Matthew Edgar

Matthew Edgar
Personal information
Nickname"Prime Time"
Born (1986-08-28) 28 August 1986 (age 38)
Doncaster, England
Home townDaventry, England
Darts information
Playing darts since2001
Darts21g Mission Darts signature "Edgar TV"
LateralityRight-handed
Walk-on music"Buck Rogers" by Feeder
Organisation (see split in darts)
PDC2011–2022
WDF2024-
WDF major events – best performances
World MastersLast 32: 2024
PDC premier events – best performances
World Ch'shipLast 64: 2021
UK OpenLast 32: 2011, 2018, 2020
PC FinalsLast 64: 2016, 2018, 2019
Other tournament wins
PDC Challenge Tour England 2014, 2017
Warwickshire Open 2011
Iceland Masters 2023
Slovenian Open 2023
Q-School 2015
Q-School Ranking Tour Card 2012, 2018

Matthew Edgar (born 28 August 1986) is an English darts player.

Career

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2011

[edit]

Edgar joined the PDC in 2011, and qualified for the 2011 UK Open. He defeated Nigel Heydon, Andy Pearce and Martyn Turner on the way to the last 32, where he lost 9–5 to Andy Boulton.

2012

[edit]

In January 2012, he entered the Professional Darts Corporation Pro Tour 'Q School' qualifying tournament. On the first day, Edgar lost to Darren Whittingham 6–4 at the final stage.[1] After four days playing in the event in Barnsley, Edgar gained his professional tour card for the 2012 and 2013 seasons. His best results of 2012 came in two UK Open Qualifiers, where he lost in the last 16 to Johnny Haines and Richie Howson respectively.[2] These results helped him to reach the UK Open for the second time where he was beaten in the second round by Kevin McDine.[3] He could not advance beyond the last 32 in any of the rest of the events he played in the year.[2]

2013

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Edgar went into 2013 ranked world number 81,[4] and reached his first PDC quarter-final at the eighth UK Open Qualifier where he was edged out 5–6 by Adrian Lewis. He was seeded 50th for the UK Open itself, meaning he began at the second round stage, with a 5–4 win over Colin Osborne.[5] He faced reigning champion Robert Thornton in the third round and led 6–4, before going on to lose 7–9.[6] Edgar also qualified for two European Tour events during the year, losing in the first round of the Gibraltar Darts Trophy and beating Stuart Kellett 6–1 at the German Darts Championship before being defeated 6–2 by Paul Nicholson in the second round.[7]

2014

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Edgar began 2014 outside of the world's top 64 and entered Q School in an attempt to win his place back, coming closest on the third day when he advanced to the last 32 but lost 5–2 to Darron Brown.[8][9] Edgar only had PDPA Associate Member status for the year ahead which allowed him to compete in UK Open and European Tour qualifiers as well as the Challenge Tour.[10] He qualified for the UK Open and lost 5–3 to Spain's Antonio Alcinas in the second round.[11] Edgar was a runner-up in the first Challenge Tour event of the year when he lost 5–4 to Jamie Robinson, but he went one better in the fourth event by claiming the title with a deciding leg victory over Mark Frost.[12][13] He came within a match of qualifying for both the Grand Slam of Darts and 2015 World Championship but was beaten on both occasions.[14]

2015

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On the second day of 2015 Q School, Edgar won seven matches ending with a 5–0 whitewash of Andy Boulton to earn a new two-year tour card.[14] He reached the quarter-finals of the third UK Open Qualifier, but was edged out 6–5 by Adrian Lewis.[15] Edgar also suffered a narrow defeat in the second round of the UK Open, 5–4 against Jason Mold.[16] The only European Tour event he could qualify for this year was the International Darts Open and he beat Darren Webster 6–5, but was thrashed 6–0 by Dave Chisnall in the second round.[17]

2016

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A last 16 showing in the final qualifier saw Edgar enter the UK Open at the second round stage and he beat Mark Wilson 6–4, before losing 9–3 to Mark Webster.[18][19] He had two last 16 finishes in Players Championship events, before reaching the quarter-finals for the only time this season at the final one by defeating Jelle Klaasen, Wayne Jones, Cristo Reyes and Robbie Green, before losing 6–2 to Benito van de Pas.[20] It was this result which saw Edgar make his debut in the Players Championship Finals and he lost 6–3 to Simon Whitlock in the first round.[21]

2017

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With his tour card status now expired, Edgar entered the 2017 Q School and finished 13th on the Order of Merit, just one point shy of reclaiming his place.[22] A host of injuries including a broken hand restricted the amount of entries available through the year which included missing out on qualification for the PDC UK Open for the first time in his career. There were positive signs in the Summer when a second Challenge Tour title came beating Barrie Bates 5–2 in the final at Arena MK.

