FORGOTTEN DARTERS: Tony 'The Tornado' West who stunned Van Barneveld in 2003 for World Masters glory

In this column, we regularly reminisce about forgotten darts from the past. Today, it is the turn Tony West.  

West was born on 7 July 1972 in Waltham Abbey, England. In 2002, his debut year on the BDO Tour, he immediately reached the final of the Winmau World Masters, where he lost 7-4 to Mark Dudbridge.

Winmau World Masters

A year later, it was a winner for West. After beating Ted Hankey 6-5 in the semi-final, he faced Raymond van Barneveld in the final. Again it came down to a deciding set and again it was West who won: 7-6 and a first major victory for 'The Tornado'.

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That major victory also allowed West to make his debut at the 2004 BDO World Championship a few months later. After a 3-1 win in the opening round against Mick Reed, he had to concede 3-0 in the second round to eventual world champion Andy Fordham.

West would eventually make six appearances at the BDO World Championship, but never got past the second round. He played for a final time at Lakeside Country Club in 2012, when he lost 3-1 to Geert De Vos in the opening round.

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Move to PDC

In 2012, following his brother Steve, Tony West switched to the PDC, where he immediately captured his Tour Card on the opening day of Q-School. At the PDC, however, he struggled to break through and by the end of 2013 he had already lost his Tour Card. He decided not to go to Q-School again.

In the years that followed, we heard little from West until he managed to qualify for two Euro Tours in 2016. In the German Darts Championship, he went down 6-0 against his brother Steve in the opening round.

Since then, things have gone quiet around Tony West, who, especially at international level, seems to have put his darts away. So it remains just one major win for the now 50-year-old.