37 Facts About Martin Adams

Martin Adams was born on 4 June 1956 and is an English professional darts player who plays in World Darts Federation events.

Martin Adams represents Cambridgeshire at county darts level and was the captain of England from 1993 to 2013, the longest any player has held that role.

From his debut in 1994, Adams made a record 25 consecutive World Championship appearances, before failing to qualify for the first time in 2019.

Martin Adams was diagnosed with prostate cancer in April 2016, but by the end of the year he was given the all-clear.

Martin Adams was born in Sutton, Surrey and started his darts career in pubs.

Martin Adams still plays pub darts, currently playing for Deeping Rugby Club in Market Deeping, Lincolnshire.

Martin Adams made his BDO World Darts Championship debut in 1994, the first world championship staged after the infamous split in darts, in which the top-16 players left the BDO to form the World Darts Council.

For many years, Martin Adams was known as the nearly man at the Lakeside tournament, often reaching the latter stages but without winning it.

Martin Adams twice lost a semi-final in a deciding set, against Raymond van Barneveld in 1995 and Tony David in 2002.

Martin Adams suffered first round exits at Lakeside in 1997,1998,2000 and 2004.

In 2005, Martin Adams reached the world final at the 12th attempt.

Martin Adams reached four semi-finals, losing to Steve Beaton in 1994, Erik Clarys in 1995, Les Wallace in 1998 and van Barneveld in 2005.

Martin Adams has won many BDO Open events and twice won the WDF World Cup singles.

Martin Adams was number one seed for the second time in his career and put out Tony O'Shea, Co Stompe, Ted Hankey and Mervyn King in his run to the final where he faced qualifier Phil Nixon.

Martin Adams went on to lose in the semi-finals to number-one seed Mark Webster, who eventually won the tournament.

Martin Adams joined Eric Bristow, Richie Burnett, Bob Anderson and John Walton as the fifth player to win them in the same season.

The match against Walton was especially memorable as it went to a sudden death leg, which Martin Adams won despite Walton having the advantage of throw.

Martin Adams then reached the singles final at the WDF World Cup where he was defeated by Scott Waites, and won the doubles event with Waites.

Martin Adams was the top seed at the 2012 World Championship.

Martin Adams got back to world number two and won a number of key tournaments.

Martin Adams had a near nine darter hitting the treble 20 7 times and hitting the treble 19 but missed the double 12, if he had hit it, he would have been the first person to hit a 9 darter at the BDO World Championship in 25 years since Paul Lim in 1990.

In November 2015, Martin Adams made his first PDC tournament appearance since 2007, at the 2015 Grand Slam of Darts, where topped his group with three wins of out of three, with victories against Ian White and two former BDO World Champions in Jelle Klaasen and Steve Beaton.

Martin Adams was the number two seed going into the 2016 World Championship, but was handed a tough first round draw against Canadian Jeff Smith, who had reached the semi-finals the previous year.

Ultimately, Martin Adams was whitewashed for the first time ever at Lakeside, suffering a 3 sets to nil defeat.

Martin Adams recovered from this setback by winning the Dutch Open just a few weeks later, beating Danny Noppert in the final.

At the 2016 Grand Slam of Darts, Martin Adams was grouped with Michael van Gerwen, Brendan Dolan and Max Hopp.

Martin Adams lost all three matches and finished bottom of the group.

Martin Adams was the 5th seed for the 2017 World Championship, and was drawn to face the winner of a preliminary round match, which Ryan Joyce won beating Dennis Nilsson.

Martin Adams narrowly defeated Joyce 3 sets to 2 in a close encounter to set up a rematch against Jeff Smith, who had whitewashed him the previous year.

Martin Adams failed to qualify for the 2019 World Championship, making it the first that he would miss the event since making his debut in 1994.

Martin Adams did win his first ranking tournament for nearly three years by clinching the Italian Open.

Martin Adams participated in his 27th World Championship at the 2022 World Championship at the Lakeside where he lost to Jarred Cole in the first round.

Martin Adams won a non-televised Players Championship tournament, the 1999 Scania Open, where he beat Phil Taylor in the final.

When eligibility rules for entry into PDC television tournaments changed at the start of 2002, Martin Adams was unable to compete in them as he decided to remain a BDO player.

Since the 2001 World Grand Prix and the subsequent change in the eligibility rules for entry into PDC television tournaments from 2002 onwards, Martin Adams did not compete in a PDC event again until 14 years later.

Martin Adams brushed off their decision, saying that it would simply save him the time in having to refuse them.

Martin Adams said that "he had held discussions with the BDO and certain political issues had been sorted regarding the other side of the game" when asked by Croft about whether in theory a match could take place with the winner of the respective PDC World Championship.