Nathan Rafferty (born 17 January 2000) is a Northern Irish professional darts player who competes in Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) events. Nicknamed "The Natural", Rafferty has won 12 PDC Development Tour titles and was runner-up at the 2021 PDC World Youth Championship.
| Nathan Rafferty | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Personal information | |||||||
| Nickname | "The Natural" | ||||||
| Born | 17 January 2000[1] Coalisland, Tyrone, Northern Ireland | ||||||
| Home town | Coalisland, Tyrone, Northern Ireland | ||||||
| Darts information | |||||||
| Playing darts since | 2014 | ||||||
| Darts | 23g Legend darts | ||||||
| Laterality | Right-handed | ||||||
| Walk-on music | "This Is the Life" by Amy Macdonald | ||||||
| Organisation (see split in darts) | |||||||
| PDC | 2016– | ||||||
| Current world ranking | 95  (24 November 2024)[2] | ||||||
| PDC premier events – best performances | |||||||
| World Ch'ship | Last 64: 2023 | ||||||
| UK Open | Last 32: 2018 | ||||||
| Grand Slam | Last 16: 2021 | ||||||
| PC Finals | Last 64: 2022 | ||||||
| Other tournament wins | |||||||
| |||||||
Career
editRafferty made his TV debut at the 2018 UK Open where he beat Jason Mold in round 2, before defeating the defending champion Peter Wright in round 3.[3] He eventually lost to Robert Owen.
In 2021, Rafferty picked up his first PDC Challenge Tour title at Event 10.[4] At the 2021 Grand Slam of Darts, Rafferty was drawn into a group with Gerwyn Price, Martin Schindler and Krzysztof Ratajski. He qualified for the knockout stage with wins over Schindler and Ratajski,[5] but was eliminated after a 10–2 loss against Jonny Clayton.[6][7] Rafferty was the runner-up at the 2021 PDC World Youth Championship, losing 6–4 to Ted Evetts.[8]
Rafferty qualified for his first PDC World Darts Championship after topping the 2022 PDC Development Tour Order of Merit.[9] He won his first round game at the 2023 World Championship 3–2 against Jermaine Wattimena before losing in the next round to Michael Smith.[10]
Rafferty has won 12 PDC Development Tour titles, with his most recent win coming at Event 14 of the 2024 PDC Development Tour series, where he defeated Marvin van Velzen 5–3 in the final.[11]
World Championship results
editPDC
edit- 2023: Second round (lost to Michael Smith 0–3)
Performance timeline
edit| Tournament | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PDC Ranked televised events | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| PDC World Championship | DNP | DNQ | 2R | DNQ | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| UK Open | DNP | 4R | DNQ | 3R | 2R | 1R | 4R | 1R | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Grand Slam of Darts | DNQ | 2R | RR | RR | DNQ | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Players Championship Finals | DNP | DNQ | DNP | 1R | 1R | DNQ | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Non-major televised events | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| PDC World Youth Championship | 1R | RR | 3R | QF | F | 2R | 3R | QF | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Career statistics | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Year-end ranking | - | 131 | 134 | 174 | 115 | 76 | 70 | |||||||||||||||||||||||
PDC European Tour
| Season | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2019 | EDO DNQ |
GDC DNQ |
GDG DNQ |
GDO DNQ |
ADO DNQ |
EDG DNQ |
DDM DNQ |
DDO DNQ |
CDO DNP |
ADC DNP |
EDM DNP |
IDO DNP |
GDT DNP |
| 2020 | Did not play | ||||||||||||
| 2021 | Did not play | ||||||||||||
| 2022 | IDO DNP |
GDC 1R |
GDG DNQ |
ADO DNQ |
EDO DNQ |
CDO DNQ |
EDG 3R |
DDC DNQ |
EDM DNQ |
HDT 1R |
GDO DNQ |
BDO DNQ |
GDT DNQ |
| 2023 | BSD DNQ |
EDO DNQ |
IDO DNQ |
GDG DNQ |
ADO DNQ |
DDC DNQ |
BDO DNQ |
CDO DNQ |
EDG DNQ |
EDM DNQ |
GDO DNQ |
HDT 2R |
GDC DNQ |
| 2024 | BDO DNQ |
GDG DNQ |
IDO DNQ |
EDG DNQ |
ADO DNQ |
BSD DNQ |
DDC DNQ |
EDO 1R |
GDC DNQ |
FDT DNQ |
HDT DNQ |
SDT DNQ |
CDO DNQ |
| 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- ^ "Nathan Rafferty - Mastercaller".
- ^ "PDC Order of Merit". PDPA. 24 November 2024. Retrieved 24 November 2024.
- ^ "UK Open Darts: Michael van Gerwen and Peter Wright crash out on day one but John Part storms through on his dream return". Sporting Life. 3 March 2018. Retrieved 14 December 2024.
- ^ Phillips, Josh (4 September 2021). "Rafferty, Robinson, Noster & Bialecki pick up Unicorn Challenge Tour titles". PDC. Retrieved 14 December 2024.
- ^ "Nathan Rafferty: Tyrone man wins thriller to reach last 16 at Grand Slam of Darts". BBC. 16 November 2021. Retrieved 14 December 2024.
- ^ "Nathan Rafferty: Tyrone man loses 10-2 to Jonny Clayton in last 16 of Grand Slam of Darts". BBC. 17 November 2021. Retrieved 14 December 2024.
- ^ "Tyrone tyro Nathan Rafferty bows out of Grand Slam of Darts". RTÉ. 17 November 2021. Retrieved 14 December 2024.
- ^ Ashton, Zoe (3 December 2021). "Stockton's Ted Evetts is world youth darts champion". WarwickshireWorld. Retrieved 14 December 2024.
- ^ Donaghy, Ciaran (13 December 2022). "Nathan Rafferty hoping to follow Dennis Taylor as Coalisland's World champion". News Letter. Retrieved 14 December 2024.
- ^ Armour, Glen (15 December 2022). "Mickey Mansell and Nathan Rafferty get Northern Ireland off to a flier at World Darts Championships". Belfast Telegraph. Retrieved 14 December 2024.
- ^ Gorton, Josh (22 June 2024). "Nijman & Rafferty extend Development Tour title hauls in Wigan". PDC. Retrieved 14 December 2024.
External links
edit- Player profile for Nathan Rafferty from Dartsdatabase
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