Jamie Robert Caven (born 10 March 1976)^[1] is an English former professionaldarts player who competed inProfessional Darts Corporation andBritish Darts Organisation (BDO) events. He won sevenPDC Pro Tour titles, including two in the same weekend in May 2013. Caven was also the 1993 World Youth Masters champion.

Caven has no sight in his right eye, after being stung by a bee when he was 18 months old.^[2] At the age of 17, Caven won the World Youth Masters.^[2] When he was 20, tumours were found in his pancreas resulting in its removal and his requirement to have four insulin injections a day for the rest of his life. This is where his darts nicknameJabba originated.^[3]

Caven qualified for the2008 World Championship atAlexandra Palace, and defeatedWes Newton in the first round 3–0, before playingWayne Mardle in the second round, taking the first set before losing 4–1.^[4]

Caven won his first PDC title, by edgingAlan Tabern in a final leg decider to win theUK Open Welsh Regional inNewport in May 2009.^[5] A month later he reached his first PDC major quarter-final at theUK Open, where he lost 10–3 toColin Osborne.^[6]

Caven lost in the first round of the 2010 PDC World Championship toGary Anderson 3–2.^[7]

He won his first round match of the2011 World Championship by defeatingSouth Africa'sDevon Petersen, 3–2, but was then whitewashed 4–0 byColin Osborne in the last 32.

Caven was seeded 18 for the2012 World Championship but lost toRoland Scholten 1–3 in the first round.^[8] Caven trailedJoe Cullen 0–4 and 1–5 in the last 16 of theUK Open, but produced a superb comeback, concluding with a 160 finish in the deciding leg to take the match 9–8.^[9]He playedDenis Ovens in the quarter-finals and lost 6–10.^[10] Caven qualified fromGroup 7 of theChampionship League with a 6–4 victory againstPaul Nicholson.^[11] He finished 2nd in theWinners Group, having won five of his seven league matches, but then lost toSimon Whitlock 4–6 in the semi-finals, having led 4–3.^[12] After all 33 ProTour events of 2012 had been played, Caven was 31st on the Order of Merit, just inside the top 32 who qualified for thePlayers Championship Finals.^[13] He lost to Whitlock 3–6 in the first round.^[14]

Caven let a 2–1 set lead slip in the first round of the2013 World Championship as he lost 2–3 to qualifierJohn Bowles.^[15] He reached the final of the fourth UK Open Qualifier in March, but lost toRobert Thornton 4–6 having defeatedGary Anderson 6–2 in the semi-finals.^[16] Caven won his first title for over two years in May at the thirdPlayers Championship, winning seven matches on the day concluding with a 6–4 victory overPaul Nicholson in the final.^[17] His form continued into the fourth event a day later as he won it by beatingJelle Klaasen 6–4 in the final with an incredible average of 110.68.^[18] An unlucky draw at theUK Open saw him faceJames Wade in the third round and he lost 7–9.^[19] At theEuropean Championship, Caven beatDave Chisnall 6–0 and Wade 10–2 to breeze into the quarter-finals.^[20] He playedSimon Whitlock and led 9–3 only to suffer a huge comeback from the Australian as Caven lost seven legs in a row to be beaten 10–9.^[21] Caven fought back from 5–2 and 7–4 down toWes Newton in the first round of theWorld Matchplay to win 10–8.^[22] He almost produced another turn around in his next game against Chisnall as he led 10–7 from being 6–2 down having twice set up the possibility of a nine darter by hitting back to back maximums. However, Caven then lost six legs in a row to exit the tournament.^[23] In October, he reached the final of the 11th Players Championship but was edged out 6–5 byRobert Thornton.^[24] He lost 9–4 toJustin Pipe in the second round of thePlayers Championship Finals having beatenColin Lloyd 6–3 in the opener.^[25]

Caven beatJelle Klaasen 3–1 in the first round of the2014 World Championship to set up a meeting withRaymond van Barneveld.^[26] Caven took the first set in a deciding leg by hitting a 136 finish with Van Barneveld waiting on 20 and then missed one dart to take a 2–0 lead, instead going on to trail 2–1. Caven won two successive sets to regain the advantage but could only win one more leg after this in a 4–3 defeat.^[27] He was the victim of a shock 5–3 defeat against Kevin Dowling in the second round of theUK Open.^[28] In May, he advanced to the semi-finals of an event for the first time in a year at the ninthPlayers Championship where he lost 6–2 againstPeter Wright.^[29] Caven beatTerry Jenkins,Stephen Bunting,Phil Taylor and Wright all by 6–5 scorelines at theAustrian Darts Open to reach the final. He built a 5–2 lead overVincent van der Voort, but went on to lose 6–5 without ever having a dart for the title.^[30] Caven was knocked out of the first round in theWorld Matchplay andWorld Grand Prix and the second round of theEuropean Championship.^[31] He won a place in theGrand Slam of Darts through the qualifier but lost each of his group games to finish bottom of the table.^[32] Caven saw offIan White 6–4 at thePlayers Championship Finals and was almost the victim of a huge fightback fromRobert Thornton as he forced a deciding leg after having been 9–4 behind. However, he survived one match dart to win 10–9 and reach his only major quarter-final of the year where he facedAdrian Lewis.^[33] Caven missed a dart for the match at the bull to complete a 167 finish to win 10–8 and was instead eliminated 10–9.^[34]

