28 Facts About Richie Burnett

Richie Burnett is a former World No 1 who won the 1995 Embassy World Darts Championship.

Richie Burnett is known for his fiery personality, fighting with Adrian Lewis on stage during the 2012 Players Championship Finals.

Richie Burnett was born in Cwmparc, Rhondda and first came to prominence shortly after the split in the game, after the PDC and the BDO players went their separate ways.

Richie Burnett began to win many titles in the BDO in 1994, which included the Dutch Open, Welsh Open, British Matchplay and the Denmark Open.

Richie Burnett then added one of the two BDO major titles, the Winmau World Masters beating Steve Beaton in the final.

Richie Burnett would reach the final of the BDO World Championship on two more occasions, losing in 1996 to Steve Beaton, and in 1998 to Raymond van Barneveld.

Richie Burnett had had an out-shot for the title, but narrowly missed his second dart at treble-14 which would have left him on double 20, and did not get another opportunity to win the match.

However, Richie Burnett continued playing at the Winmau World Masters until 2001, reaching the semi-finals in 2001, where he lost to his old rival, Raymond van Barneveld.

Richie Burnett had first competed in the PDC in April 1997, at the Antwerp Open.

In June 1997, Richie Burnett played in a challenge match against the PDC World Champion, Phil Taylor, which was the main event at the Battle of the Champions card at the Circus Tavern, broadcast on Sky Sports.

Richie Burnett played in the World Matchplay again in 1999, losing in the first round to eventual finalist, Peter Manley, and again in 2000, when he reached the semi-finals for the first time since 1997, this time losing to eventual champion, Phil Taylor.

Richie Burnett's best televised performance to date in the PDC was in reaching the final of the 2001 World Matchplay, where he again lost to Taylor.

At the PDC World Championships, Richie Burnett was never able to achieve the same kind of results that he had in the BDO or at the PDC World Matchplay.

Richie Burnett was reported to be suffering from dartitis at this time, which was visible at the 2008 UK Open, where he lost in the first round to Jamie Harvey.

Richie Burnett stopped playing darts for a few months in 2009, and it was reported in September that year that he had financial difficulties and was on the dole.

Richie Burnett showed an improvement in his form in October 2010, by reaching the semi-finals of the John McEvoy Gold Dart Classic, losing in a last-leg decider to Gary Anderson.

Richie Burnett's improved form earned him qualification for the 2011 World Championships and the 2011 Players Championship Finals.

Richie Burnett then teamed up with Webster for the World Cup and together they reached the semi-finals with wins over Croatia and South Africa.

Richie Burnett was later knocked out in the fourth round of the event by Dennis Priestley.

Richie Burnett played in his second World Cup of Darts with Mark Webster and they reached the semi-finals where they faced the number one seeds of Phil Taylor and Adrian Lewis.

Richie Burnett missed 11 starting doubles in the deciding leg of his first round match against Simon Whitlock at the World Grand Prix, but still managed to win the match with a 121 finish.

Richie Burnett stated afterwards that he felt the only thing keeping from being a top eight ranked player was consistency.

Richie Burnett was due to play at the 2015 World Championship as the 26th seed, but was removed from the field the day before the first round draw was made due to personal reasons.

In January 2015, it was announced that Richie Burnett did not renew his PDC Tour Card for the 2015 season.

In October 2015, it was confirmed by UK Anti-Doping that Richie Burnett had tested positive for cocaine at the Grand Slam of Darts Qualifier in November 2014.

Richie Burnett returned to competitive darts in May 2016 and he won two Challenge Tour tournaments.

Richie Burnett failed to qualify for any of the European tour events.

In March 2023, Richie Burnett reached the Quarter-Finals stage of the 2023 UK Open, a first appearance at this stage of a ranked televised tournament since 2014.