Product Code Database
Martin Adams (born 4 June 1956) is an English professional darts player who competes in World Darts Federation (WDF) events. Nicknamed " Wolfie", he is a three-time BDO World Champion and three-time World Masters champion. He represents Cambridgeshire at county darts level and was the captain of England from 1993 to 2013, the longest any player has held that role. From his debut in 1994, Adams made a record 25 consecutive World Championship appearances, before failing to qualify for the first time in 2019. Adams was diagnosed with prostate cancer in April 2016, but by the end of the year he was given the all-clear. As well as playing, he also acted as a regular pundit and commentator for televised coverage of BDO events.
Adams made his BDO World Darts Championship debut in 1994, the first world championship staged after the infamous split in darts, in which the top-16 players left the BDO to form the World Darts Council. As the departing players were also banned from county darts, Adams also took over the role as England captain in 1993 and remained captain until March 2013, becoming the longest reigning England captain ever.
Wolfie's Hungry On several occasions, he lost crucial matches from winning positions or an opponent making a great comeback. In the 1999 world championship quarter-finals, he lost 5–4 to Chris Mason, having led 4–1 and missed nine match darts. He twice lost a semi-final in a deciding set, against Raymond van Barneveld in 1995 and Tony David in 2002. Against David, Adams recovered from a 1–4 deficit to tie the match at 4–4. In the deciding set, Adams missed two darts at double-16 to save the match, and David then hit double-top to advance to the final. Adams also suffered first round exits at Lakeside in 1997 (to Roger Carter), 1998 (to Robbie Widdows), 2000 (to Steve Coote) and 2004 (to Ritchie Davies).
In 2005, Adams reached the world final at the 12th attempt. He beat Davy Richardson 3–2, John Henderson 3–2, Ted Hankey 5–3 and Simon Whitlock 5–0 before losing 6–2 against van Barneveld in the final. The following year, he reached the semi-finals, and again was beaten 6–2 by van Barneveld.
In the BDO's second biggest major, the Winmau World Masters, it was a similar story. Adams reached four semi-finals, losing to Steve Beaton in 1994, Erik Clarys in 1995, Les Wallace in 1998 and van Barneveld in 2005. In 2006, Adams reached his first Masters final, where he lost to 7–5 to 17-year-old Michael van Gerwen, having led 5–2 in sets and despite averaging 107 for the first nine darts of each leg.
Adams has won many BDO Open events and twice won the WDF World Cup singles. In the Grand Slam BDO events, other than the World Championship, Adams was beaten 6–4 in the 2004 Bavaria World Darts Trophy final by Raymond van Barneveld and lost the 2006 Bavaria World Darts Trophy final to Phil Taylor 7–2.
Adams reached the semi-finals of the revived News of the World Darts Championship in 1997, where he lost 2–1 to Phil Taylor.
Adams defeated Scott Waites in the World Masters final of 2008 to record his first Masters victory and his second major (after the 2007 Worlds), in another epic 7–6 encounter.
In February 2010 he won the Dutch Open title for the first time in his long career. The England captain triumphed 3–1 over international team-mate Scott Waites in the men's singles final in Veldhoven. BBC – Martin Adams adds 2010 Dutch Open title to honours
Adams won his third successive World Masters title in 2010 by defeating Stuart Kellett 7–3 in the final, becoming only the second player in history to win three consecutive World Masters titles, the other being Bob Anderson.
Later in January, Adams successfully defended his Dutch Open crown, once again defeating Winstanley in a close final (3–2 in sets). Adams then reached the singles final at the WDF World Cup where he was defeated by Scott Waites, and also won the doubles event with Waites. At the 2011 World Masters, the three-time defending champion was beaten by eventual champion Waites 5–3 in the semi-finals.
Adams had a difficult season in 2012, losing in his first match at the Masters 3–1 to Rune David before being eliminated in the group stage of Zuiderduin Masters without winning either of his matches.
In November 2015, Adams made his first PDC tournament appearance since 2007, at the 2015 Grand Slam of Darts, where topped his group with three wins of out of three, with victories against Ian White and two former BDO World Champions in Jelle Klaasen and Steve Beaton. In the last 16, Adams faced Kim Huybrechts where he narrowly lost 10–9. Adams rallied from 6-3 and 9-7 deficits to force a decisive leg which Huybrechts won on a 13 darter. In his post-match interview, Adams praised the crowds and said he would likely return to the tournament next year if invited.
At the 2016 Grand Slam of Darts, Adams was grouped with Michael van Gerwen, Brendan Dolan and Max Hopp. He lost all three matches and finished bottom of the group. To date, this marks his last appearance at a PDC televised tournament.