2018

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Edgar re-gained his PDC Tour Card at 2018 Q school. Coming back onto the tour, he started with back-to-back last 16 runs in the UK Open Qualifiers held in Wigan and became a seed for the UK Open 2018. There, where he reached the 4th round for the 2nd time in his career, missing out 10–7 to Steve West following a 10–4 win over John Henderson in round 3. Edgar made his return to the European Tour in April 2018, going down 6–2 to Steve West in Saarbrücken.

Edgar did enough on the Players Championship circuit to qualify for the 2018 Players Championship Finals where he met Michael van Gerwen in the first round and lost 6–2. He also managed to qualify for the 2019 PDC World Darts Championship through the ProTour.

2019

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In the 2019 PDC World Darts Championship, Edgar played Darius Labanauskas in the first round and lost 3–1 despite winning the first set.

Edgar started the year off placed world number 68, so to maintain his tour card for next season he needed to jump 4 places in the rankings. He played in the 2019 UK Open where he made the third round before losing to Ryan Searle 6–3. He qualified again for the Players Championship Finals that year and played Dave Chisnall in the first round. He lost 6–2.

2020

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Edgar hadn’t managed to do enough on the tour to qualify for the 2020 World Darts Championship. He entered the last chance qualifier and managed to come through it with wins over Tytus Kanik, Gary Eastwood and Christian Bunse, before beating Adam Hunt 7–4 to book his place at Alexandra Palace. However, he lost to Darius Labanauskas once again.

He was unable to achieve qualification for a 3rd year running for the Players Championship Finals, however the day after the Players Championship Final at the Ricoh Arena in Coventry, he qualified for the 2021 PDC World Darts Championship via the UK Tour Card Holder Qualifiers, beating Josh Payne 7-2 in the last 8 to confirm his place in his 3rd successive World Championship Finals.

2021

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Edgar finally progressed past the first round of the World Championship in the 2021 edition by beating Maik Kuivenhoven 3–0. In round 2, he lost 3–1 to Mensur Suljović.[23]

2022

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Matthew returned to PDC Q-School looking to regain his tour card. During the first 3 days, Edgar picked up 0 points, which left him needing to reach the Final on Day 4 as a minimum. The day brought the best out in Edgar, and he progressed to the Semi-Finals, the highlight being a 106.35 average against Kai Fan Leung in the Last 64. Unfortunately for Matt, he lost against Nathan Rafferty in the Semi-Final, leaving him outside of the Tour Card spots in the Q-School Order of Merit.[24][25]

Practice and personal life

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Edgar practices with former world championship runner-up Kevin Painter. He has previously worked for Northampton Town as a sports coach.[26] Edgar also runs a YouTube channel dedicated to darts called "Edgar TV", where he regularly answers questions raised by followers and chronicles his journeys through various PDC competitions.[27]

Before starting his darts career, Edgar was a professional wrestler and trained in mixed martial arts.[28]

The Online Betting Guide, OLBG proudly began sponsoring Matthew Edgar in 2011 and have since sponsored the darts professional intermittently for over 13 years. This year (2024), they'll be supporting his journey to qualify for Lakeside 2024 at the WDF World Championships.[29]

World Championship results

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PDC

[edit]

Performance timeline

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Tournament 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022
PDC World Championship Did not qualify 1R 1R 2R DNQ
UK Open 4R 2R 3R 2R 2R 3R DNQ 4R 3R 5R 3R DNQ
Players Championship Finals Did not qualify 1R DNQ 1R 1R DNQ
Year-end ranking 96 102 81 141 107 77 153 86 66 66 62 148

