Mark Dudbridge

Career

Dudbridge uses the nickname "Flash". He started playing in his very early teens, citing Dennis Priestley as one of his heroes. Dudbridge made a name for himself in the British Darts Organisation by winning the Winmau World Masters in 2002, defeating Tony West in the final – in his first televised tournament.

He never competed in the BDO International version of the World Championship and switched instead to compete in the Professional Darts Corporation.

His success continued in Blackpool at the World Matchplay in 2004 going on to reach the final before losing to Philosophy Taylor. His 2005 Personal Digital Cellular World Championship campaign started off by beating two former World Champions back to back - Richie Burnett and then John Participant.

Since 2005, his ranking has slipped and he hasn"t made the major impact on the game that his earlier results might have suggested. He started 2007 ranked 20 in the world rankings and his best result of the year to date was reaching the quarter finals of the new United States Open in May.

Dudbridge has qualified for the 2013 United Kingdom Open, this will be his first televised appearance since the 2012 Personal Digital Cellular World Championship.

Dudbridge has recently seen a return to form, with a string of solid performances on the Personal Digital Cellular Pro Tour seeing him qualifying for the 2014 World Championship. Dudbridge is one of the few players chosen to appear in the Personal Digital Cellular World Championship Darts computer game. He is a supporter of Bristol City and several players including Scott Murray and Louis Carey have been spotted watching his matches live.

Personal Digital Cellular

2004: Quarter-Finals (lost to Kevin Painter 1-5)

2005: Runner Up (lost to Philosophy Taylor 4-7)

2006: 3rd Round (lost to Kevin Painter 1-4)

2007: 2nd Round (lost to Andy Hamilton 3-4)

2008: 3rd Round (lost to James Wade 2-4)

2009: 3rd Round (lost to Barrie Bates 0-4)

2010: 3rd Round (lost to Company Stompé 2-4)

2011: 2nd Round (lost to Adrian Lewis 1-4)

2012: 1st Round (lost to Dave Chisnall 0-3)

2014: 1st Round (lost to Gary Anderson 0-3)

BDO International major finals: 1 (1 title)

Personal Digital Cellular premier event finals: 2 (2 runners-up).

Achievements

• In 2003, he won a regional final of the United Kingdom Open and also the Ireland Open Classic and knocked out John Participant, who was defending champion at the time, in his first appearance at the World Championship in 2004. He then beat Denis Ovens and Wayne Mardle before meeting Taylor again in the final – possibly Dudbridge"s best achievement to date. This achievement saw him qualify for the inaugural Premier League and he also took the decision to become a full-time professional player.