaps the most telling thing about Baxter is that, despite never winning that one major televised title, he kept coming back for years. After switching from the BDO to the PDC, after missed opportunities, painful defeats and a falling ranking, he repeatedly managed to fight his way back towards the world's best.

His career is therefore not the story of a player who won everything. It is the story of a player who spent years coming close to the biggest prizes, faced generations of top players and kept trying to return to the top.

For a player widely regarded as one of the best darts players never to win a major televised title, that may be precisely why Ronnie Baxter occupies such a special place in the history of the sport.