PDC Players Championships

Season 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30
2021 BOL
1R
BOL
1R
BOL
1R
BOL
1R
MIL
1R
MIL
2R
MIL
1R
MIL
2R
NIE
3R
NIE
3R
NIE
1R
NIE
1R
MIL
1R
MIL
1R
MIL
1R
MIL
2R
COV
2R
COV
1R
COV
3R
COV
2R
BAR
1R
BAR
2R
BAR
3R
BAR
2R
BAR
1R
BAR
1R
BAR
1R
BAR
1R
BAR
2R
BAR
QF
2022[nb 1] BAR
DNP
BAR
DNP
WIG
DNP
WIG
DNP
BAR
DNP
BAR
2R
NIE
1R
NIE
2R
BAR
DNP
BAR
DNP
BAR
DNP
BAR
1R
BAR
1R
WIG
3R
WIG
2R
NIE
1R
NIE
2R
BAR
DNP
BAR
DNP
BAR
1R
BAR
1R
BAR
DNP
BAR
DNP
BAR
1R
BAR
DNP
BAR
DNP
BAR
DNP
BAR
1R
BAR
DNP
BAR
DNP
  1. ^ Not a Tour card holder
Performance Table Legend
W Won the tournament F Finalist SF Semifinalist QF Quarterfinalist #R
RR
L#
Lost in # round
Round-robin
Last # stage
DQ Disqualified
DNQ Did not qualify DNP Did not participate WD Withdrew NH Tournament not held NYF Not yet founded

References

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  1. ^ "Planet Darts | Latest News | Newsdesk | Newsdesk | Qualifying School - Day One". Archived from the original on 22 January 2012. Retrieved 19 January 2012.
  2. ^ a b "Matt Edgar 2012". Darts Database. Archived from the original on 5 February 2013. Retrieved 4 February 2013.
  3. ^ "2012 UK Open Results". Darts Database. Retrieved 4 February 2013.
  4. ^ "Order of Merit on 1 January 2013". PDC. Archived from the original on 9 February 2013. Retrieved 9 February 2013.
  5. ^ "Van Gerwen's Five Alive With Whitewash!". PDC. Retrieved 28 April 2013.
  6. ^ "Speedy Services UK Open - Friday". PDC. Retrieved 8 June 2013.
  7. ^ "Matthew Edgar 2013". Darts Database. Archived from the original on 26 November 2013. Retrieved 25 November 2013.
  8. ^ "Order of Merit on 2 January 2014". PDC. Archived from the original on 2 January 2014. Retrieved 13 January 2014.
  9. ^ "2014 PDC Tour Card Qualifying School Results". Darts Database. Retrieved 19 January 2014.
  10. ^ "2014 PDC Qualifying School Day Four". PDC. Archived from the original on 19 January 2014. Retrieved 19 January 2014.
  11. ^ "Coral UK Open - Friday Afternoon". PDC. 7 March 2014.
  12. ^ "Wins For Robinson And Meulenkamp". PDC. Archived from the original on 3 December 2014. Retrieved 3 March 2014.
  13. ^ "Challenge Tour Victory For Edgar". PDC. Archived from the original on 10 May 2014. Retrieved 27 April 2014.
  14. ^ a b "PDC Qualifying School Day Two". PDC. Retrieved 17 January 2015.
  15. ^ "Mighty Mike Strikes Again In Wigan". PDC. Retrieved 7 March 2015.
  16. ^ "Coral UK Open - Friday Afternoon". PDC. Archived from the original on 8 March 2015. Retrieved 7 March 2015.
  17. ^ "2015 PDC International Darts Open Results". Darts Database. Retrieved 22 November 2015.
  18. ^ "Matt Edgar 2016". Darts Database. Archived from the original on 11 November 2016. Retrieved 11 November 2016.
  19. ^ "2016 Coral UK Open Day One". PDC. Retrieved 11 November 2016.
  20. ^ "Barnsley Triumph For Big Ben". PDC. Retrieved 11 November 2016.
  21. ^ "2016 Players Championship Finals Results". Darts Database. Retrieved 26 December 2016.
  22. ^ "2017 PDC Qualifying School Day Four". PDC. Retrieved 24 January 2017.
  23. ^ "Matthew Edgar beats Maik Kuivenhoven in straight sets to book his place in the Second Round". Sky Sports. 20 December 2020. Retrieved 20 December 2020.
  24. ^ "UK Q-School Final Stage Live Order of Merit".
  25. ^ "DartConnect TV Matches : PDC UK Q-School Final Stage - Event 04".
  26. ^ "Daventry's Matthew Edgar to compete in UK national darts championship". Archived from the original on 30 June 2011. Retrieved 14 June 2011.
  27. ^ "Matthew Edgar's YouTube channel". YouTube. Retrieved 26 May 2020.
  28. ^ Haigh, Phil (12 December 2019). "Matthew Edgar talks being both John Cena and Kurt Angle, Glen Durrant 'beef' and not wanting to become Mark Walsh". Metro. Retrieved 29 August 2020.
  29. ^ "Matthew Edgar OLBG Author Profile". OLBG. 20 June 2024. Retrieved 20 June 2024.
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