In a career that has spanned across four different decades, Ian White would be forgiven if he was unable to produce results at the top level in darts anymore.
However, it has been another fantastic season for the 53-year-old.
The Cheshire-born player won the Zwaantje Masters in Eindhoven back in August.
He also qualified for the PDC World Darts Championship, something which was a big target for him at the start of the season, after missing out 12 months ago.
White Still Dreams of PDC Major
Diamond, as he is nicknamed on the darts circuit, has won 13 PDC titles in his career, but he is still bidding for a major success with the organisation.
He is 300/1 in the odds on darts to win the biggest prize in the sport at the 2023 PDC World Darts Championship.
The furthest White has reached in a major tournament so far is the last four.
He progressed through to the semi-finals of the Players Championship in 2019.
His dream of a maiden major title was ended by Michael van Gerwen, who beat him 11-8 in that contest.
𝐑𝐞𝐦𝐚𝐫𝐤𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐞 😲👏
Gary Anderson overturns a 3-0 deficit in sets to beat Ian White 4-3. 𝐖𝐎𝐖!
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📱 Live blog: https://t.co/q8cpcD4xmM
#️⃣ #LoveTheDarts pic.twitter.com/iGjLPjibmp— Sky Sports Darts (@SkySportsDarts) December 29, 2021
At the PDC World Darts Championship, White has been a regular since 2012.
He reached the quarter-finals in 2013 in just his third year in the tournament, while in 2022, he lost a close third contest to two-time winner Gary Anderson 3-4.
Diamond Beat a Strong Field for Zwaantje Masters Win
In what proved to be a successful defence of his title in the tournament, White overcame a strong field to win the Zwaantje Masters in the Netherlands.
It included Kim Huybrechts, Mervyn King, Steve Beaton and Ricky Evans.
White negotiated his way through the opening pool stage of the event. He defeated Ryan de Vreede, Jeffrey Sparidaans and Huybrechts on route to the final.
The man from Cheshire was then involved in a close final, overcoming Evans 3-2 in a best-of-five sets contest.
The world number 55 averaged 94.58 in the final. His finishing was much better than Evans, and that proved to be the difference between the two players.
Signs of His Best Darts on Main Stage at UK Open
Supporters of White will have been delighted by what they saw from him at the UK Open back in March.
In the open-draw event, which is often described as the FA Cup of darts, White averaged 98.58 in his excellent third-round success over Scotland’s Cameron Menzies.
Only five of the 64 players in the round finished their game with a higher three-dart average.
Unfortunately for White, he bumped into the world champion Michael Smith in the fourth round.
White played well in the 4-10 defeat, but Bully Boy averaged 101.19 in what was one of his performances of the season.
As one of the top 64 players in the PDC’s Order of Merit, White also qualified for the Players Championship Finals in 2023. He came up against Poland’s Radek Szaganski in the first round and was beaten 2-6.
White will be hoping there is much more to come from him in 2024 when he embarks on yet another season at the highest level in his sport.
( Pic credit: Sven Mandel, used under creative commons licence)
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