Caven lost 4–3 in the second round of the2015 World Championship toRaymond van Barneveld for the second year in a row. There was never more than a set between the players, with Caven having the higher average, checkout percentage and winning more legs (15 to 14).^[35] He saw offTerry Jenkins 9–3 at theUK Open, before losing 9–6 toDevon Petersen in the fourth round.^[36]His first round meeting withDave Chisnall at theWorld Matchplay went to extra legs, with Caven being edged out 13–11.^[37] He exited in the first round of the other two majors he reached in 2015 (2–0 in sets toIan White at theWorld Grand Prix and 6–3 toMichael Smith at thePlayers Championship Finals).^[38][39] At theDutch Darts Masters, Caven eliminatedJohn Henderson 6–0,David Pallett 6–5 andKim Huybrechts 6–2 to play in his only semi-final this year, but he lost 6–4 toJustin Pipe.^[40]

Caven did not drop a set againstRob Szabo andRicky Evans to reach the third round of theWorld Championship for the first time in his ninth appearance in the event.^[41] However, he was defeated 4–1 byJames Wade.^[42] He lost 9–6 againstStephen Bunting in the fourth round of theUK Open.^[43] A 6–4 win overDave Chisnall saw Caven play in his first final in nearly two years at the eighthPlayers Championship, but he was comfortably beaten 6–1 byGerwyn Price.^[44] After missing darts at doubles in the second leg of his first round match withMichael van Gerwen at theWorld Matchplay, Caven did not get any more double chances as he was whitewashed 10–0. He averaged 79.98 to Van Gerwen's 105.85.^[45] He also had first round exits at theWorld Grand Prix,European Championship andPlayers Championship Finals.^[46]

Caven entered the2017 World Championship on a run of eight successive losses in all events. He was beaten 3–1 byKevin Painter in the first round, losing the final six legs of the match.^[47]

Caven failed to qualify for the2018 World Championship for the first time in 10 years.

He qualified for the2018 European Darts Grand Prix, eventually losing toMensur Suljović in the second round.

Caven once against failed to qualify for the2019 World Championship he announced that in January he would be heading to Q-School in an attempt to regain his PDC Tour Card. Caven failed to regain his tour card and as a result has started playing in Challenge Tour events.

On 16 February Caven entered theBDO Scottish Open where he battled against near 1000 other players reaching the semi-finals. He gained 25 points on his BDO ranking.

Caven also played in the 2019 Slovak Darts Open and Masters where he did not enjoy the success he had seen in Scotland but managed to pick up more ranking points. Later Caven played in the 3-day Isle of Man Darts Classic where he reached the last 64 in the Open and the last 32 in the Masters.

It was announced that he will be competing for a tour card at the 2020 Q School to join theProfessional Darts Corporation, however he was unsuccessful.

• 2008: Second round (lost toWayne Mardle 1–4)
• 2009: First round (lost toMark Walsh 2–3)
• 2010: First round (lost toGary Anderson 2–3)
• 2011: Second round (lost toColin Osborne 0–4)
• 2012: First round (lost toRoland Scholten 1–3)
• 2013: First round (lost toJohn Bowles 2–3)
• 2014: Second round (lost toRaymond van Barneveld 3–4)
• 2015: Second round (lost toRaymond van Barneveld 3–4)
• 2016: Third round (lost toJames Wade 1–4)
• 2017: First round (lost toKevin Painter 1–3)

PDC European Tour

PDC Players Championships

Outcome	No.	Year	Championship	Opponent in the final	Score
Runner-up	1.	2014	Austrian Darts Open	Vincent van der Voort	5–6 (l)

• Jamie Caven's official websiteArchived 12 January 2013 at theWayback Machine
• Jamie Caven's profile and stats on Darts Database
• 2010 Interview with Jamie Caven a Darts, Beers & Cheers!

• 1976 births
• English darts players
• Living people
• Sportspeople from Leicester
• Professional Darts Corporation former tour card holders
• British Darts Organisation players
• PDC ranking title winners
• 21st-century English sportsmen

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