Ryan Searle

Ryan Searle (born 21 October 1987) is an English professional darts player who competes in Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) events, where he is ranked world number twelve; he reached a peak ranking of world number eight in 2026. Nicknamed "Heavy Metal", Searle has won eight PDC ranking titles in Players Championship events. He reached his first major final at the 2021 Players Championship Finals, finishing runner-up to Peter Wright. He also reached the semi-finals of the PDC World Championship in 2026, and has reached two finals on the European Tour.

Career Early career Searle began his career competing in British Darts Organisation (BDO) events, where he participated in three World Masters tournaments.

2016–2018 In 2016, Searle won two PDC Challenge Tour events. He finished second on the 2016 Challenge Tour Order of Merit behind Rob Cross, which granted him a PDC Tour Card for the first time. He reached his first PDC ranking final in September 2018, where he lost 6–4 to Nathan Aspinall.

2019–2020 Searle reached the fourth round of the 2019 PDC World Darts Championship on his debut. He defeated Stephen Burton in his opening match, before eliminating seventh seed Mensur Suljović 3–1 in an upset victory; Searle was ranked world number 61. After beating William O'Connor 4–1, he was eliminated by Michael Smith in the fourth round.

At the 2020 World Championship, he reached the third round, where he led Gary Anderson 3–1 but was eventually defeated 4–3. In February 2020, Searle won the first PDC title of his career by beating world number one Michael van Gerwen 8–6 in the final of Players Championship 3.

2021: First major final In 2021, Searle added a second PDC title at Players Championship 22, where he won the final in a deciding leg against Peter Wright. He reached his maiden PDC major quarter-final at the 2021 World Grand Prix, following victories over Dimitri Van den Bergh and Luke Humphries. He lost to Stephen Bunting in the quarter-finals, by a score of 3–1 in sets. Searle competed in his first PDC major final at the 2021 Players Championship Finals. After wins over Daryl Gurney in the quarter-finals and Brendan Dolan in the semi-finals, he took Peter Wright to a deciding leg in the final, but ultimately lost to Wright 11–10.

2022–2025

In 2022, Searle won his third PDC title at Players Championship 11 with an 8–3 victory over Nathan Aspinall in the final. He claimed another title by winning the final of the opening Players Championship event of 2023, defeating Jamie Hughes 8–4. He reached the quarter-finals of the 2023 World Matchplay for the first time after beating Peter Wright 11–8 in the second round. He then faced Jonny Clayton, but was eliminated in a 16–12 loss. Searle hit his first televised nine-dart finish at the 2023 Grand Slam of Darts in his final group stage match against Nathan Rafferty.

In January 2024, it was announced that Searle had left darts manufacturer Loxley Darts and signed a contract with Harrows Darts. On the 2024 PDC Pro Tour, Searle was runner-up in the opening two Players Championship events of the season, losing to Luke Littler 8–7 and Gary Anderson 8–5 in the respective finals. The following week at Players Championship 3, he defeated Anderson 8–7 in a repeat of the previous event's final. At the 2024 Swiss Darts Trophy, Searle appeared in his first European Tour final, where he faced Martin Schindler. Leading the match 7–4 with one more leg required to win the title, Searle missed seven match darts and allowed Schindler to claim an 8–7 comeback victory.

After winning his opening match of the 2025 World Championship 3–0 against Matt Campbell, Searle was eliminated by Ryan Joyce in the third round. Searle came back from 3–1 down to take the match to a deciding set, where Joyce completed a 4–3 win. Searle won the fourth Players Championship event of 2025 by defeating Cameron Menzies 8–3 in the final. He added a second title at Players Championship 28, beating Mario Vandenbogaerde 8–6 in the final.

2026: World Championship semi-final At the 2026 World Championship, Searle won his first four matches without losing a set, only conceding 11 legs as he progressed to the quarter-finals. He reached his first World Championship semi-final by defeating Jonny Clayton 5–2. Searle won the opening set of his semi-final match against Luke Littler, but went on to lose 6–1. He won his eighth PDC ranking title at Players Championship 7, defeating Alan Soutar 8–3 in the final.

In May, Searle reached his second European Tour final at the International Darts Open, where he was beaten 8–3 by Ross Smith. He was also a finalist at Players Championship 21, losing 8–6 to Wessel Nijman.

Personal life Searle previously worked as a window cleaner before pursuing darts professionally. He is married and has two children. He is nicknamed "Heavy Metal", in reference to the music genre and the fact he throws 32g darts, known as some of the heaviest darts on the professional tour.

Searle has autosomal dominant optic atrophy (ADOA), a rare hereditary eye condition that causes the optic nerve to become progressively thinner, resulting in reduced visual acuity. He often cannot even see where his darts land and regularly asks referees what he has scored. Searle has said that his daughter is registered as visually impaired. He has spread awareness about the condition and raised money for the Cure ADOA Foundation.

1. 2021 Players Championship Finals 10–11 (l)

Performance timeline BDO

PDC

European Tour

Players Championships

Nine-dart finishes

+ Ryan Searle televised nine-dart finishes Date Opponent Tournament Method Prize 13 November 2023 Grand Slam 3 x T20; 3 x T20; T20, T19, D12 £10,000