Back in the day: ONE HIT WONDERS: Aden Kirk - The man who beat Phil Taylor and Peter Wright at the 2014 UK Open

In this column, we highlight "One Hit Wonders," players who achieved one remarkable feat but then disappeared from the big stage just as quickly. Today it is the turn of Aden Kirk, the Englishman who caused a big stunt at the 2014 UK Open by winning consecutively from Phil Taylor and Peter Wright.

Aden Kirk was born on March 3, 1992, in Nottingham, England. Kirk, nicknamed "Captain," joined the PDC in 2010. Yet it took until 2014 for him to make his presence felt. And how! He reached the last 64 in two of the six qualifying tournaments for the UK Open, allowing him to enter the first round of the main table.

Kirk successively defeated Conan Whitehead 5-4 and Gerwyn Price 5-2 to face living legend and defending champion Phil Taylor in the third round. But what no one thought possible happened anyway, Kirk won 9-7 over Taylor in his first ever TV match.

As a reward, he faced Peter Wright, a losing finalist at the World Darts Championship a few months earlier, in the last 32. Kirk soon found himself trailing 5-3, but helped by two 100+ finishes, among other things, he turned the situation around. Kirk won as many as six legs in a row and prevailed 9-5.

At the last 32, a duel with Brendan Dolan awaited. For a long time it remained particularly exciting, but at 7-7, Dolan won two legs in a row to eventually prevail 9-7. For his performance, Kirk received a check worth 5,000 pounds, by far the highest amount he had ever captured.

Later that year, Kirk reached the final of the twelfth Challenge Tour tournament of the year. In it, he eventually lost 5-4 to Brett Claydon. A year later, Kirk won his first PDC tournament. In the final of the third Development Tour tournament, he defeated Benito van de Pas 4-1. Later that year, although he did not have a PDC Tour Card, he was also allowed to participate in several Players Championships. For example, he reached the last sixteen at the fifteenth Players Championship of the year. After wins against successively William O'Connor, Justin Pipe and Ronny Huybrechts, he lost 6-1 to Peter Wright.

Kirk won his second Development Tour title in 2016 thanks to a win against Keegan Brown in the 11th tournament of the year. He finished third in the final Development Tour standings that year, capturing a PDC Tour Card for the next two years as the number one ranked player, Dean Reynolds, chose to stay with the BDO.

In the first round of the 2019 World Darts Championship, Kirk lost 3-0 to Gabriel Clemens, it is still his only appearance at a World Championship. Kirk also lost his PDC Tour Card again and has since been mostly active on the Challenge Tour, where he managed to win another tournament last year.

In January 2025, Kirk decided to make another attempt at Q-School. The Englishman managed to reach the Final Stage and for a long time seemed on course to secure a Tour Card. By the end of Saturday afternoon, “Captain” was in sixth place with 6 points, while the top 9 on the Q-School Order of Merit at the close of Sunday afternoon would be guaranteed their Tour Card.

However, things went wrong for the Englishman on the final day. He defeated Nigel Prior in the last 128, but then went out in the last 64 against Scott Campbell. This left him stuck on 6 points, and he eventually finished thirteenth on the Q-School Order of Merit on leg difference—just 8 legs behind Thomas Lovely, who finished ninth and did secure a Tour Card.

Alongside his darts career, Kirk has recently also become a children’s book author. His first book, titled Rusty the Old Bicycle, is said to have been inspired by the birth of his daughter. The story is about an old bicycle abandoned by its previous owners. His dream is to race again, and when the young son of the new owners restores and customizes him, he finally seems ready for his first big race. With this, Kirk mainly wants to write and tell stories that inspire young families.

Now 33 years old, Kirk is still relatively young and has not yet given up his dream of becoming more than a “one-hit wonder.” After narrowly missing out on a Tour Card last year, there is a strong chance the Englishman will try again next year. And who knows, maybe the luck will finally fall his way. If not, there might always be a career as an author waiting for him.

At now 33 years old, Kirk is still quite young and hasn't given up on his dream of eventually becoming more than a "One Hit Wonder" after all.