When eligibility rules for entry into PDC television tournaments changed at the start of 2002, Adams was unable to compete in them as he decided to remain a BDO player. After the 2001 World Matchplay, it would be over five years before Adams faced Taylor in a match again, in the final of the 2006 World Darts Trophy (a BDO major), where Adams lost 2–7 in the final of the Dutch competition which invited five PDC players that year. Phil Taylor "Powers" over Martin Adams Darts Database Head-to-Head v Phil Taylor darts database
Since the 2001 World Grand Prix and the subsequent change in the eligibility rules for entry into PDC television tournaments from 2002 onwards, Adams did not compete in a PDC event again until 14 years later. When the Grand Slam of Darts began in 2007, Adams turned down the invitation to compete in the PDC event and continued to decline the offer to compete in subsequent years. The PDC's Board of Directors ruled that Adams will no longer be eligible for invitations into the tournament in future. PDC ruling Adams brushed off their decision, saying that it would simply save him the time in having to refuse them. Commentators at the 2009 Grand Slam confirmed that they had once again unsuccessfully invited him to that year's event.
Rumours of a possible appearance at the 2011 Grand Slam began following an interview with BBC commentator David Croft just before the 2011 BDO World Championship. Adams said that "he had held discussions with the BDO and certain political issues had been sorted regarding the other side of the game" when asked by Croft about whether in theory a match could take place with the winner of the respective PDC World Championship. Martin 'Wolfie' Adams ready to defend Lakeside crown David Croft Interview bbc.co.uk Despite the rumour, Adams never competed at the 2011 Grand Slam.
However, Adams was invited to the 2015 Grand Slam. In Adams' debut at the Grand Slam, he went undefeated in the three group matches of the first round but lost 9-10 (best of 19) in his second round match with Kim Huybrechts.
| World Championship (3–2) |
| Winmau World Masters (3–1) |
| British Matchplay (1–0) |
| World Darts Trophy (0–2) |
| Zuiderduin Masters (2–3) |
| Runner-up | 1. | 2004 | World Darts Trophy | Raymond van Barneveld | 4–6 (s) |
| Runner-up | 2. | 2005 | World Championship | Raymond van Barneveld | 2–6 (s) |
| Runner-up | 3. | 2005 | Zuiderduin Masters | Mervyn King | 4–5 (s) |
| Runner-up | 4. | 2006 | World Darts Trophy | Phil Taylor | 2–7 (s) |
| Runner-up | 5. | 2006 | Winmau World Masters | Michael van Gerwen | 5–7 (s) |
| Winner | 1. | 2007 | World Championship | Phill Nixon | 7–6 (s) |
| Winner | 2. | 2008 | Winmau World Masters | Scott Waites | 7–6 (s) |
| Winner | 3. | 2009 | Winmau World Masters | Robbie Green | 7–6 (s) |
| Runner-up | 6. | 2009 | Zuiderduin Masters | Darryl Fitton | 2–5 (s) |
| Winner | 4. | 2010 | World Championship | Dave Chisnall | 7–5 (s) |
| Winner | 5. | 2010 | Winmau World Masters | Stuart Kellett | 7–3 (s) |
| Winner | 6. | 2011 | World Championship | Dean Winstanley | 7–5 (s) |
| Runner-up | 7. | 2015 | World Championship | Scott Mitchell | 6–7 (s) |
| Runner-up | 8. | 2015 | Zuiderduin Masters | Glen Durrant | 2–5 (s) |
| Runner-up | 1. | 2022 | World Seniors Darts Championship | Robert Thornton | 1–5 (s) |
| DNQ | QF | SF | QF | 1R | 1R | QF | 1R | 2R | SF | 2R | 1R | F | SF | W | SF | SF | W | W | QF | 1R | QF | F | 1R | QF | 1R | ||||||
| Winmau World Masters | DNP | 3R | DNP | QF | 1R | SF | SF | 2R | 4R | SF | 1R | 4R | 4R | 4R | 4R | QF | SF | F | QF | W | W | W | SF | 5R | 5R | SF | SF | 5R | 1R | 4R | |
| British Professional | 1R | Not held | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Not held | ? | W | Not held | W | QF | QF | QF | RR | F | NH | QF | RR | F | SF | SF | RR | RR | QF | F | QF | RR | RR | |||||||||
| World Darts Trophy | Not held | 2R | QF | F | SF | F | QF | Not held | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Not held | SF | QF | SF | QF | RR | Not held | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| BDO World Trophy | Not held | QF | 1R | 2R | QF | DNQ | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| World Matchplay | NYF | DNP | 1R | SF | Non-PDC | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| World Grand Prix | Not held | DNP | QF | Non-PDC | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Grand Slam of Darts | Not held | DNP | 2R | RR | DNQ | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| News of the World | DNP | Not held | SF | Not held | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| DNP | Did not play at the event | DNQ | Did not qualify for the event | NYF | Not yet founded | L# | lost in the early rounds of the tournament (WR = Wildcard round, RR = Round robin) |
| QF | lost in the quarter-finals | SF | lost in the semi-finals | F | lost in the final | W | won the tournament |
| + Martin Adams televised high averages ! Average ! Date ! Opponent ! Tournament ! Stage ! Score ! Ref. | ||||||
| 110.52 | 7 December 2007 | Steve Coote | 2007 Zuiderduin Masters | Group stage | 5–0 (L) |
|
|
