Jan Dekker

Jan Dekker (born 25 June 1990) is a Dutch former professional darts player. He reached the semi-finals of the BDO World Darts Championship twice, in 2011 and 2014.

Career

Dekker qualified for the televised stages of the 2010 Winmau World Masters. He played eventual champion Martin Adams in the last 16, and was beaten 2–3 after Adams won a sudden-death leg. Dekker qualified for the second round of the UK Open and defeated Mike de Decker 5–3, Justin Pipe 9–5 and Ronnie Baxter 9–4 to reach the fifth round. He faced Mensur Suljović and was beaten 9–7. In April Dekker qualified for his first European Tour event, the German Darts Masters. In the first round he was beaten 6–2 by fellow Dutchman Benito van de Pas. During the year Dekker won three Challenge Tour events which saw him finish top of the Order of Merit and take a two-year tour card from 2016.

2016 In Dekker's PDC World Championship debut he was beaten 3–0 by two-time winner Adrian Lewis. He lost 6–5 to Andrew Davidson in the opening round of the 2016 UK Open. Dekker reached the third round of the European Darts Open by defeating John Henderson 6–4 and Dave Chisnall 6–3, but was thrashed 6–0 by Gary Anderson. Dekker made his debut in the Players Championship Finals after being placed 54th on the Order of Merit and beat Steve West 6–3 in the first round, before losing 6–1 to Justin Pipe.

2017 Wins over Andy Jenkins, Joe Cullen, Peter Hudson, Joe Murnan and Dave Chisnall at the ninth Players Championship of 2017 saw Dekker reach the semi-finals of a PDC Pro Tour event for the first time, but he was whitewashed 6–0 by Michael van Gerwen.

Dekker was able to qualify for the 2017 European Championship but was eliminated in the first round by Michael van Gerwen.

His best major tournament result came on 2017 Players Championship Finals, where he made it to the quarterfinals after wins over Michael Smith, Simon Whitlock and Peter Jacques, before losing to Michael van Gerwen yet again. Later on Dekker also qualified for 2017 World Series of Darts Finals, but lost in the first round to another qualifier, Simon Stevenson.

2018 After missing out last year, Dekker qualified for 2018 PDC World Darts Championship. He made it to the second round, winning over his compatriot, Jelle Klaasen, and losing to Dimitri Van den Bergh.

Dekker did not qualify for 2018 UK Open and his only major this year was 2018 Players Championship Finals, where he lost his first round match against Ricky Evans (darts player).

2019 Dekker qualified for 2019 PDC World Darts Championship via PDC Pro Tour Order of Merit and made it again to the second round after winning over Lisa Ashton and losing to Mervyn King in the fifth, deciding set.

After new rules for qualification for UK Open, Dekker was seeded into the third round of 2019 UK Open. He won over Harry Ward (darts player), but lost in the fourth round to Simon Whitlock. This was the only major he participated in this season. His only two good results in the season were two quarterfinals in PDPA Players Championship 8 and 20. At the end of the year, he dropped to 56th place in PDC Order of Merit after not being able to defend his prize money from 2017 Players Championship Finals. His Tour card was secured only because he won West European Qualifier for 2020 PDC World Darts Championship.

2020 Dekker made it for the third time in a row to the second round of the World Championship, after winning over Ryan Joyce and losing to Jonny Clayton.

Yet again he was seeded into the third round of 2020 UK Open, but this time he lost in his first match against William O'Connor (darts player). It was his only major in 2020 season and because Dekker was not able to qualify for another World Championship, he dropped out of top 64 of PDC Order of Merit, losing his Tour card after 4 years.

2021 Dekker tried to retain his Tour card in European Q-school 2021. He was automatically qualified for the Final stage, but gaining just two points in the Q-school Order of Merit, he finished 44th in the rankings and did not get a new Tour card.

Personal life Outside of darts, Dekker was a student in the Netherlands, studying business and economics; he graduated in 2012.

World Championship results

BDO 2011: Semi-finals (lost to Dean Winstanley 2–6) 2012: First round (lost to Christian Kist 2–3) 2013: Quarter-finals (lost to Richie George 4–5) 2014: Semi-finals (lost to Alan Norris 5–6) 2015: First round (lost to Martin Adams 1–3)

PDC 2016: First round (lost to Adrian Lewis 0–3) 2018: Second round (lost to Dimitri Van den Bergh 2–4) 2019: Second round (lost to Mervyn King 2–3) 2020: Second round (lost to Jonny Clayton 0–3)

Performance timeline

BDO

PDC

Players Championships