Shane McGuirk

Shane McGuirk (born 9 May 1995) is an Irish professional darts player who competes in Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) events. A winner of the Irish Open and FCD Anniversary Open in the World Darts Federation (WDF), he defeated Paul Lim 6–3 to win the 2024 WDF World Darts Championship, becoming the first darts world champion from the Republic of Ireland. He subsequently earned a PDC Tour Card for the first time in 2026. McGuirk also won a title on the PDC Development Tour in 2019.

Career

2018–2021 McGuirk reached the Last 16 of the 2018 World Masters, losing to 2015 BDO World Champion Scott Mitchell 3–1 in sets.

He had success on the PDC Development Tour in 2019, reaching two finals before winning his first Development Tour title in Event 13, defeating Keane Barry 5–4 in the final.

McGuirk attended UK Qualifying School (Q-School) in 2021, where he achieved a nine-dart finish but missed out on a PDC Tour Card by one point.

2022–2023 McGuirk won his first WDF title after beating Andy Baetens 5–4 in the final of the 2022 FCD Anniversary Open. He followed this by winning the 2023 Irish Open which granted him a spot at the 2024 WDF World Darts Championship.

2024 After finishing 35th on the UK Q-School Order of Merit, McGuirk competed in the 2024 PDC Challenge Tour series, averaging 100 in 5–2 victories over Max Hopp and Ryan O'Connor on his way to the quarter-finals at Challenge Tour 7 (CT7), where he lost to Dennie Olde Kalter 5–4 in a last-leg decider. He reached the semi-finals at CT8, losing to Andy Boulton 5–2. He reached another quarter-final at CT21, losing there to Dragutin Horvat 5–1. In his first round match at CT21, he averaged 119.29 in a 5–0 whitewash victory against Stefaan Henderyck.

McGuirk received call–ups for 2024 PDC Players Championship series events 9, 10, and 22 filling in as a reserve for an absent tour card holder virtue of his ranking on the Challenge Tour Order of Merit. McGuirk lost to Mario Vandenbogaerde 6–5 in a deciding leg in the first round of Players Championship 9 (PC9). At PC10 McGuirk defeated Nick Kenny 6–1 before losing to Ryan Joyce 6–2 in the second round. At PC22, he whitewashed Owen Roelofs 6–0 and won 6–2 against Vincent van der Voort, but was defeated by Mike De Decker, who averaged 101.42, 6–3 in the last 32.

At the 2024 WDF World Darts Championship, McGuirk entered the competition in the first round, where he defeated Mark Barilli 2–0. He then beat Edwin Torbjörnsson 3–0 without missing a dart at double. With 3–0, 4–0 and 5–0 wins over Brandon Weening, Peter Machin and François Schweyen respectively, McGuirk reached the final without losing a set. In the final, where he faced Paul Lim, McGuirk raced into a 4–0 lead against the Singaporean veteran. Lim brought it back to 4–1, which was McGuirk's first set lost in the tournament. McGuirk went 5–1 up, one set away from the title, before Lim won the next two sets to close the gap to 5–3. In the end, McGuirk won the final 6–3, whitewashing Lim 3–0 in the final set. He became the first player from the Republic of Ireland to win a senior darts world championship.

2025–present In his title defence at the 2025 WDF World Championship, McGuirk was eliminated in the quarter-finals, losing 4–1 to eventual champion Jimmy van Schie. In January 2026, McGuirk entered PDC Q-School and earned a PDC Tour Card for the first time, defeating Charlie Manby in his final match on day three. Later that month, he qualified for the main stages of the 2026 PDC World Masters, where he lost 3–1 to Nathan Aspinall.

Personal life Outside of darts, McGuirk was a former underage player with Aughnamullen GAA.

World Championship results WDF 2024: Winner (beat Paul Lim 6–3) 2025: Quarter-finals (lost to Jimmy van Schie 1–4)

Career finals WDF major finals: (1 title) Legend World Championship (1–0)

Outcome No. Year Championship Opponent in the final Score Winner 1. 2024 World Darts Championship 6–3 (s)

Performance timeline BDO

WDF

PDC

Players Championships