Leighton Bennett
| Leighton Bennett | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Personal information | |||||||||||||
| Nickname | Boom Boom | ||||||||||||
| Born | 31 December 2005 Lincoln, England | ||||||||||||
| Home town | Lincoln, Lincolnshire | ||||||||||||
| Darts information | |||||||||||||
| Playing darts since | 2014 | ||||||||||||
| Darts | 18g Target Darts | ||||||||||||
| Laterality | Right-handed | ||||||||||||
| Walk-on music | "Boom Boom Boom" by The Outhere Brothers | ||||||||||||
| Organisation (see split in darts) | |||||||||||||
| BDO | 2019–2020 | ||||||||||||
| PDC | 2021–2024 (Tour Card: 2024) | ||||||||||||
| Current world ranking | 128  (24 November 2024)[1] | ||||||||||||
| WDF major events – best performances | |||||||||||||
| World Ch'ship | Last 32: 2020 | ||||||||||||
| PDC premier events – best performances | |||||||||||||
| UK Open | Last 160: 2024 | ||||||||||||
| Other tournament wins | |||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||
Leighton Bennett (born 31 December 2005) is an English former professional darts player who played in Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) events. He won the final of the 2019 BDO World Youth Darts Championship. He has received an eight-year suspension from DRA–sanctioned darts events after being found guilty of match-fixing.[2]
Career
[edit]BDO
[edit]In August 2018, Bennett won the Cambridgeshire Open, aged 12; in the semi-final, he beat Ricky Evans, before seeing off Rhys Hayden in the final.[3] In October 2018, he booked his place in the final of the 2019 BDO World Youth Darts Championship. He beat Nathan Girvan 3–0 in the Final to become 2019 BDO World Youth Champion. In 2019, Bennett started competing on the men's BDO tour. He reached the Final of the Luxembourg Open and was also a Semi-finalist in the Welsh Open, French Open, German Open, Antwerp Open and Polish Open. Bennett qualified for the 2020 BDO World Darts Championship, becoming the youngest player ever to compete in the Men's tournament. He also became the first player to compete in the Men's tournament and Youth final in the same year.
PDC
[edit]In 2024, Bennett entered the UK Q-School. He made it to stage 2 after making a quarter-final on the third day of stage one. He would go on to automatically win a tour card after beating Thomas Cromwell 6–3 in the final on the third day of stage 2, securing his card for the 2024 and 2025 seasons.[4]
As he had gained a Tour card, Bennett made his debut at the 2024 PDC Players Championship series in 2024. At Players Championship 1, Bennett won his first round match against Brett Claydon 6–3. In his second round match against Lukas Wenig in the Players Championships, Bennett hit a nine-dart finish en route to a 6–5 victory. In the third round he was defeated 6–5 by Cameron Menzies. At PC2, Bennett beat Boris Krčmar 6–2 before losing to Jonny Clayton 6–4 in the second round. At PC3, he shocked Dave Chisnall with a 6–1 first round win, then defeated Pascal Rupprecht 6–5 and Arron Monk 6–1 before being defeated in the last 16 by Peter Wright 6–1. At PC4, Bennett played Wright again, but lost 6–5 in the first round.
In August 2024, Bennett was suspended from all DRA events, including PDC events, for allegedly suspicious betting patterns, which breach betting and integrity rules.[5][6] In December 2024, following a guilty plea, Bennett was banned for eight years.[7][8]
World Championship results
[edit]BDO
[edit]- 2020: First round (lost to Scott Mitchell 1–3) (sets)
BDO (Youth)
[edit]- 2019: Winner (beat Nathan Girvan 3–0) (sets)
- 2020: Runner-up (lost to Keane Barry 0–3)
WDF (Boys)
[edit]- 2022: Semi-finals (lost to Charlie Large 1–2)
Performance timeline
[edit]| Tournament | 2024 | ||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PDC Ranked televised events | |||||||||||||||
| UK Open | 1R | ||||||||||||||
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | WIG 3R |
WIG 2R |
LEI 4R |
LEI 1R |
HIL 2R |
HIL 4R |
LEI 1R |
LEI 1R |
HIL 2R |
HIL 2R |
HIL 1R |
HIL 1R |
MIL 1R |
MIL 1R |
MIL 1R |
MIL 2R |
MIL 1R |
MIL DNP |
MIL DNP |
WIG DNP |
WIG DNP |
MIL DNP |
MIL DNP |
WIG DNP |
WIG DNP |
WIG DNP |
WIG DNP |
WIG DNP |
LEI DNP |
LEI DNP |
| 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
[edit]- ^ "PDC Order of Merit". PDPA. 24 November 2024. Retrieved 24 November 2024.
- ^ "Darts duo banned for charges including match-fixing". BBC Sport. 2 December 2024. Retrieved 2 December 2024.
- ^ "Leighton Bennett: 12-year-old darts prodigy wins £1,000 first prize at BDO event". BBC Sport. 21 August 2018. Retrieved 6 December 2018.
- ^ Gorton, Josh (13 January 2024). "Baetens & Bennett become latest duo to secure Tour Cards". PDC. Retrieved 13 January 2024.
- ^ "Leighton Bennett suspended from all DRA sanctioned events with immediate effect for possible match-fixing". Dartsnews.com. 13 August 2024. Retrieved 13 August 2024.
- ^ "Darts prodigy Leighton Bennett suspended after suspicious betting patterns". BBC Sport. 13 August 2024.
- ^ "Darts Regulation Authority Statement – Leighton Bennett and Billy Warriner" (PDF). Darts Regulation Authority. Retrieved 2 December 2024.
- ^ Gill, Samuel (2 December 2024). "Former youth prodigy Leighton Bennett suspended for eight years for match-fixing". DartsNews. Retrieved 2 December 2024.