| Ryan Searle | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Searle at the2025 European Championship | |||||
| Personal information | |||||
| Nickname | "Heavy Metal" | ||||
| Born | (1987-10-21)21 October 1987 (age 38)[1] Tiverton, Devon, England | ||||
| Home town | Holcombe Rogus,Devon, England | ||||
| Darts information | |||||
| Darts | 32g Harrows Signature | ||||
| Laterality | Right-handed | ||||
| Walk-on music | "Paranoid" byBlack Sabbath | ||||
| Organisation (seesplit in darts) | |||||
| BDO | 2011–2016 | ||||
| PDC | 2016– (Tour Card: 2017–) | ||||
| Current world ranking | (PDC) 20 | ||||
| WDF major events – best performances | |||||
| World Masters | Last 16:2013 | ||||
| PDC premier events – best performances | |||||
| World Championship | Last 16:2019,2021,2022 | ||||
| World Matchplay | Quarter-final:2023 | ||||
| World Grand Prix | Quarter-final:2021 | ||||
| UK Open | Last 16:2022 | ||||
| Grand Slam | Last 16:2023 | ||||
| European Championship | Last 16:2021,2022,2024, ,2025 | ||||
| PC Finals | Runner-up:2021 | ||||
| Masters | Last 16:2022,2025 | ||||
| Other tournament wins | |||||
Players Championships (x7)
| |||||
Ryan Searle (born 21 October 1987) is an English professionaldarts player who competes inProfessional Darts Corporation (PDC) events, where he is currently rankedworld number eighteen. Nicknamed "Heavy Metal", Searle has won 7 PDC ranking titles inPlayers Championship events. He reached his first major final at the2021 Players Championship Finals, finishing as runner-up after losing toPeter Wright 11–10.
Searle began his career competing inBritish Darts Organisation (BDO) events, where he participated in threeWorld Masters tournaments.[1] He reached the last 16 of the2013 edition after a controversial win overRichie George, when his winning dart at double 10 did not actually hit the target. Referee Nick Rolls wrongly called 'game shot', ending the leg and awarding Searle the match.[3][4]
In 2016, Searle won twoPDC Challenge Tour events. He finished second on the 2016 Challenge Tour Order of Merit behindRob Cross, which granted him aPDC Tour Card for the first time.[5] He reached his first PDC ranking final in September 2018, where he lost 6–4 toNathan Aspinall.[6]
Searle reached the fourth round of the2019 PDC World Darts Championship on his debut. He defeatedStephen Burton in his opening match,[7] before eliminating seventh seedMensur Suljović 3–1 in an upset victory; Searle was ranked world number 61.[8] After beatingWilliam O'Connor 4–1,[9] he was eliminated byMichael Smith in the fourth round.[10]
At the2020 World Championship, he reached the third round, where he ledGary Anderson 3–1 but was eventually defeated 4–3.[11] In February 2020, Searle won the first PDC title of his career by beating world number oneMichael van Gerwen 8–6 in the final ofPlayers Championship 3.[12]
In 2021, Searle added a second PDC title atPlayers Championship 22, where he won the final in a deciding leg againstPeter Wright.[13] He reached his maiden PDC major quarter-final at the2021 World Grand Prix, following victories overDimitri Van den Bergh andLuke Humphries.[14][15] He lost toStephen Bunting in the quarter-finals, by a score of 3–1 in sets.[16] Searle competed in his first PDC major final at the2021 Players Championship Finals. After wins overDaryl Gurney in the quarter-finals andBrendan Dolan in the semi-finals,[17] he took Peter Wright to a deciding leg in the final, but ultimately lost to Wright 11–10.[18][19]

In 2022, Searle won his third PDC title atPlayers Championship 11 with an 8–3 victory overNathan Aspinall in the final.[20] He claimed another title by winning the final of theopening Players Championship event of 2023, defeatingJamie Hughes 8–4.[21] He reached the quarter-finals of the2023 World Matchplay for the first time after beatingPeter Wright 11–8 in the second round.[22] He then facedJonny Clayton, but was eliminated in a 16–12 loss.[23] Searle hit his first televisednine-dart finish at the2023 Grand Slam of Darts in his final group stage match againstNathan Rafferty.[24]
