Martin Lukeman

Martin Lukeman (born 26 March 1985) is an English professional darts player who competes in Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) events. Nicknamed "Smash", he reached his first PDC major final at the 2024 Grand Slam of Darts, finishing as runner-up to Luke Littler. He finished as runner-up at the 2022 German Darts Grand Prix on the PDC European Tour, and was a quarter-finalist at the 2022 World Grand Prix and the 2024 UK Open. Lukeman also won a title on the PDC Challenge Tour in 2015.

Career 2017–2021 Lukeman managed to reach the last 16 of the 2017 UK Open. After last-leg wins against Matt Padgett and Rob Hewson, he defeated Chris Dobey 10–5 in the fourth round, before losing 10–3 to Ian White in the fifth round.

Lukeman secured a two-year PDC Tour Card at UK Qualifying School in February 2021, sealing his professional status with a day to spare.

2022 Lukeman reached his maiden PDC European Tour final at the 2022 German Darts Grand Prix by defeating Adam Gawlas, Gabriel Clemens, Keane Barry, Martin Schindler and Damon Heta. He faced Luke Humphries in the final, and was beaten 8–2. This helped him qualify for his World Matchplay debut, where he lost 10–4 to James Wade.

At the World Grand Prix in October, Lukeman defeated fifth seed James Wade and Ross Smith to reach his first PDC major quarter-final. He was denied a place in the semi-finals, losing 3–2 to Nathan Aspinall.

2023–2024 In his tournament debut at the 2023 PDC World Championship, Lukeman defeated Nobuhiro Yamamoto 3–0 before losing 3–1 to 29th seed Martin Schindler. He won his opening match of the following year's World Championship 3–1 against Haupai Puha, but lost to Damon Heta by the same scoreline in the second round. He was a semi-finalist at Players Championship 2, losing in a deciding leg to Ryan Searle. He reached the quarter-finals of the UK Open in March following victories over Jermaine Wattimena, Leonard Gates, Danny Noppert and Gary Anderson; he was beaten 10–5 by eventual champion Dimitri Van den Bergh.

Lukeman won four matches to qualify for the 2024 Grand Slam of Darts through the Tour Card holder qualifier. After winning his group, he defeated Ross Smith and Rob Cross before a 16–12 win over Mickey Mansell in the semi-finals made him the first qualifier to reach the final of the tournament. In his maiden PDC major final, he lost 16–3 to Luke Littler.

2025–present At the 2025 World Championship, Lukeman lost the opening set of his first-round match against Nitin Kumar, but won the next three to secure a 3–1 victory. He lost 3–1 to Andrew Gilding in the second round. Lukeman beat Raymond van Barneveld in a deciding leg to reach the quarter-finals of the European Darts Grand Prix on the 2025 European Tour, where he was on the receiving end of a deciding-leg loss to eventual champion Gary Anderson. Qualifying for the 2025 Grand Slam thanks to his runner-up finish the previous year, he finished last in his group following defeats to Damon Heta, Jurjen van der Velde and Chris Dobey.

Lukeman was defeated 3–1 by Max Hopp in the first round of the 2026 World Championship. He earned wins over Thomas Lovely, Ritchie Edhouse and Madars Razma en route to the last 16 of the 2026 UK Open, where he lost 10–7 to Jonny Clayton.

World Championship results PDC World Championship 2023: Second round (lost to Martin Schindler 1–3) 2024: Second round (lost to Damon Heta 1–3) 2025: Second round (lost to Andrew Gilding 1–3) 2026: First round (lost to Max Hopp 1–3)

Career finals PDC major finals: 1 Legend Grand Slam (0–1)

Outcome No. Year Championship Opponent in the final Score 1. 2024 Grand Slam 3–16 (l)

Performance timeline PDC

European Tour

Players Championships