In January 2024, it was announced that Searle had left darts manufacturer Loxley Darts and signed a contract with Harrows Darts.[25] On the2024 PDC Pro Tour, Searle was runner-up in the opening twoPlayers Championship events of the season, losing toLuke Littler 8–7 andGary Anderson 8–5 in the respective finals.[26][27] The following week at Players Championship 3, he defeated Anderson 8–7 in a repeat of the previous event's final.[28][29] At the2024 Swiss Darts Trophy, Searle appeared in his firstEuropean Tour final, where he facedMartin Schindler. Leading the match 7–4 with one more leg required to win the title, Searle missed sevenmatch darts and allowed Schindler to claim an 8–7 comeback victory.[30][31]
After winning his opening match of the2025 World Championship 3–0 againstMatt Campbell,[32] Searle was eliminated byRyan Joyce in the third round. Searle came back from 3–1 down to take the match to a deciding set, where Joyce completed a 4–3 win.[33] Searle won thefourth Players Championship event of 2025 by defeatingCameron Menzies 8–3 in the final.[34] He added a second title atPlayers Championship 28, beatingMario Vandenbogaerde 8–6 in the final.[35]
Searle hasdominant optic atrophy,[36] and often cannot even see where his darts land.[37] He previously worked as a window cleaner before pursuing darts professionally.[38] He is married and has two children.[39]
| Legend |
|---|
| Players Championship Finals (0–1) |
| Outcome | No. | Year | Championship | Opponent in the final | Score[N 1] |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Runner-up | 1. | 2021 | Players Championship Finals | 10–11 (l) |
BDO
| Tournament | 2011 | 2013 | 2015 |
|---|---|---|---|
| World Masters | 1R | 6R | 3R |
PDC
| Tournament | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PDC World Championship | DNQ | 4R | 3R | 4R | 4R | 3R | 3R | 3R | ||||
| PDC World Masters | DNQ | 2R | 1R | 1R | 2R | |||||||
| UK Open | 4R | DNQ | 4R | 4R | 5R | 6R | 4R | 4R | 5R | |||
| World Matchplay | DNQ | 1R | 1R | QF | 2R | 1R | ||||||
| World Grand Prix | DNQ | 1R | QF | 1R | 2R | 1R | 1R | |||||
| European Championship | DNQ | 2R | 2R | 1R | 2R | 2R | ||||||
| Grand Slam of Darts | DNQ | RR | DNQ | RR | DNQ | RR | 2R | DNQ | ||||
| Players Championship Finals | 1R | 2R | 1R | 2R | F | 3R | 3R | 1R | ||||
| Career statistics | ||||||||||||
| Year-end ranking | 85 | 50 | 52 | 38 | 16 | 15 | 20 | 19 | ||||
PDC European Tour
| Season | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2017 | GDC 1R | Did not qualify | DDM 1R | Did not qualify | ||||||||||
| 2018 | Did not qualify | DDC 2R | IDO QF | EDT DNQ | ||||||||||
| 2019 | Did not qualify | ADO 2R | EDG 3R | Did not qualify | ||||||||||
| 2020 | BDC 2R | Did not qualify | ||||||||||||
| 2021 | HDT DNQ | GDT 2R | ||||||||||||
| 2022 | IDO 1R | GDC 3R | GDG 3R | ADO 2R | EDO QF | CDO 3R | EDG 3R | DDC 3R | EDM 2R | HDT 2R | GDO 2R | BDO 3R | GDT 3R | |
| 2023 | BSD SF | EDO 2R | DNQ | ADO QF | DDC 3R | BDO 2R | CDO 3R | EDG 2R | EDM 3R | GDO 3R | HDT 2R | GDC 2R | ||
| 2024 | BDO QF | GDG 3R | IDO QF | EDG 2R | ADO 2R | BSD QF | DDC QF | EDO QF | GDC 3R | FDT QF | HDT SF | SDT F | CDO 2R | |
| 2025 | BDO 2R | EDT 2R | IDO 1R | GDG 3R | ADO 2R | EDG 1R | DDC QF | EDO 2R | BSD 3R | FDT 3R | CDO 3R | HDT 1R | SDT QF | GDC 2R |
PDC Players Championships
| Performance Table Legend | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| W | Won the tournament | F | Finalist | SF | Semifinalist | QF | Quarterfinalist | #R RR Prel. | Lost in # round Round-robin Preliminary round | DQ | Disqualified |
| DNQ | Did not qualify | DNP | Did not participate | WD | Withdrew | NH | Tournament not held | NYF | Not yet founded | ||
| Date | Opponent | Tournament | Method | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 13 November 2023 | Grand Slam | 3 x T20; 3 x T20; T20, T19, D12 | £10,000 |